Camera System Architect - PICO Lab VST - San Jose

Camera System Architect - PICO Lab VST - San Jose

Location: San Jose

Team: Technology

Employment Type: Regular

Job Code: A247269

Responsibilities

About team: The VST/camera team focuses on finding low power, high image quality solutions for AR/VR camera systems, including developing CMOS sensors, novel optical/imaging sensors, ultra-compact camera module technologies, camera lens design, and algorithms. The team is vertically integrating HW/SW for system optimization, shaping the AI experience for the future.

Responsibilities:

• Define and own the system architecture of end-to-end camera solutions, spanning optics, image sensors, compute platforms, mechanics, algorithms, and software.
• Drive hardware–software co-design to optimize system-level performance, power, cost, and scalability.
• Lead system-level imaging and perception performance definition, evaluation, and optimization across hardware and AI-based processing.
• Design and integrate computer vision and AI algorithms into production camera systems.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging imaging and AI technologies to maintain product competitiveness.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master's or PhD in Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computational Imaging, or related fields.
• 3+ years of experience in camera or imaging system development, with scope spanning both hardware and software.
• Proven full-cycle product development experience, including prototype builds, EVT, DVT, and mass production, in a hardware product environment.
• Leverage AI-assisted engineering tools (LLMs, VLMs) to accelerate design iteration, analysis, debugging, and technical decision-making.
• Strong system-level thinking, first-principles reasoning, and ability to make and defend complex technical trade-offs.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across cross-functional engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with SoC / ISP / NPU architectures and model-to-hardware adaptation or optimization.
• Hands-on experience with computer vision and machine learning, particularly in real-time or resource-constrained systems.
• Prior ownership of camera system architecture or subsystem technical leadership.

Job Information

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $162400 - $330000 annually. Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units. Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure). The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates: Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment: 1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues; 2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and 3. Exercising sound judgment.

About Pico

Founded in April 2015, Pico is a VR company committed to developing immersive and interactive VR experiences for people around the world. Pico also provides tailor-made solutions for our enterprise clients in the fields of education and healthcare.

Why Join ByteDance

Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day. As ByteDancers, we strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our Company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.

Diversity & Inclusion

ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

Reasonable Accommodation

ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at