Senior Customer Support Engineer (perm role)

Cognex is the world’s leading provider of vision systems, software, sensors, and industrial barcode readers used in manufacturing automation. Cognex Vision helps companies improve product quality, eliminate production errors, lower manufacturing costs, and exceed consumer expectations for high quality products at an affordable price. Typical applications for machine vision include detecting defects, monitoring production lines, guiding assembly robots, and tracking, sorting and identifying parts. Cognex serves an international customer base from offices located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and through a global network of integration and distribution partners. The company is headquartered close to Boston in Natick, Massachusetts

As a Senior Customer Support Engineer, you will serve as a key point of contact and entry point for incoming customer requests, delivering expert remote technical support to English and Italian speaking Cognex customers across Europe. You will take ownership of complex and high-impact technical issues, driving resolution across teams and acting as a technical reference within a distributed team of engineers. You will play a critical role in ensuring customer success by understanding customer needs, leading effective resolution strategies, and maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. Collaboration on effective resolutions and customer satisfaction is achieved via participation in our customer interaction recording platform. You will work with a diverse customer base, including end users, system integrators, and machine builders. This role requires a strong customer-first mindset, deep technical curiosity, and a proactive, solution-oriented approach to problem-solving, along with the ability to influence best practices and support continuous improvement within the team.

We are looking for a Senior Customer Support Engineer in our Milan, Italy office working on a hybrid schedule - 3 days in the office and 2 remote.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the front-line technical escalation point for Cognex products, handling complex customer requests submitted via web and phone
• Lead the resolution of complex or high-impact technical issues, including cross-functional coordination with engineering and product teams
• Understand customer environments, ask effective troubleshooting questions, assess severity, and define resolution strategies
• Troubleshoot and reproduce advanced technical issues, identify root causes, and deliver robust solutions or workarounds
• Drive end-to-end ownership of critical cases, ensuring timely resolution and a high level of customer satisfaction
• Maintain clear and proactive communication with customers, providing regular updates and managing expectations
• Accurately document and manage cases in the CRM system, ensuring high-quality and actionable records, including participation in recorded customer interactions in line with standard support practices.
• Identify unexpected product behaviors and elevate issues appropriately while contributing to long-term product improvement
• Act as a technical reference for the team, providing guidance and support on complex troubleshooting scenarios
• Mentor and support junior engineers in both technical problem-solving and customer interaction
• Contribute to knowledge sharing by creating and reviewing knowledge base articles, FAQs, and technical documentation
• Identify recurring issues and drive root cause analysis to improve support processes and product quality
• Collaborate with global support teams to ensure consistent, high-quality support across regions
• Stay up to date with Cognex technologies and contribute to continuous learning within the team

Core Skills (Required)

• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills, with the ability to diagnose complex, multi-layered technical issues across hardware, software, and networking
• Familiarity with industrial and automation environments, including basic knowledge of PLCs, robotics, or manufacturing systems
• Understanding of networking fundamentals and industrial communication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, Ethernet/IP, Profinet, Modbus)
• Ability to interpret technical documentation, system architectures, and wiring diagrams
• Ability to reproduce issues and validate solutions in a structured and methodical manner
• Strong capability to lead technical investigations and independently drive resolution of complex issues
• Clear and effective communication skills, with the ability to adapt to different customer profiles (technical and non-technical)
• Customer-first mindset with a structured, solution-oriented approach to problem-solving
• Ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies, particularly in industrial vision systems

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with machine vision fundamentals, including optics, lighting, and image acquisition principles
• Experience with Cognex products and technologies (e.g., DataMan, In-Sight, VisionPro, Deep Learning)
• Exposure to image processing, computer vision, or deep learning applications
• Experience leading complex troubleshooting scenarios in customer-facing environments
• Knowledge of programming and software debugging (script-based or object-oriented environments)
• Familiarity with complex system integration (machine builders, system integrators, end-user environments)
• Experience working in an international or multicultural environment

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of experience in a technical support or customer-facing engineering role within electronics, robotics, manufacturing, automation, or IT environments
• Proven experience handling complex technical issues and customer interactions in a professional environment
• Experience mentoring or supporting junior engineers is a plus
• Professional proficiency in English and Italian (spoken and written)
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative, international, and distributed team environment
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage tasks with accuracy and consistency
• Comfortable working in an office environment and using standard computer and communication tools, including extended phone interactions
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally on an occasional basis (approximately 1–2 times per year)