Lead Imaging Scientist

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 Lead Imaging Scientist, you will own the imaging stack end-to-end — from raw photon capture on-device to the calibrated, model-ready data that feeds our ML/DL inference pipelines. The role sits at the boundary of hardware and software: you are expected to reason rigorously about sensor physics, lens and filter transmission, and the behaviour of CMOS imagers, LiDAR, and time-of-flight sensors, and to translate that understanding into production code that ships on iOS and Android. You will set the technical direction for camera capture, sensor characterization, and color science across our supported device fleet, mentor a small team of imaging and mobile engineers, and work side-by-side with ML, product, and scientific stakeholders to define what is possible. This is a rare opportunity to shape a deep-tech product from the ground up and see your work ship directly in the hands of users.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Own the imaging pipeline roadmap: architecture, quality targets, and delivery milestones from capture through pre-inference hand-off.
• Set engineering standards for sensor calibration, color science, and mobile camera integration; drive design reviews, code reviews, and technical decision-making.
• Mentor and grow a team of imaging and mobile engineers; hire, onboard, and develop talent as the team scales.
• Partner with ML/DL, product, and scientific leads to align capture requirements with downstream model and user needs, and to translate research prototypes into production.

Mobile Camera Capture & OS Integration

• Drive the 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 all 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.
• Integrate depth and ranging hardware — iPhone LiDAR (ARKit depth APIs, AVDepthData), Android time-of-flight sensors, and structured-light front-facing systems where available — and design capture strategies that co-register depth with RGB and spectral data for downstream ML/DL consumption.

Sensor Testing & Calibration

• Establish the program for systematically testing camera sensors across all 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.
• Architect and maintain 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.
• Lead 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 maximum 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.
• Represent the imaging organization in cross-functional planning, and communicate technical trade-offs clearly to engineering leadership and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Imaging Science, Computer Vision, Applied Physics, or a closely related field.
• 6+ years of post-PhD professional experience in image sensor engineering, computational photography, or camera systems development, with demonstrated technical leadership on shipped products. Substantial industry experience predating or overlapping the PhD may count toward this total.
• Prior experience leading or mentoring engineers — formally or as a senior technical lead — on complex imaging or mobile systems.
• Deep, hands-on expertise with iOS camera APIs (AVFoundation, AVCaptureSession, RAW capture, DNG output) and Android Camera2 / CameraX.
• Thorough understanding of image sensor physics: photon transfer curves, full-well capacity, read noise, dark current, quantum efficiency, and Bayer CFA design.
• Strong command of 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.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken); able to work full-time in Budapest, Hungary.

Strongly Preferred

• 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

The base salary range for this position is HUF 2,200,000 – HUF 3,100,000 gross per month, paid in twelve monthly installments. The range reflects a full-time, top-tier lead-level engagement and is calibrated to the Hungarian market for PhD-level imaging scientists with production mobile shipping experience and technical leadership scope.

The offered starting salary within this range will be determined on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria, including the candidate’s demonstrated depth of sensor physics and color science, breadth of hands-on experience with mobile camera and depth-sensing hardware, track record of shipped imaging products, and prior technical leadership scope. Specialised domain knowledge and meaningful contributions in adjacent areas (for example, hyperspectral or multispectral imaging, SLAM-based dynamic calibration, or regulated medical imaging) are factors that may justify positioning toward the upper end of the range.

In addition to base salary, the total compensation package includes a discretionary performance bonus and statutory and customary benefits as applicable under Hungarian law. Details of the bonus component will be discussed with shortlisted candidates.

This salary range is disclosed in accordance with the pay transparency obligations arising from Directive (EU) 2023/970 and its transposition into Hungarian law. Candidates will not be asked about their prior or current compensation at any stage of the recruitment process.