---
title: 'Applications Engineer, San Francisco at Overview Corporation'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/applications-engineer-san-francisco-overview-corporation-san-francisco-ksjjycqzh1xk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Applications Engineer, San Francisco at Overview Corporation

- **Company:** Overview Corporation
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-22
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/overview/93892598-67bd-4707-9fa8-28546333e326

## Job description

Applications Engineer San Francisco, CA · Applications · Full-time, hybrid

## ABOUT OVERVIEW.AI

[Overview.ai](https://overview.ai/) is bringing the cutting edge of AI computer vision to manufacturing, solving inspection problems that were previously not solvable with traditional machine vision. We're a full-stack company: we deploy GPU-powered cameras on production lines, run inference on the edge, and operate a platform that supports large fleets of devices deployed across the world. We're growing extremely fast. Our customers love the product because it works: high accuracy, fast deployment, and an operator-friendly experience that makes real factory rollouts possible, not just pilots.

## THE OPPORTUNITY

We're looking for a hands-on Applications Engineer to help develop, validate, and deploy AI-powered vision inspection systems, with a strong focus on imaging feasibility and technical ownership of our San Francisco lab. Customer samples arrive here before anything gets deployed. You'll determine how to make defects visible, selecting the right lighting, lenses, cameras, and imaging configurations to build reliable inspection solutions. But the work doesn't stop in the lab. You'll also help bring these solutions to life on production lines, integrating our cameras with existing PLCs and industrial equipment, troubleshooting hardware and controls issues, and ensuring systems perform reliably under real manufacturing conditions. This role combines machine vision application development, industrial automation, and hands-on customer deployment. You'll work directly with hardware, collaborate with customers and field engineers, and take ownership of technical challenges from initial feasibility through production validation.

## WHY THIS ROLE IS EXCITING

- Own the SF lab: Take responsibility for imaging trials, testing standards, hardware evaluation, and technical feasibility.
- Solve challenging inspection problems: Work on applications where traditional machine vision has struggled, from difficult surfaces to complex manufacturing environments.
- From lab to production: See your solutions move beyond proof-of-concept testing and into real production lines, integrating with industrial controls and equipment.
- Variety and technical depth: Work across automotive, aerospace, and consumer manufacturing, combining optics, automation, AI vision, and industrial troubleshooting.
- Direct product impact: Your findings will influence hardware decisions, deployment approaches, and future product improvements.

## WHAT YOU'LL OWN

- Imaging feasibility and application development: Run trials on customer samples, evaluate inspection requirements, and determine how to reliably capture defects using the right imaging configuration.
- Lighting and optics selection: Select and configure cameras, lenses, lighting, filters, and geometry, including challenging reflective, transparent, dark, or low-contrast surfaces.
- SF lab operations: Own lab testing standards, hardware inventory, sample handling, equipment evaluation, and documentation of technical findings.
- Proof-of-concept development: Build and validate inspection POCs, evaluate performance, and communicate technical feasibility, limitations, and recommendations to Sales, Applications, and customers.
- PLC and industrial integration: Configure and integrate vision systems with existing PLCs and production equipment, including I/O mapping, communication protocols, signal validation, and basic PLC logic troubleshooting.
- Hardware installation and troubleshooting: Support camera and lighting installation, diagnose electrical, connectivity, and hardware issues, and troubleshoot system integration challenges.
- Production performance optimization: Investigate false rejects, missed defects, image quality variation, and environmental factors affecting inspection reliability.
- Customer deployments and technical support: Work directly with customer engineers, maintenance teams, and field Applications Engineers to install, validate, and troubleshoot systems in manufacturing environments.
- Hardware and technology evaluation: Test new cameras, lenses, lighting, and related technologies to improve inspection capabilities.
- Documentation and technical feedback: Document testing results, system configurations, and lessons learned while providing feedback to Product and Engineering teams.

## WHO YOU ARE

Required

- 3+ years of hands-on experience in applications engineering, machine vision, industrial automation, systems integration, or a related technical field.
- Machine vision experience: Hands-on experience configuring industrial cameras, lighting, and lenses for inspection or measurement applications, including imaging trials, feasibility studies, or proof-of-concept testing.
- PLC and controls knowledge: Practical experience working with PLC systems such as Allen Bradley, Siemens, Beckhoff, or similar, including I/O configuration, basic programming logic, and troubleshooting.
- Industrial system integration: Experience integrating cameras, sensors, or other hardware with industrial equipment and production systems.
- Hardware and electrical troubleshooting: Comfortable diagnosing connectivity, electrical signals, and hardware issues using tools such as multimeters and other diagnostic equipment.
- Manufacturing environment experience: Familiarity with production lines, industrial equipment, and the technical constraints of working around live manufacturing operations.
- Independent technical problem-solving: Comfortable working directly with hardware, running experiments, troubleshooting issues, and making technical decisions.
- Technical communication: Able to document findings clearly and explain technical trade-offs to customers and internal teams.
- Location: Based in the San Francisco Bay Area or willing to relocate, and able to work primarily from our SF office.
- Travel flexibility: Willing to travel to customer manufacturing facilities for installations, troubleshooting, and deployment support.

