Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Architect

The SatCen is seeking suitable candidates to establish a reserve list for the position of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Architect. The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Architect will be mainly focused on the development of Machine Learning Applications., The AI/ML Software Development Project Manager should assist the Head of IT Division in leading to completion software development projects for the benefit of SatCen and its end-users. The AI/ML Software Development Project Manager will be responsible, amongst others, for the following duties:

• The definition of user and system requirements through the interaction with relevant stakeholders;
• The architectural design of technical solutions and choice of technologies;
• The development of software solutions, focused in leveraging the use of AI;
• The day-by-day execution of projects by implementing appropriate technical and coordination actions with internal and external providers;
• The preparation of documents such as project proposals/deliverables and tender specifications;
• Perform any other duty as assigned by the Head of Division., * Hold a security clearance at least at the level of EU SECRET, or equivalent. In case the successful candidate is not in possession of such a clearance at the time of submitting an application, the SatCen will request it, and no appointment will be fully confirmed until the security clearance has been received by the competent national authority. In addition, and during the selection procedure, candidates will need to declare any particular circumstances which could be in conflict with the performance of their duties at SatCen;
• Be physically fit to perform their duties. Prior to the appointment the successful candidate will be medically examined to fulfil the requirement of Article 6 of the SatCen Staff Regulations.

As the SatCen is situated in an air force base outside of Madrid, with limited access by public transport to the entrance of the base and no public transport on the base itself, a driving licence is highly desirable. It is the duty of any staff member to get to the office by their own means.

2. Selection criteria:

Applications will be assessed based on the information provided by the candidates in the Application Form, and their performance against the following criteria, The Selection Board will propose a list of successful candidates (reserve list) to the Director, who will make the final decision., Disabled candidates are encouraged to apply. If you have a disability or medical condition that may hinder ability to sit the interview or written test, please indicate this in your application and let us know the type of special arrangements you need.

SatCen staff members are recruited on the broadest possible geographical basis from among nationals of all Member States of the European Union.

Data Protection:

The SatCen ensures that candidates' personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and Agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC. (Official Journal of the European Union L 295, 21 November 2018, p. 39-98).

Unless indicated otherwise, any personal data will be processed solely for the purpose of the recruitment procedure. Details concerning the processing of personal data in recruitment procedures are available in this privacy statement.

• Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three years attested by a diploma or equivalent qualification;
• Be a national of one of the Member States of the Union and enjoy their full rights as citizen;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws concerning military service;
• Produce evidence of a thorough knowledge of English (at least level B2^1), the working language of SatCen, and of a satisfactory knowledge of another official language of the EU to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties., Essential:
• Level of education, preferably in the field of Computer science and in Informatics Systems or equivalent, which corresponds to completed university degree of at least three years attested by a diploma;
• A minimum of 1-year professional experience in developing and implementing ML/AI based software solutions., * Good knowledge of software development life cycle and modern software engineering methodologies;
• Proven experience in the development of operational AI/ML applications using ML Frameworks (TensorFlow, Pytorch etc.);
• Proven experience developing container-based applications;
• Working knowledge of vector databases and how to integrate them in downstream applications;
• Experience in evaluating and adapting open-source models for task specific use cases;
• Knowledge in modern AI/ML technologies and their applications in Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing solutions;
• Excellent time management skills, ability to prioritise and to work well under pressure or with tight deadlines;
• Strong drafting and communication skills in English, both orally and in writing, at least at the level B2;
• High sense of discretion and confidentiality, as well as strong professional and human ethics, respect, integrity, commitment and dedication.

Desirable:

• User experience with MLOps tooling, such as, experiment tracking, dataset versioning and model registry tools;
• Experience in fine-tuning foundation models for embedding extraction;
• Knowledge of developing, packaging and deploying applications for Kubernetes orchestration platform;
• Knowledge of practices for developing secure applications;
• Knowledge of DevSecOps practices and associated tooling;
• Awareness of classified working environment procedures.

All essential and desirable criteria are evaluated so as to identify the most suitable candidates., All applications must be submitted in English.

For applications to be valid, candidates shall use the SatCen e-recruitment platform by following the link of the reference of the vacancy. No applications can be accepted by any other means of submission.

Part-time work will be taken into account in proportion to the percentage of full-time hours worked; therefore, candidates are requested to indicate the percentage of part-time employment. PhDs may be counted as professional experience if the candidates received a study grant or salary during the time of PhD studies. The maximum duration counted for PhD is three years provided that the PhD has been successfully concluded by the closing date for applications of the selection procedure.

Monthly basic salary: Between €4,948.82 at step 1, and €5246.54 at step 3 in grade A1. The final grading upon recruitment depends on the relevant work experience. This basic salary will be supplemented, where applicable, by various allowances (see point 7 below)., Successful candidate(s) may be offered a contract as a permanent staff member in accordance with the SatCen Staff Regulations, for an initial period of 4 (four) years, renewable.

Successful candidate(s) who will be offered a contract of employment will, on their entry into service, be placed in grade A1, and step 1, 2 or 3 depending on the length of their relevant professional experience. The basic monthly salaries in the different grades and steps of the Coordinated Organisations salary scale are published on the SatCen's website.

In addition to the basic monthly salary, the following benefits might apply:

• Additional specific allowances (e.g. expatriation (up to 18% of the salary), household, dependent child, education, installation), depending on the individual's family situation and the place of origin;
• Flexible work arrangements (such as part-time work, flexible working hours, teleworking, home leave) under certain conditions;
• Training and development opportunities;
• Annual leave entitlement of 30 days;
• Maternity/paternity leave and parental leave under certain conditions;
• Private Medical Insurance Scheme enabling access to worldwide medical care;
• Defined-benefit pension scheme, with right to a retirement pension accrued after 10 years of service.

The salary is subject to a community tax deducted at source and exempt of national taxation.

The European Union Satellite Centre supports the decision making and actions of the European Union in the field of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), in particular Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), including European Union crisis management missions and operations, by providing products and services resulting from the exploitation of relevant space assets and collateral data, including satellite imagery and aerial imagery, and related services. SatCen is a decentralised agency of the EU working under the supervision of the Political and Security Committee and the operational direction of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Centre was founded in 1992 as a Western European Union body and incorporated as an agency into the European Union on 1 January 2002. SatCen offers challenging and rewarding careers to enthusiastic, motivated and highly skilled people who want to work within an international environment and contribute to the vision of this organisation. The seat of SatCen is in Torrejón de Ardoz, in the vicinity of Madrid, Spain., The appeal procedure is reflected in Chapter VIII, Art. 28 of the SatCen Staff Regulations, also published on the SatCen website. If an applicant considers to have been adversely affected by a particular decision, a complaint can be lodged under Article 28 of the SatCen Staff Regulations, to the following address: SatCen Base Aérea Torrejón de Ardoz Avenida de Cádiz, Edificio 457 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain