AI & Research Scientist (f/m)

About Spacebackend 

Spacebackend is on a mission to accelerate satellite integration through an AI-driven, automation platform that transforms complex hardware specifications into unified digital-twin models and intelligent autonomy solutions.

Role Overview 

As Lead AI & Research Scientist, you will architect and implement advanced language and intelligence models to convert technical interface specifications into digital-twin representations, identify gaps or ambiguities in those specifications, and lay the groundwork for unified on-board spacecraft autonomy.

What You’ll Do 

1. Domain-Adapted Language Models

• Design and train custom transformer-based models to ingest manufacturer interface specifications and generate structured, machine-actionable digital-twin schemas. 

• Leverage embedding methods, retrieval-augmented generation, and knowledge-graph techniques to ensure high-fidelity mapping of hardware capabilities.

1. Ambiguity & Completeness Detection

• Fine-tune existing large-scale models to flag missing or conflicting information in source specifications and generate curated feedback for engineers. 

• Develop metrics and evaluation pipelines to quantify specification coverage and ambiguity reduction over iterative training cycles.

1. Autonomy & Control Research 

• Prototype neural and hybrid architectures (e.g., CNNs, reinforcement learning policies, LLMs) that use the digital-twin representation to command and simulate spacecraft behaviors. 

• Collaborate with systems and embedded teams to define interfaces between model outputs and on-board flight software modules for autonomy.

1. Research Process & Experimentation 

• Lead hypothesis-driven research: design experiments, collect data, analyze results, and publish findings internally. 

• Establish reproducible ML infrastructure: experiment tracking, model versioning, and containerized training pipelines (e.g., MLflow, Docker, Kubernetes).

1. Collaboration & Mentorship 

• Guide junior researchers and interns, foster knowledge sharing, and promote an open-minded, iterative R&D culture.

Who Are We Looking For

We are seeking a researcher who:

1. Bridges Theory & Practice: You translate creative AI research into robust, production-ready pipelines. 

2. Iterative & Results-Oriented: You prototype rapidly, validate against real datasets, and refine models in agile cycles without losing momentum. 

3. Collaborative Innovator: You collaborate across functions (embedded, systems, DevOps) to integrate AI outputs into broader satellite workflows. 

4. Aspires to Leadership: an experienced engineer excited to grow into a senior R&D manager, and to take on increasing responsibility and shape our research directions over time.

5. Has a startup Mindset: You are going to work in an early-stage startup, your state of mind is flexible, open to creativity, enthusiasm for solving complex things.

Required Qualifications

1. MSc or PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, Electrical Engineering, or related field 

2. 3+ years of hands-on AI/ML/NLP/DNN/CNN research or engineering experience 

3. Expertise in transformer architecture, fine-tuning frameworks (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers) 

4. Strong Python proficiency and experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow 

5. Experience building data pipelines for large technical document collections 

6. Familiarity with reinforcement learning or neural control methods 

7. Practical knowledge of containerized, scalable AI/ML infrastructure (Docker, Kubernetes) 

8. Demonstrated record of published research or open-source contributions

Preferred (Nice-to-Have)

1. Background in aerospace or robotics autonomy research 

2. Experience in knowledge graphs, ontologies, or graph neural networks 

3. Familiarity with simulation environments (Gazebo, CoppeliaSim) or digital-twin frameworks 

4. Prior work on uncertainty quantification or interpretability in ML models

What We Offer 

1. Salary + equity package 

2. Flexible hours & on-site work at Technoport Belval, Luxembourg 

3. Career path to technical lead or executive roles

4. Opportunity to pioneer AI for satellite autonomy 

How to Apply 

Please send your CV, a brief cover letter, and links to relevant projects or GitHub repos to contact@spacebackend.com with the subject line: AI & Research Scientist

Important note: We know that no candidate meets every single requirement. However, if you’re passionate about the role and meet most of the requirements, please contact us!