Strong Preferences

- Experience running machine vision feasibility studies or application development in a lab, demo center, vision vendor, distributor, or systems integrator.
- Experience imaging challenging parts, including reflective, specular, transparent, dark, or low-contrast surfaces.
- Knowledge of advanced lighting techniques such as dome, dark field, backlight, coaxial, or polarized lighting.
- Experience with industrial vision platforms such as Cognex, Keyence, Matrox, Halcon, or Dalsa.
- Experience with industrial communication protocols such as EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus, or similar.
- Experience integrating vision systems into PLC-controlled production lines.
- Customer-facing technical experience, including on-site installations, application support, troubleshooting, or operator training.
- Experience troubleshooting inspection performance in production environments, including false rejects, missed defects, and image quality variation.

## Nice to Have

- Experience with telecentric optics, precision measurement, or advanced optical configurations.
- Experience with Allen Bradley CompactLogix/ControlLogix or Siemens S7 PLC platforms.
- Familiarity with AI-based inspection workflows, including image collection, labeling, model evaluation, or inspection performance optimization.
- Experience with industrial networking, electrical schematics, or controls system troubleshooting.
- Background in plant engineering, manufacturing support, or industrial equipment commissioning.

## WHY OVERVIEW.AI

- Extreme growth and real-world impact: We're not building demos. We're deploying AI systems on real production lines, at scale.
- Talent density: You'll work with world-class engineers and operators across AI, embedded systems, and enterprise deployment.
- Front-row seat to the AI manufacturing wave: One of the biggest transformations happening in industry right now.
- Ownership: Your work directly changes the trajectory of the company.
- Global exposure: You'll work wit

## About Overview Corporation

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Overview Corporation builds AI-powered vision systems for automated defect detection and quality inspection in manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Startup; Y Combinator W19 batch)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Russell Nibbelink, Austin Appel, Xiaoyang Kao

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Industrial AI, Computer Vision, Manufacturing Quality Control, Industrial Automation
- Target customers: B2B – Enterprise manufacturers across automotive, pharmaceutical packaging, electronics, and general industrial sectors
- Mission or purpose statement: "Catch every manufacturing defect in the world"

## Products & Services
- **OVX Inspection Platform**: AI-based quality inspection platform that runs entirely on edge devices, using advanced data augmentation to reduce sample requirements by 10x and training models in under one hour with as few as five images.
- **OV10i AI Vision Sensor**: Compact, smart camera with on-device AI training and inference, local browser-based configuration, and a 3–6 month typical payback cycle.
- **OV20i AI Vision Sensor**: Mid-range AI vision sensor with 200K+ production images storage, on-device training, and connectivity through all major PLC protocols (EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus, OPC-UA, MQTT, HTTP, RS232, Discrete I/O).
- **OV80i High Performance AI Vision System**: GPU-powered high-accuracy edge system (NVIDIA GPU in every unit) for the most demanding inspection tasks, using vision-transformer-based models.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total team of 50+ members, deployed across 30+ cities in 10 countries and 5 continents
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (Winter 2019 batch); founding team members include former Tesla manufacturing leaders; Forbes 30 Under 30 recognition for the three co-founders
- **Growth Signals**: Rapid global expansion with local teams across 30 cities in 10 countries; deployed in demanding factory environments (automotive connectors, pharmaceutical packaging); achieving 100% defect coverage with 50% reduction in inspection costs and 75% reduction in rework; 0% defect escape rate reported

## Competitive Advantages
- **100% Edge computing** – No cloud dependency, production data never leaves the factory floor, addressing critical security and latency requirements
- **Rapid deployment** – Models trained in under one hour with as few as five images; deploy production systems in hours, not months
- **Hardware + Software integration** – Smart cameras with embedded NVIDIA GPUs and pre-loaded AI software, eliminating need for external compute
- **Open platform** – Compatible with every major PLC protocol, enabling seamless integration into existing factory infrastructure
- **Founding team pedigree** – Deep domain expertise from scaling production and quality systems in demanding factories, including Tesla

## Strategic Focus
- Continue global expansion into new geographies and manufacturing verticals
- Deepen edge AI capabilities for real-time, continuous inference in harsh factory environments
- Shorten time-to-ROI for customers (current target: 3–6 months payback)
- Scale team globally with engineering, science, and field operations talent

## Why Work Here
- **Real-world impact**: Code runs on real production lines 24/7 catching real defects, with metrics tracked in defects caught and scrap reduction, not research benchmarks
- **End-to-end ownership**: Engineers own problems from customer scoping through factory deployment and ongoing monitoring – no product manager layer
- **Ship fast, ship often**: Startup tempo with manufacturing rigor; work hits production lines within weeks
- **Global, remote-friendly culture**: Distributed teams across San Francisco, Austin, Mexico City, São Paulo, Zurich, Taipei, Shanghai and more; work asynchronously across time zones
- **Competitive compensation**: Salary, equity, comprehensive health insurance, 401(k), and generous PTO
- **Learning & growth**: Work alongside former Tesla, Apple, and top-tier manufacturing engineers; sponsorship for conferences, courses, and certifications
- **Solve hard problems**: Real-time AI inference, edge computing, multi-camera systems inspecting thousands of parts per minute in noisy, vibrating factory environments
- **Engineering-first culture**: Small teams, big ownership, direct customer impact

## Sources
1. [overview.ai – Company page](https://www.overview.ai/company/)
2. [overview.ai – Homepage](https://www.overview.ai/)
3. [overview.ai – Careers page](https://www.overview.ai/company/careers/)
4. [Y Combinator – Overview profile](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/overview)
5. [Ashby – Overview careers page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/overview)

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- [Business Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-overview-corporation-remote-v43c5jc16zmw)
- [Applications Engineer, Penang](https://feeny.ai/job/applications-engineer-penang-overview-corporation-penang-kct1dqndxb8s) — Penang, Malaysia
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