Software Developer - C++ (Co-op)

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.

Role Overview:

Apera AI is seeking a Software Developer (Co-op) with strong C++ skills and an interest in robotics to join our Apera Vue engineering team for the 8 months term period (Jan 2027 - August 2027). You'll contribute to the development of real-time machine vision applications that power robotic systems across manufacturing and automation environments.

This role is based in-person at our Vancouver office.

In this role, you'll build features in C++, support image processing and robotics integration, and contribute to testing efforts in both simulated and physical lab environments. Your work will improve the performance, reliability, and scalability of a system used on real factory floors.

Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

Purpose You'll contribute to the core of our 4D Vision Technology, helping robots perceive and act in complex, real-world environments. Your code will directly impact robotic accuracy, speed, and adaptability.

Growth You'll deepen your understanding of robotics, computer vision, and modern C++ development. You'll gain experience working in a professional R&D environment with exposure to production code, lab hardware, and team-based workflows.

Motivators You'll collaborate with engineers solving high-impact technical challenges. You'll take on meaningful tasks that go beyond academic exercises, seeing your code influence how robots make decisions in real time.

Major Objectives

• Develop and Ship Core C++ Features for Apera Vue Within the first 8-10 weeks, contribute a discrete feature or performance improvement to the Apera Vue application. [Tech: C++, Qt, OpenCV]

• Support Robotic Integration and Image Processing Assist in testing and debugging real-world vision system behavior with robotic systems in the lab. Identify edge cases and performance issues. Suggest and test code-level improvements. [Tech: Linear algebra, multithreading, image pipelines]

• Improve Code Quality through Testing and Review Participate in unit testing, test coverage expansion, and refactoring. Contribute to automated testing infrastructure to ensure robustness as the product scales. [Tools: CMake, Git, GTest, internal CI tools]

Critical Subtasks

• Participate in daily standups, planning, and code review sessions with experienced engineers.

• Implement C++ modules that interact with vision data, robot pose data, or internal image pipelines.

• Run and validate your code in a live robotic lab environment.

• Write tests and help investigate edge cases or bugs in production builds.

• Contribute to documentation and developer notes for the next co-op or new team members.

• Learn from performance profiling tools to understand how to optimize for speed and memory.

Culture and Situation Fit

At Apera AI, we blend scientific exploration with product execution. Our teams move quickly and iterate often, balancing R&D depth with industry-level engineering. You'll succeed here if:

• You enjoy learning by building and testing in the real world.

• You're curious about how software meets robotics, perception, and physical action.

• You value clean, well-documented code and thoughtful collaboration.

Required Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of C++, including object-oriented design and memory management.

• Solid foundation in linear algebra, vectors, and 3D transforms.

• Experience with version control (e.g., Git).

• Experience with software projects through coursework, personal work, or prior co-op/internships.

Bonus Experience (Not Required)

• Experience in Linux development environments.

• Exposure to computer vision or robotics libraries (OpenCV, ROS, PCL).

• Knowledge of multithreading or networking in C++.

• Familiarity with Python for scripting and automation

The compensation for this co-op role is CAD $3,600 to $4,500 per month. This is your opportunity to gain hands-on learning experience in one of the fastest-growing industries at the intersection of robotics, AI, and industrial automation.

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