Senior Leader – Vision Systems Engineering

BW Converting GmbH; Waukesha (WI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

BW Converting seeks a Senior Leader – Vision Systems Engineering to plan, direct, and oversee Electrical, Software, and Imaging AI teams, modernizing legacy inspection products into a unified platform with GPU-accelerated AI at its core.

The role partners with engineering leadership to align resources with business strategy and offers a development path to Director level within 2–3 years, including ownership of strategy, budget, and organizational leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, or Software Engineering is required.
• Minimum 12 years of relevant experience, incl. 5+ years in industrial machine vision/inspection.
• Minimum 5 years leading engineering teams with readiness for Director level.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Lead consolidation of legacy vision product lines into a unified platform architecture.
• Drive adoption of a modern software stack and GPU-driven AI model integration across the portfolio.
• Own the technology roadmap and end-to-end system architecture for vision hardware and software.
• Direct development of AI-based defect detection and classification for substrates.
• Establish disciplined processes for data collection, labeling, training, validation, and deployment.
• Partner to prioritize work, allocate resources, and support cost analysis and scheduling.
• Ensure delivery within budget and monthly commitments.
• Lead design reviews across hardware, software, and AI model development.
• Manage partners and vendors for roadmap execution and obsolescence management.
• Establish engineering standards and development processes across the portfolio.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and field service to support installed-base migration.

Skills

Leadership

Machine vision system design

GPU-accelerated inference

C/C++, Python

Industrial protocols

Travel willingness

Communication with execs

AI/ML concepts

System integration

Project management

Education

Bachelor's in Electrical/Computer/Software Engineering

Master's/PhD preferred in CV/ML/Image Processing

Tools

CUDA

TensorRT

OpenCV

PyTorch

TensorFlow

YOLO

GenICam/GigE Vision

Job description

About Us:

BW Converting is a strategic alliance of resources and services that bring together several Barry-Wehmiller companies — Paper Converting Machine Company (PCMC), Winkler + Dünnebier (W+D), STAX Technologies, Hudson-Sharp, Baldwin Technologies and Northern Engraving and Machine. These industry leaders offer trusted brands and innovative technologies in the design, manufacture, and service of high-performance converting and packaging machinery for the tissue, nonwovens, hygiene, bag-converting, mailing, and printing industries.

About Us:

BW Converting is a strategic alliance of resources and services that bring together several Barry-Wehmiller companies — Paper Converting Machine Company (PCMC), Winkler + Dünnebier (W+D), STAX Technologies, Hudson-Sharp, Baldwin Technologies and Northern Engraving and Machine. These industry leaders offer trusted brands and innovative technologies in the design, manufacture, and service of high-performance converting and packaging machinery for the tissue, nonwovens, hygiene, bag-converting, mailing, and printing industries. Barry-Wehmiller is a diversified global supplier of engineering consulting and manufacturing technology for the packaging, corrugating, sheeting and paper-converting industries. By blending people-centric leadership with disciplined operational strategies and purpose-driven growth, Barry-Wehmiller has become a $3 billion organization with nearly 12,000 team members united by a common belief: to use the power of business to build a better world.

Job Description:

Senior Leader – Vision Systems Engineering

The Senior Leader – Vision Systems Engineering plans, directs, and oversees the Electrical, Software, and Imaging AI Engineering teams supporting BWCS's Vision product lines. The role's central mandate is to modernize and consolidate several legacy inspection product lines into a single, unified product portfolio, built on a current software stack with GPU-accelerated AI at its core, to deliver the world's leading web inspection systems.

The position partners closely with engineering leadership and cross-functional leaders to align resources and execution with business strategy. It is structured as a development pathway to Director level within 2–3 years, with increasing ownership of strategy, budget, and organizational leadership.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Recruit, hire, onboard, and develop engineering staff across hardware, software, and imaging AI disciplines.
• Build the next layer of technical leads and people managers.
• Manage team workload, priorities, and engineering backlogs.
• Provide timely, constructive performance evaluations and ensure compliance with BW policies and procedures.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Lead the consolidation of legacy vision product lines into a unified platform architecture, defining a common hardware, software, and AI foundation and a phased migration plan for the installed base.
• Drive adoption of a modern software stack and GPU-driven AI model integration across the portfolio, replacing fragmented legacy codebases and rule-based inspection.
• Own the technology roadmap and end-to-end system architecture: line-scan and area-scan cameras, optics, illumination, acquisition, compute, and integration with machine controls.
• Direct development of AI-based defect detection, classification, and root-cause identification on films, nonwovens, paper, and printed substrates.
• Establish disciplined processes for image data collection, labeling, model training, validation, deployment, and field performance monitoring.
• Partner with Product and Project Management to prioritize work, allocate resources, and support cost analysis, resource planning, and schedules.
• Ensure delivery within budget and against monthly financial and operational commitments.
• Lead Design Reviews across vision hardware, software, and AI model development.
• Manage design partners and vendors (camera, optics, lighting, GPU compute, AI tooling) for roadmap execution, obsolescence management, and order fulfillment.
• Establish engineering standards, security practices, and development processes across the unified portfolio.
• Partner with manufacturing, supply chain, and field service to support customer satisfaction and installed-base migration.
• Provide technical expertise to executive leadership and customers; stay current on machine vision and industrial AI trends.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills And Abilities

• Strong results orientation with a sense of urgency.
• Proven leadership of multi-disciplinary engineering teams.
• Track record consolidating or re-platforming multiple legacy products onto a common architecture.
• Excellent communication skills, including explaining technical trade-offs to executive and customer audiences.
• Expert knowledge of machine vision system design: cameras, optics, illumination, and industrial interfaces (GigE Vision, CoaXPress, Camera Link, GenICam).
• Proven delivery of web or substrate inspection systems for continuous processes.
• Deep expertise in imaging AI for industrial defect detection, including detection, segmentation, and anomaly detection models for limited-defect datasets.
• Hands-on experience with GPU-accelerated inference at production line speeds (CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX), plus OpenCV, PyTorch and/or TensorFlow, and YOLO.
• Software knowledge including C, C++, C#, Python, embedded, Windows, Linux, Git/GitHub; experience leading multi-developer projects using AI-assisted development.
• Systems integration experience with PLCs, HMIs, and industrial protocols (e.g., OPC UA, EtherNet/IP, Profinet).
• PCB design, layout, and test experience; Altium preferred.
• Strong organizational, prioritization, and problem-solving skills with a continuous learning mindset.

Education And Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Computer, or Software Engineering or related field required; Master's or PhD in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, or Image Processing preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of relevant experience, including at least 5 years in industrial machine vision or inspection.
• Minimum of 5 years leading engineering teams, with demonstrated readiness for Director level (strategic planning, budget ownership, leading leaders).
• Proven ability to build team-oriented, high-performance environments.
• Knowledge of color theory and color measurement is a plus.
• Ability to travel occasionally, domestically and internationally.

At Barry-Wehmiller we recognize that people come with a wealth of experience and talent beyond just the technical requirements of a job. If your experience is close to what you see listed here, please still consider applying. We know that our differences often can bring about innovation, excellence and meaningful work—therefore, people from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply to our positions. Please let us know if you require reasonable accommodations during the interview process.

Barry-Wehmiller is an equal opportunity employer. M/F/D/V This organization uses E-Verify.

Applicants may be subject to pre-employment screening which may include drug screening, reference checks, employment verifications, background screening and/or skills assessments.

Company:

BW Converting