Application Engineer

Looking for your next exciting career opportunity? LightGuide, Inc. offers competitive and diverse benefits with a supportive and values driven company culture. Join our team today!

• →Partner with customers and the LightGuide Sales team to understand manufacturing challenges, processes, requirements, and success criteria.
• →Develop creative technical solutions using LightGuide technology and complementary hardware and software.
• →Own application designs from early concept through detailed system definition and deployment.
• →Prepare scopes of work, bills of materials, system concepts, layouts, and supporting technical documentation.
• →Ensure proposed solutions are practical, scalable, maintainable, and aligned with the capabilities of the LightGuide platform.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

• Select and specify hardware such as projectors, cameras, sensors, actuators, industrial computers, PLCs, robots, smart tools, gauges, networking equipment, enclosures, cables, and pneumatic components.
• Design or specify mechanical components including workstations, mounting systems, brackets, tooling, fixtures, linear rails, and mobile systems.
• Develop solutions that interface with manufacturing equipment, controls, automation, and enterprise systems.
• Evaluate software and integration requirements involving systems such as MES, ERP, MRP, QMS, MOM, PLM, CAD, and related manufacturing technologies.
• Build a strong understanding of LightGuide software, hardware, architecture, capabilities, and technical limitations.

• Apply engineering judgment and manufacturing best practices to improve quality, productivity, ergonomics, standardization, traceability, and error-proofing.
• Use principles from lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, the Toyota Production System, human factors, and ergonomics where appropriate.
• Troubleshoot complex technical issues spanning mechanical, electrical, controls, software, networking, and manufacturing processes.
• Continuously improve the tools, processes, standards, and methods used to design and deploy LightGuide solutions.

• Visit customer facilities to understand processes, assess potential applications, collect technical requirements, and support deployments.
• Clearly communicate technical concepts, recommendations, tradeoffs, and system requirements to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate constructively with customers, suppliers, integrators, and LightGuide team members throughout a project's lifecycle.
• Support system installation, commissioning, training, troubleshooting, and documentation as needed.
• Help ensure customers receive solutions that are technically sound and deliver measurable value.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a closely related technical field.
• 2+ years of professional engineering, product development, systems integration, manufacturing engineering, applications engineering, or related technical experience.
• Strong analytical and hands-on problem-solving skills.
• Ability to understand complex technical systems and identify practical solutions.
• Comfortable working across multiple engineering disciplines rather than within a single narrow specialty.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers and collaborate across technical and commercial teams.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Comfortable working with PC hardware and Microsoft Windows environments.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively as part of a collaborative team.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn unfamiliar technologies, tools, and manufacturing processes.

Experience in one or more of the following areas is highly valued but not required:

• MES, ERP, MRP, QMS, MOM, PLM, or CAD systems
• Networking and industrial communications
• PLCs, robots, sensors, cameras, smart tools, or machine vision
• Manufacturing or industrial environments
• Applications engineering, systems engineering, or solutions engineering
• Customer-facing technical roles
• Industrial automation or controls
• Mechanical design, fixtures, tooling, or workstation design
• Manufacturing software or enterprise system integration
• Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Toyota Production System, or continuous improvement methodologies
• Technical project leadership or coordination

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, feel or operate objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; stand; talk and hear; walk; sit, climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; and lift or move up to thirty-five (35) pounds.  Employees are required to use a computer keyboard.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Be able to work on a flexible schedule, when necessary, with potential to flex hours to accommodate customer requirements.  Occasional requirement to work late or during a weekend to accommodate a customer schedule or time zone. Ability to pass a drug screen may be required when applicable.    

Approximately 20–25% domestic and international travel is required. Travel may include visits to customer manufacturing facilities for application discovery, design reviews, installation, commissioning, training, and technical support.

Some projects may occasionally require schedule flexibility to accommodate customer production schedules, installation windows, or time zones.

Successful Application Engineers at LightGuide are:

• Problem solvers who enjoy turning ambiguous manufacturing challenges into practical engineering solutions.
• Technically curious and comfortable learning across software, hardware, automation, and manufacturing.
• Customer focused and able to understand the problem behind the technical requirement.
• Collaborative and effective working with Sales, Engineering, Operations, customers, suppliers, and partners.
• Hands-on and willing to move between design work, troubleshooting, customer conversations, and deployment activities.
• Accountable and comfortable taking ownership of a solution from concept through implementation.
• Continuous learners who look for better ways to design, document, deploy, and support systems.

LightGuide, Inc. values, promotes, and celebrates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) and encourages all women, men, minorities, those with a disability, veterans, and LGBTQ+ individuals to apply to our open positions.

LightGuide, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, gender, color, religion, age, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.