Resident Engineer

Smart Eye; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Smart Eye in Detroit is seeking a Resident Engineer to join the development team. You will serve as the primary technical interface at customer sites, coordinate issue resolution, and support system integration across vehicles, simulators and bench tests.

The role requires a Bachelor’s in Engineering and 4+ years in automotive or embedded systems, with strong problem solving and communication skills. Onsite work in Detroit and collaboration with global teams are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical field.
• 4+ years of experience in automotive, embedded systems, or a similar technical role.
• Strong problem-solving skills with hands-on debugging experience.
• Excellent communication skills interfacing with customers and internal teams.
• Proficiency with standard tools (e.g., Excel, Teams, issue tracking systems).

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary technical representative of Smart Eye at the customer site.
• Build and maintain strong customer relationships through proactive communication and issue resolution.
• Lead or support customer meetings, providing clear technical updates and status.
• Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve system and vehicle-level issues.
• Perform root cause analysis and validate fixes through bench, simulator, and vehicle testing.
• Manage and track customer-reported issues and internal tickets to closure.
• Support vehicle-specific configurations and data collection activities.
• Collaborate with the Lead Design Release Engineer to define, refine, and validate requirements.
• Coordinate development and execution of customer-specific test plans.
• Support software release activities, including reflashing and validation on vehicles.
• Coordinate access to test vehicles and ensure efficient use of test resources.
• Communicate program timing, risks, and dependencies to internal teams.

Skills

Problem solving

Communication

Hands-on debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Excel

Teams

Issue tracking systems

Job description

Smart Eye is the global leader in Human Insight AI, technology that understands, supports and predicts human behavior in complex environments. Together with our subsidiaries Affectiva and iMotions, we are bridging the gap between humans and machines for a safe and sustainable future. Today, our technology is embedded in next-generation vehicles, leading the way towards human-centric mobility through Driver Monitoring Systems and Interior Sensing solutions. Our Research Instruments offer unparalleled insights into automotive, aviation, assistive technology, behavioral science and many more fields. Our subsidiary Affectiva is humanizing technology by pioneering Emotion AI, helping companies gain a deeper understanding of how consumers engage with their content, products and services, in automotive, media & entertainment, market research and beyond. Our subsidiary iMotions provides the world’s leading biosensor software platform, that synchronizes data streams in real time from multiple sensors. Smart Eye was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Sweden with offices in the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, Egypt, Japan, Singapore and China. A publicly traded company since 2016, our customers include NASA, Nissan, Boeing, Honeywell, Volvo, GM, BMW, Geely, Harvard University, over 1,300 research organizations around the world, 70% of the world’s largest advertisers and 28% of the Fortune Global 500 companies. Visit www.smarteye.ai for more information.

Overview

As a Resident Engineer, you will play a vital role in supporting projects as part of the development team. Working closely with stakeholders, you will contribute to the resolution of technical issues, participate in release processes, and manage change procedures. Effective communication with various teams, including customers, manufacturing sites, and global engineering teams, will be crucial for the successful execution of projects. You will also be the primary representative of Smart Eye to the customer.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Interface & Representation

• Act as the primary technical representative of Smart Eye at the customer site
• Build and maintain strong customer relationships through proactive communication and issue resolution
• Lead or support customer meetings, providing clear technical updates and status

Technical Integration & Issue Resolution

• Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve system and vehicle-level issues
• Perform root cause analysis and validate fixes through bench, simulator, and vehicle testing
• Manage and track customer-reported issues and internal tickets to closure
• Support vehicle-specific configurations and data collection activities

Requirements, Validation & Change Management

• Collaborate with the Lead Design Release Engineer (DRE) to define, refine, and validate requirements
• Ensure subsystem compliance through testing and validation activities
• Initiate and support change requests (CRs) and engineering change processes
• Coordinate development and execution of customer-specific test plans

Release & Program Execution

• Support software release activities, including reflashing and validation on vehicles
• Coordinate access to test vehicles and ensure efficient use of test resources
• Communicate program timing, risks, and dependencies to internal teams
• Support system integration milestones and readiness activities

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with global engineering teams, manufacturing, and program management
• Provide feedback from field experience to improve product performance and robustness

Support simulation, CAD-based studies, and system-level investigations as needed

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical field
• 4+ years of experience in automotive, embedded systems, or a similar technical role
• Strong problem-solving skills with hands-on debugging experience
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to interface with customers and internal teams
• Proficiency with standard tools (e.g., Excel, Teams, issue tracking systems)
• Work onsite in Detroit

Preferred Qualification

• 5+ years of experience in a Resident Engineer, DRE, or systems integration role
• Experience with automotive camera systems, ADAS, or driver monitoring systems (DMS)
• Familiarity with vehicle testing, CAN tools, and automotive development processes
• Experience working directly at OEM or Tier 1 customer sites