Senior Applied AI Specialist – Industrial Systems

MMC Packaging Ltd.; Laval (administrative region); Hybrid; Full time

Job description

MMC - Leading Class Automation Solutions for the Caps and Closures Industry

Senior Applied Artificial Intelligence Specialist - Industrial Systems

MMC Packaging Equipment is seeking a Senior Applied Artificial Intelligence Specialist to serve as the sole technical lead in artificial intelligence and data science within the company. The incumbent designs, develops and deploys end-to-end AI systems for two main areas of activity - automated visual inspection using machine vision and conversational/agentic systems based on large language models (LLMs) - while providing strategic advisory to non-technical teams.

This position requires high-level applied research expertise: the individual must not be limited to integrating existing models or tools as "black boxes," but must be able to understand them in depth, modify them, adapt them, and even develop custom solutions (models, protocols, internal tools) when nothing adequate exists on the market.

Key Responsibilities

Computer Vision & AI Applied to Industrial Quality Inspection

• Design, train, and optimize object detection and anomaly detection/classification models for automated visual inspection of parts on high-speed production lines, going beyond the use of pretrained models (architecture modification, fine-tuning, custom development as needed).
• Develop and maintain an optical character and symbol recognition pipeline and a proprietary inference library optimized for real-time embedded deployment, with strict speed and accuracy requirements.
• Implement MLOps practices and internal tools to support the complete project lifecycle, from data collection and preparation to production deployment at client sites.
• Act as the primary resource for conducting feasibility studies, developing new digital inspection features for custom applications, deploying these solutions in client environments, and providing technical support during the operational phase.
• Design, develop and maintain fully self-hosted RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems and enterprise conversational agents, with no dependency on third-party LLM providers in production.
• Develop agentic systems capable of autonomous actions, including specialized multi-agent architectures, with response quality monitoring mechanisms.
• Develop tools and servers compliant with the MCP (Model Context Protocol) to connect AI agents to business software where no existing or adequate integration solution exists on the market.

Strategic Advisory Role

• Act as the company's sole technical reference in artificial intelligence and data, advising management and operational teams on the feasibility and approaches of planned projects.
• Translate complex technical concepts for non-specialist audiences and convert business needs into realistic technical solutions adapted to the company's real constraints.

Required Technical Skills

• Computer Vision & Deep Learning: PyTorch, TensorFlow, object detection and segmentation architectures (YOLO family or equivalent), visual anomaly detection, OCR, model training/fine-tuning/architecture modification, data augmentation.
• Embedded Model Optimization & Deployment: Model quantization (dynamic and training-time), multi-runtime export and execution (ONNX Runtime, OpenVINO, TensorRT and equivalent GPU/CPU inference engines), real-time inference optimization, CPU and GPU (CUDA) exploitation.
• MLOps: Model and dataset versioning, CI/CD applied to AI, experiment tracking tools (MLflow type).
• LLM, RAG & Agentic Systems: RAG system design, vector databases and hybrid search, LLM/agent orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex), deployment and optimization of self-hosted open-source language models, LLM quantization, MCP-compliant tool/server development.
• Software Engineering: API design, containerization, relational and vector database management, version control, automated testing.
• Applied Research Autonomy: Demonstrated experience carrying applied research projects end-to-end (design to production deployment), with full autonomy and without direct technical supervision.
• Bilingualism: Professional French and English (oral and written) for collaboration with international technical resources and technical documentation.

Requirements

• Master's degree in AI, Data Science, or equivalent field
• Minimum 3 years relevant experience in applied AI systems development
• At least 2 years in manufacturing industries with an OEM
• Valid work permit (Permanent Residency or Canadian Citizenship)

$41.91 - $49.10 per hour

Languages

French and English (professional level)
Spanish and German (considered important assets)

Full-Time Permanent

• Group Insurance
• Company Events
• Employee Assistance Program
• On-site Parking

NOC Code

21211 - Data Scientists

MMC Packaging Equipment Ltd. is a world leader in the design and manufacturing of post-molding automated equipment. We care deeply about the quality of life of everyone who joins our team.

We demonstrate this commitment through:

• Bonus plan based on company profitability
• Pension plan and group RRSP
• Group insurance plan
• Work-life balance
• Competitive working conditions

The incumbent is responsible for machining parts on conventional machines. He/she will perform the following tasks:

• Read and interpret blueprints
• Prepare and machine parts on conventional machines
• Control the quality of the part and/or prototype
• Participate in various improvement projects

Responsibilities

• Prepare and machine parts on conventional machines