Field Application Engineer

Apera is an innovative, Vancouver-based company at the forefront of robotics, AI, and machine vision — recognized with the 2025 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership Award and the 2024 BC Tech "Company of the Year, Growth" award. We're on a mission to redefine AI-driven robotic vision.

Apera AI helps manufacturers make their factories more flexible and productive. Robots enhanced with Apera's software have 4D Vision — the ability to see and grasp objects with human-like capability. Challenging applications such as bin picking, sorting, packaging, and assembly are now open to fast, precise, and reliable automation. We work with the world's leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

Our portfolio spans Vue (our 4D Vision software), Forge (a no-code simulation and AI training studio where customers build, validate, and de-risk robotic cells before any hardware is bought), and VuePod, our new turnkey, productized bin-picking cell.

German version follows below / Deutsche Übersetzung siehe unten

The Role

As a Field Application Engineer, you'll work directly with customers across Europe to plan, simulate, and deploy vision guided robotics applications. You'll be a consultant and educator, guiding them toward getting the most out of their investment.

You'll be the expert who can troubleshoot a calibration issue in the morning and lead a capability workshop in the afternoon. Your success is measured not just by deployments completed, but by customers who genuinely understand and expand what Apera's technology can do for them.

You'll be supported in this role with direct mentorship and oversight from our European Technical Lead — giving you a strong foundation to grow from as you build your own expertise and customer relationships across the region.

Travel is a core part of this role. You should expect to be on-site across Europe up to 75% of the time in some months, and will be asked to travel to Canada or the US for training in your first month on the team.

What You'll Do

Deployment & Commissioning You'll lead on-site installations and commissioning of Apera's vision software — running site assessments, configuring systems, calibrating for production environments, and seeing deployments through to customer sign-off. You bring both technical rigor and a calm, confident presence on the plant floor.

Customer Enablement & Education You believe that a customer who truly understands the technology gets more out of it — and you act on that belief. You'll deliver hands-on training, build familiarity with the software across customer teams, and develop the kind of trusted relationships that make customers reach out to you first when they're thinking about expanding.

Consultative Guidance You're not just executing a deployment plan — you're helping customers see what's possible. You'll engage with plant managers, automation engineers, and operations leads to understand their processes, identify where Apera's technology creates value, and guide them toward applications they may not have considered on their own.

Field Support & Issue Resolution When issues arise post-install, you're responsive and thorough. You diagnose problems systematically, coordinate with internal teams when needed, and drive resolution without letting things linger. Customers trust you to close what you open.

Product Feedback & Documentation You contribute to how Apera improves. You document what you see in the field — recurring challenges, customer questions, application patterns — and feed that back in ways that help the product and the broader team get better. When you solve a new problem, you capture it so it can be repeated.

What We're Looking For

Experience in robotics, machine vision, industrial automation, or a closely related technical field — you're comfortable on production floors and with the people who run them

A natural communicator who can adapt register fluidly — equally at ease in a technical calibration session and a consultative conversation with a plant manager

Genuine interest in customer empowerment, not just task completion — you care whether the customer actually understands and adopts what you've deployed

Fluency in both German and English is required; additional European languages are an asset

Self-directed and organized — you manage your own schedule, travel, and priorities across a multi-country territory

Enthusiasm for a role that is primarily field-based and travel-heavy

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's, Master's, or Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics, or a related discipline

Hands-on experience with FANUC, KUKA, ABB, or other industrial robot platforms

Prior experience in a customer-facing field role — FAE, application specialist, systems integrator, or similar

Based in Germany; candidates based elsewhere in the EU will also be considered

Compensation & Employment

This role is employed through an Employer of Record arrangement, providing full local employment compliance, benefits, and payroll in your country of residence. Compensation includes a competitive base salary, a performance-based variable component, and equity participation — because every Apera employee is an owner.

Specific compensation details will be discussed during the interview process.

Why This Role

You'll be embedded in some of Europe's most sophisticated manufacturing environments, guided by a senior technical mentor, and backed by software that's genuinely changing what's possible on the factory floor. If you want a role where technical depth and human connection are equally valued — and where your work directly expands what your customers believe automation can do for them — this is it.

Über Apera AI

• Apera AI entwickelt Bildverarbeitungssoftware, die Industrierobotern die Fähigkeit verleiht, zu sehen und sich anzupassen – und ermöglicht es Herstellern so, Anwendungen zu automatisieren, die mit herkömmlichen Systemen bisher zu komplex, zu variabel oder zu kostspielig waren. Unsere preisgekrönte 4D Vision™-Software kommt in Produktionsstätten der Automobilindustrie, der Schwerindustrie und der industriellen Automatisierung zum Einsatz und verzeichnet ein rasantes Wachstum in ganz Europa.
• Wir sind ein kleines, leistungsstarkes Team, das eine technisch anspruchsvolle Lösung in einem Markt entwickelt, der dafür bereit ist. Jeder hier übernimmt echte Eigenverantwortung und arbeitet mit einem hohen Maß an Autonomie. Das ist kein Sonderbonus – so arbeiten wir einfach.

Die Stelle

Als Field Application Engineer arbeiten Sie direkt mit Kunden in ganz Europa zusammen, um bildverarbeitungsgestützte Robotikanwendungen zu planen, zu simulieren und zu implementieren. Sie sind Berater und Ausbilder und begleiten die Kunden dabei, das Beste aus ihrer Investition herauszuholen.

Sie sind der Experte, der morgens ein Kalibrierungsproblem beheben und nachmittags einen Workshop zu den Anwendungsmöglichkeiten leiten kann. Ihr Erfolg misst sich nicht nur an den abgeschlossenen Implementierungen, sondern daran, dass Kunden wirklich verstehen und nutzen, was die Technologie von Apera für sie leisten kann.

In dieser Rolle wirst du durch direkte Betreuung und Begleitung durch unseren europäischen Technical Lead unterstützt – das gibt dir eine solide Grundlage, auf der du aufbauen kannst, während du dein eigenes Fachwissen und deine Kundenbeziehungen in der gesamten Region ausbaust.

Reisen sind ein wesentlicher Bestandteil dieser Position. In manchen Monaten solltest du damit rechnen, bis zu 75 % deiner Zeit vor Ort in ganz Europa zu verbringen, und im ersten Monat im Team wirst du zu Schulungen nach Kanada oder in die USA reisen.

Ihre Aufgaben

Implementierung und Inbetriebnahme: Du leitest die Installationen und die Inbetriebnahme der Bildverarbeitungssoftware von Apera vor Ort – du führst Standortbewertungen durch, konfigurierst Systeme, nimmst Kalibrierungen f