Principal Engineer, Apps Engineering (AI2539)

DescriptionJob Title: Principal Engineer, Apps EngineeringJob Location: San Jose, CA (This position requires a full-time, on-site presence in our San Jose, CA office) Job ID: AI2539 Job Description: SiMa.ai is seeking a Principal Engineer, Apps Engineering to lead strategic customer engagements building next-generation robotics, autonomous systems, industrial automation, drones, computer vision, and edge AI solutions. This is a highly customer-facing technical leadership role requiring end-to-end ownership of complex customer programs. You will independently engage with customers from technical discovery and architecture through proof-of-concept, design-in, optimization, and production deployment. You will be expected to lead projects, drive technical decisions, manage risks and schedules, and represent SiMa.ai with customer engineering and technical leadership teams with minimal internal oversight. The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth in AI and embedded systems with exceptional customer communication, project leadership, and execution skills. Key Responsibilities:Serve as the technical lead and primary interface for strategic customers deploying applications on the SiMa Modalix platform.Own customer engagements end-to-end, including requirements, solution architecture, project planning, milestones, technical execution, and production deployment.Independently lead customer technical discussions, architecture reviews, issue resolution, and project status reviews.Develop clear project plans, identify technical and schedule risks, manage dependencies, and drive customer and internal teams toward successful execution.Architect and develop AI and edge applications for robotics, autonomous systems, industrial automation, and computer vision use cases.Optimize AI application performance, including latency, throughput, power, memory utilization, and overall system performance.Lead troubleshooting of complex hardware/software integration issues and drive cross-functional teams toward resolution.Provide clear and timely communication of project status, technical issues, risks, decisions, and next steps to customers and internal stakeholders.Serve as the voice of the customer, translating customer requirements and product gaps into actionable recommendations for Engineering and Product Management.Mentor Applications Engineers and establish best practices for customer engagement and technical project execution.Required Qualifications:10+ years of relevant industry experience, including significant experience in Applications Engineering, Field Applications Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Systems Engineering, or similar customer-facing technical roles.Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex technical customer engagements from requirements through deployment or production.Strong project planning and execution skills, including milestone planning, dependency management, risk management, prioritization, and driving issues to closure.Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent the company effectively with customer engineering teams, technical leaders, and executives.Strong software development experience in Python and C++.Deep experience with AI, computer vision, robotics, autonomous systems, or embedded applications.Hands-on experience with frameworks and tools such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, ONNX Runtime, and OpenCV.Experience with embedded Linux, heterogeneous compute platforms, SoCs, or AI accelerators.Strong understanding of AI inference, model deployment, performance optimization, and edge AI workflows.Proven ability to troubleshoot complex system-level hardware and software problems.Preferred Qualifications:Experience with semiconductor, AI accelerator, embedded computing, robotics, or edge AI platforms.Experience with multimodal AI, vision-language models, LLMs, or agentic AI applications.Background in computer vision, autonomous navigation, perception systems, robotics, drones, or industrial automation.What You'll Bring:Strong technical ownership and accountability with the ability to take ambiguous customer problems and drive them to successful outcomes.Ability to operate independently and confidently represent SiMa.ai with strategic customers.Excellent internal and external communication and the ability to deliver clear technical recommendations and difficult messages when necessary.Strong project leadership, organization, prioritization, and follow-through.Ability to influence and lead customers and internal teams without relying on formal authority.A proactive, customer-focused, and execution-oriented mindset.Personal attributes: Can-do attitude. Strong team player. Curious, creative and good at solving problems. Execution and results oriented. Self-driven, Thinks Big and is highly accountable. Good communication skills. The annual salary for this position ranges from $120,800 to $193,300. The actual annual salary offered will depend on several factors, including - among others - job-related skills, experience, technical expertise, qualifications, work location, and business needs. The annual salary range for this position is subject to change and may be adjusted in the future. In addition to base salary, this role is also eligible for private company equity, and a comprehensive package of employee benefits. Please note that the salary ranges listed for U.S. roles reflect base salary only and do not include equity or other forms of compensation.EEO Employer: SiMa is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.