Musashi AI North America, Inc. is a growing hardware and software focused company that builds smart vision solutions for quality assurance in manufacturing environments. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Musashi AI North America employs a talented and dynamic team of R&D and Applications Engineers who lead design, prototyping, and testing efforts to drive new technology development, build innovative products, and support our deployed solutions.

The AI Team Lead , responsible for prioritizing team tasks, defining growth plans, and ensuring high team performance, will lead the development, deployment, integration, and ongoing maintenance of AI/ML solutions across the organization. This role focuses on transitioning AI/ML research and prototypes into robust, scalable production systems while ensuring continuous operation, performance optimization, and adaptability to evolving business needs. As a team lead, you will be both a hands-on contributor and strategic leader , managing a high-performing team of AI/ML engineers. You will be responsible for setting the technical direction and AI strategy , prioritizing tasks , defining team structure , establishing KPIs , and driving team growth and development .

The role will be roughly 30% leadership and 70% hands-on , balancing technical execution with leadership and mentoring responsibilities. The team lead will collaborate with cross-functional teams including optics, electrical and robotics, and dashboard analytics, and will influence strategic initiatives that drive cost reduction, productivity improvements, and long-term value.

Reports to: Director of Engineering

Qualifications:

Job Responsibilities:

This role combines both strategic leadership and hands-on execution . To make the blend of responsibilities clear, they are grouped together below, showing how the AI Team Lead balances direction setting, team management, and direct technical contributions.

Strategic Leadership

• Ability to drive measurable business outcomes and communicating impact to leadership.
• Define the technical direction and long-term AI/ML strategy for Musashi AI North America.
• Provide strategic guidance on project planning, cost, risk management, and deployment feasibility.
• Define team structure, establish performance KPIs, and drive growth strategies for the AI/ML team.
• Prioritize engineering efforts and balance workloads across projects to meet key milestones.
• Present project updates, performance metrics, and future plans to internal stakeholders and leadership.

Operational & Hands-On Execution

• Lead the end-to-end deployment and integration of AI/ML models into production systems with a focus on scalability, performance, and robustness.
• Translate computer vision research and IP into production-ready, maintainable systems.
• Oversee maintenance and performance monitoring of deployed systems, ensuring minimal downtime and continuous improvement.
• Define and test models against production metrics and business KPIs.
• Conduct applied research to support product development and troubleshoot production issues.
• Monitor and evaluate new trends and technologies in AI/ML to guide internal strategy and tool adoption.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with system monitoring, alerting, and observability tools for production AI.
• Understanding of cybersecurity best practices for ML systems in industrial environments.

Personal Attributes:

• Creative and analytical thinker with a proactive and solution-oriented mindset.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Confident communicator who can convey complex technical ideas across teams.
• Professional, mature, and composed under pressure.
• Initiative-driven and comfortable leading through ambiguity.
• Collaborative and respectful team member who uplifts peers and contributes to team culture.

Musashi AI North America Expectations:

• Uphold company values, policies, and ethical standards.
• Be a champion of the Musashi Philosophy and 5S principles.
• Maintain adherence to all safety protocols and procedures.
• Contribute to the achievement of company and departmental goals.
• Engage constructively with peers and cross-functional collaborators.

Please note: This job description is not exhaustive. Duties and responsibilities may change at any time based on business needs.