Research Engineer for Language Technologies

Barcelona Supercomputing Center
Barcelona, Spain
3 days ago

Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Full-time (> 32 hours)
Working hours
Shift work
Languages
English, Spanish, Catalan

Job location

Barcelona, Spain

Tech stack

Artificial Intelligence
Data analysis
Computational Linguistics
Linux
Python
Machine Learning
Language Modeling
NLTK
NumPy
Open Source Technology
Supercomputing
Text Mining
Data Processing
High Performance Computing
Large Language Models
Deep Learning
Pandas
Information Technology
Slurm
Spacy
Unsupervised Learning

Job description

The Language Modeling Team is looking for candidates with a background in computational linguistics with experience in Language Technologies, specifically in Deep Learning and large language model building, and possibly in other areas of Natural Language and Speech Processing. The successful candidate will work in a highly sophisticated HPC environment, have access to state-of-the-art systems and computational infrastructures, and establish collaborations with experts in different areas at the local and international levels. The researcher will implement innovative techniques for language modelling and evaluation in the HPC environment. Key Duties

  • Work, in collaboration with the group members, on the design and development of the solutions needed to achieve the goals of the group's research projects.
  • Collaborate with the members of the group in the evaluation and analysis of language models, particularly through the design and improvement of high-quality evaluation frameworks, dataset curation and annotation workflows.
  • All the previous points focusing on the research and deployment of evaluation strategies and the evaluation of instructed LLMs, with a focus on Iberian languages., * A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

  • Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
  • Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es. For more information, please follow this link.

Requirements

  • Degree in Philology, Linguistics or related.
  • Master's degree in Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics or related.
  • Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Good knowledge of Python.
  • Good knowledge of Linux.
  • Knowledge of Machine Learning
  • Basic knowledge of Deep Learning.
  • Experience in NLP and linguistic data processing
  • Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Knowledge of linguistics applied to NLP and Machine Learning.
  • Experience on LLM evaluation.
  • Experience in dataset curation and development of linguistic resources.
  • Experience working with multilingual data, particularly Iberian languages.
  • Theoretical broad knowledge of AI and language technologies.
  • Basic knowledge of HPC workload managers such as Slurm.
  • Knowledge of tools for annotation and corpus processing.
  • Experience in data analysis, including knowledge of NLP libraries such as NLTK, spaCy, Pandas, Numpy and similar tools.
  • Fluency in spoken and written Spanish and English. Knowledge of other Spanish co-official languages will be valued.
  • Competences
  • Capacity to explore new research lines.
  • Good communication and presentation skills.
  • Strong organizational and coordination skills.
  • Attention to detail.
  • Ability to work within a team.

Benefits & conditions

  • The position will be located at BSC within the Directors Department
  • We offer a full-time contract (35h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
  • Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
  • Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
  • Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
  • Starting date: 01/07/2026

About the company

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries. Look at the BSC experience: BSC-CNS YouTube Channel Let's stay connected with BSC Folks! We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured. We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences. If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team. Context And Mission The Language Modeling Team at the newly created AI Institute hosted at BSC has consolidated experience in several NLP areas, such as massive language model building, biomedical text mining, and unsupervised learning for under-resourced languages and domains. It has been entrusted by the Spanish and the Catalan governments with the mission to develop fundamental open- source resources and technologies for Spanish and Catalan. In connection with this, the LM team is currently in charge of two flagship projects at the national and regional level: the ALIA project, funded by the Spanish Secretariat of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, and the AINA project, aimed at developing AI resources for Catalan, funded by the Catalan Digitalisation Department. In addition, the Unit participates in various EU funded international projects. In this context, the newly created AI Institute is looking for talent to help design and improve its operations and infrastructure.

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