Senior Image Sensor Software Engineer

Job Description

General Info

We are building next-generation computational photography and spectral analysis tools grounded in proprietary ML/DL methods (provisional patent filed). Our platform turns ordinary smartphone cameras into precision scientific instruments, delivering advanced image analysis through a polished consumer application. Our Budapest engineering team works at the edge of what mobile hardware and modern AI make possible, in a well-funded, non-corporate environment built around craftsmanship and technical excellence.

As Senior Image Sensor Software Engineer, you will be a deeply technical individual contributor working on the imaging stack from raw photon capture on-device through to the calibrated, model-ready data that feeds our ML/DL inference pipelines. You will own significant areas of the camera capture, sensor characterization, and color science work across our supported device fleet, and partner with the imaging lead, ML/DL, product, and scientific stakeholders to translate research prototypes and capture requirements into production code that ships on iOS and Android. This role is for an experienced engineer who can take complex imaging components and own them end to end, with a high bar for scientific rigour and engineering craft.

Key Responsibilities

Mobile Camera Capture & OS Integration

• Implement capture of maximally raw image data on iOS (AVFoundation, AVCaptureSession, RAW/DNG) and Android (Camera2, CameraX), operating at the limits of what each OS permits.
• Manage and tune controllable sensor parameters — exposure, ISO/gain, white balance, focus, frame rate — programmatically and in real time.
• Identify and document post-processing applied by camera ISPs and OS frameworks that cannot be bypassed, and design compensatory strategies that preserve scientific fidelity.

Sensor Testing & Calibration

• Execute systematic testing of camera sensors across supported phone models under controlled and real-world lighting conditions.
• Characterize lens and filter transmission properties across the visible and near-infrared spectrum.
• Build per-device calibration profiles capturing sensor-to-sensor variation in spectral sensitivity, noise, vignetting, distortion, and color response.
• Contribute to the calibration database and toolchain that powers capture-time calibration in production.

Image Processing & Color Science

• Design and implement image processing pipelines including demosaicing, noise reduction, flat-field correction, dark-frame subtraction, and bad-pixel interpolation.
• Implement rigorous color calibration and correction — CIE colorimetry, ICC profiling, and spectral-to-XYZ conversions — to ensure cross-device color accuracy.
• Implement lighting correction algorithms that handle a broad range of illuminants and mixed lighting environments.
• Optimize pipelines for on-device performance on mobile SoCs, including GPU and NPU acceleration where appropriate.

Spectral Range & Advanced Sensing

• Extend sensor utility across the widest achievable spectral range, including exploitation of near-infrared channel sensitivity where available.
• Evaluate and integrate multispectral and hyperspectral techniques to enhance product capability over time.

ML/DL Pipeline Integration

• Collaborate closely with the ML/DL team to define optimal upstream capture conditions and data formats for custom inference models.
• Ensure consistency and proper conditioning of captured image data against model input requirements across the device fleet.

Application Development & Team Collaboration

• Contribute production-quality code to the user-facing iOS and Android applications, particularly within the capture and processing modules.
• Communicate technical trade-offs clearly to engineering leadership and non-technical stakeholders.
• Maintain high-quality, living documentation for owned components — calibration procedures, sensor characterization data, and known device-specific quirks.

Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Imaging Science, Computer Vision, Applied Physics, or a closely related field.
• Five to seven years of professional experience in image sensor engineering, computational photography, or camera systems development, with hands-on contributions to shipped products.
• Solid hands-on experience with iOS camera APIs (AVFoundation, AVCaptureSession, RAW capture, DNG output) and Android Camera2 / CameraX.
• Working knowledge of image sensor physics: photon transfer curves, full-well capacity, read noise, dark current, quantum efficiency, and Bayer CFA design.
• Solid grounding in color science: CIE XYZ, sRGB, camera RGB, chromatic adaptation, and ICC/DNG color profiles.
• Proficiency in image processing fundamentals: demosaicing, denoising, HDR, tone mapping, and artifact correction.
• Strong programming skills — Python (NumPy, OpenCV, scikit-image, rawpy) and Swift or Kotlin/Java for mobile development; C/C++ for performance-critical modules.
• Experience with exposure and ISO optimization to maximize dynamic range and SNR across a wide spectral range.
• Ability to handle confidential and pre-patent technical material with discretion, and to follow the Company’s IP and data-handling policies rigorously.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken); able to work full-time in Budapest, Hungary.

Strongly Preferred

• PhD in a relevant research area.
• Demonstrated experience in sensor calibration using mathematical optimization such as Levenberg-Marquardt, bundle adjustment, or non-linear least-squares (e.g., OpenCV calibrateCamera).
• Experience with hyperspectral or multispectral imaging systems, spectral reconstruction, or spectral unmixing.
• Familiarity with SLAM (e.g., ORB-SLAM, ARKit / ARCore) for self-supervised pose estimation and dynamic calibration.
• Background in medical imaging, clinical image quality standards, or FDA / CE-regulated imaging device development.

Compensation

In accordance with Hungary’s implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970):

• Salary range: HUF 2,000,000 – HUF 2,500,000 gross per month, depending on experience and demonstrated technical depth.
• Discretionary performance bonus, with details discussed with shortlisted candidates.
• Statutory and customary Hungarian benefits.

Compensation decisions are made on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria, including relevant experience, technical skills, scope of responsibility, and demonstrated performance. The Company does not request salary history during the recruitment process.