We’re looking for a Principal Software Engineer who wants to stay deeply
Your code won't just live in a cluster somewhere: it will run inside smart cameras on factory floors and distribution centers around the world. You'll join a team developing software that powers Cognex machine vision systems used across global manufacturing, logistics, and industrial automation. Having built applications in .NET, C++, and Python over the years, the team has recently added Rust.
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer who enjoys shipping meaningful features, solving complex technical problems, and improving a long-lived production platform. You'll remain deeply hands-on with software deployed on our smart camera devices in customer environments, working as part of a small, 10-person team that collaborates with engineering teams around the world, primarily in the US. This isn't embedded firmware development, but it calls for the same mindset: valuing reliability, performance, and thoughtful use of resources over typical cloud-native trade-offs.
ResponsibilitiesDesign, develop, and support production software using .NET and Python, with occasional Angular work and growing use of Rust (including an existing Rust library consumed by C++ products) as part of a growing ecosystem
Translate ambiguous requirements into clear designs, leading them through implementation, testing, and release as reliable features
Investigate and resolve complex technical issues across a mature platform
Make pragmatic technical decisions accounting for product, system, and cross-team dependencies
Enhance engineering practices, code quality, documentation, testability, system stability, and operational confidence
Contribute through code reviews, documentation, and clear technical communication
Collaborate with local and global engineering teams to align dependencies and deliver cohesive solutions
5+ years of software engineering experience delivering multi-release production systems
Strong .NET, OOP Python, Java, or comparable experience, with adaptability for new languages
Experience with production software deployed on physical device hardware (not purely cloud-native or Kubernetes-based)
Comfortable working in Linux environments
Strong analytical, debugging, troubleshooting, and communication skills
Experience with backend systems and frontend frameworks (Angular, React, Vue, etc.)
Resource-conscious design for constrained or operational environments
Understanding of memory, performance, and reliability (no firmware/embedded required)
Cognex products and the industrial automation domain
Angular specifically
Rust and its role in our longer-term platform direction
Auckland-based hybrid (3 days office, 2 WFH)
Close collaboration with US engineering, with occasional early starts
Requires scheduling flexibility to support global customers
Occasional on-call support (~1 week in 6), not a core duty
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Skills Required
- Typically 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
- Strong experience with .NET in long-running production systems
- Strong working knowledge of Python
- Experience with Angular or similar frontend frameworks
- Comfortable working in Linux / Ubuntu environments
Cognex Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Cognex and has not been reviewed or approved by Cognex.
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Healthcare Strength — Health insurance and dental coverage are included, and coverage is described as good compared to alternatives.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — A PTO/Vacation policy is in place and time off is generally considered reasonable; time away is treated as actual downtime without expectations to work.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) match is offered and is characterized as solid, though not best-in-class.
Cognex Insights
What We Do
Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of image-based products, all of which use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that give them the human-like ability to make decisions on what they see. Cognex products include machine vision systems, machine vision sensors and barcode readers that are used in factories and distribution centers around the world where they eliminate production and shipping errors. Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 4 million image-based products, representing over $10 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Cognex has offices and distributors located throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For details visit Cognex online at www.cognex.com.
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