Founding AI/ML Engineer (m/f/d)

Summary

MuRay Tech is a deeptech spinout from DESY, Hamburg. We're hiring a Founding AI/ML Engineer to build our AI/ML function from the ground up. You'll set the technical strategy for two hard problems: density reconstruction from high-flux muon detector data, and autonomous control of our laser-plasma accelerator. As a founding hire, you'll also build the team, the simulation chain, and the training infrastructure. Broad scope. Direct ownership of a core part of the product.

The role

As Founding AI/ML Engineer, you'll own AI/ML strategy and execution across the company. That spans detector data, accelerator control, and internal tooling. You will:

• Build the AI/ML team. Hands-on at first. Hire and structure it as scope grows.
• Set the strategy for density reconstruction from muon detector hit data. Build the simulation chain and training infrastructure to develop and validate the models.
• Develop autonomous LPA operation and control. Build systems that optimise their own working point.
• Build AI/ML at MuRay from the ground up, across the company and the product.

What you'll bring

• A track record of building ML teams. You've grown an ML team from a small base before, at a startup or research lab. You're ready to be hands-on again before the team here exists.
• Depth in ill-posed inverse problems. Physics or medical imaging reconstruction experience. The judgment to know when classical methods break down and simulation-based, probabilistic methods are the better answer.
• ML control of real hardware. Hands-on experience with Bayesian optimization, reinforcement learning, or similar methods. Applied to a physical system with a slow or costly feedback loop.
• End-to-end pipeline experience. You've taken physics simulation output through to a trained, deployed model. You've handled the sim-to-real gap.
• Physics fluency and pragmatic engineering judgment. Comfort at the ML/physics interface. A bias toward infrastructure that fits a small team, not a hyperscaler.
• Communication people trust. You translate cleanly between ML, physics, and business audiences. You prioritise validated, defensible results over impressive demos.

How we work

• Skunkworks approach: We work in small teams with full ownership. We keep it simple, stupid.
• Move fast: a shiny prototype means we spent too long on it. We build to learn. We polish later.
• Disagree together, commit together: we debate and challenge, regardless of title. Then we deliver the decision as one team. We win as a team. We pivot as a team.
• Courage: we always make the call. A mistake isn't a failure: it's proof we're improving. Either way, we own the outcome.
• Honesty and transparency: we share what's really happening, good or bad. That lets everyone make the right call. We stay open. We stay honest.

What we offer

• Impact: you'll shape MuRay's technical direction. You'll help build the next generation of non-destructive testing methods.
• Autonomy: this is a founding role. You build the team, infrastructure, and tooling from the ground up.
• Network: research collaborators include DESY, DLR, CERN, and Imperial College London. Commercial partners include Siemens Energy, Airbus, Caelora, and ZAL.
• Infrastructure: you have access to LUMI. You also have access to an H200 GPU cluster in Hamburg.
• Ownership: an equity plan gives you a meaningful stake in the company.
• Compensation: a salary that reflects your contribution to MuRay's growth.
• Relocation: we support your move. If you're relocating from outside the EU, we help with the paperwork.

Contact

For any additional questions, feel free to reach out to [email protected] or apply directly through our application form!

We are looking forward to hearing from you.