Applied AI Engineer

Euro-BioImaging Hiring: Applied AI Engineer Location: Turku, Finland (Euro-BioImaging ERIC Statutory Seat) Full-time position | Fixed term until 31 December 2028, with possible continuation subject to funding availability | Gross salary starting from €4,000/month, negotiable based on experience and qualifications Shape the future of AI-powered access to European research infrastructures Join Euro-BioImaging, the European research infrastructure providing world-class biological and biomedical imaging services to researchers and industry across Europe and beyond. We are seeking an experienced and forward-looking Applied AI Engineer to shape the development of the Euro-BioImaging Research Navigator — an AI-powered service designed to transform how researchers and industry discover and access advanced imaging technologies, expertise and data services. The role sits at the intersection of user experience, product development and AI-enabled services. You will translate the needs of researchers and research infrastructures into intuitive user journeys and clear product requirements, working closely with AI experts, software developers, user-access managers, scientific experts and research infrastructure partners. About Euro-BioImaging ERIC Euro-BioImaging ERIC is the European research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging. We provide open access to over 120 cutting-edge imaging technologies, expertise, training and data services through a distributed European network of Nodes and imaging facilities. Our mission is to enable excellent and innovative science by connecting researchers and industry with the imaging technologies, services and expertise they need. The projects The position will contribute particularly to two major Horizon Europe initiatives coordinated by Euro-BioImaging ERIC. AI4Access – AI-Driven User Access Services for Euro-BioImaging ERIC will develop the Research Navigator, a natural-language, AI-powered service that guides researchers from scientific questions to appropriate imaging technologies, facilities, workflows and data services. User research, personas, conversational interaction, iterative co-design and usability testing are central to its development. ACCESS2ACCESS – Shaping the Future EU Access Pathways for Research Infrastructures develops the foundations for future cross-domain access to European research infrastructures. Its work includes an AI-assisted service-discovery concept, user journeys, trustworthy-AI principles and a user-tested prototype demonstrating how researchers can move from scientific problems to relevant services across different infrastructures. Your role You will lead the design, development, integration and evaluation of AI-enabled access services at Euro-BioImaging, translating user and scientific needs into trustworthy, user-centred and technically feasible solutions. You will: Lead user research, persona development, user journeys, interaction design, prototyping and usability testing. Translate scientific use cases and research-infrastructure access workflows into product requirements, acceptance criteria and test scenarios. Shape the Research Navigator from early concepts and prototypes through iterative development to a production-ready service. Design and evaluate conversational and AI-assisted user interactions, including how recommendations, evidence, uncertainty and explanations are presented to users. Develop components for RAG, agentic search, structured generation, tool calling and human-in-the-loop workflows, keeping an updated modular model layer. Develop or contribute to MCP adapters, AI-facing APIs, and reusable integration components for open-source models. Establish systematic user-centered evaluation of the Navigator, combining usability, accessibility, task success and trustworthiness. Contribute to responsible-AI implementation, particularly transparency, explainability, privacy, accessibility, human oversight and user trust. Contribute to relevant project deliverables, demonstrations, consortium activities and the development of reusable approaches for other European research infrastructures. Skills & Experience The successful candidate will bring strong applied AI engineering experience and work collaboratively with Euro-BioImaging’s web development team, partner AI developers, and Euro-BioImaging users. Candidates are not expected to have experience with every technology listed below. Key skill-sets Demonstrated experience in digital product development, UX/HCI or service design, preferably involving AI-enabled or technically complex services. Experience applying user-centered methods—such as user research, prototyping and usability testing—to product development. Ability to translate complex scientific, technical or data-intensive processes into clear and intuitive user experiences. Strong Python experience, preferably with FastAPI or Django. Good understanding of APIs, PostgreSQL, search technologies and, ideally, knowle