Type of contract: Member of the European Commission’s contract staff, Function Group IV (article 3b of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants)
Duration of contract: 36 months (renewable up to maximum 6 years)
Area: Data Engineering, Information retrieval, Artificial Intelligence
Place of employment: Brussels (BE) (or Ispra to be agreed in the interest of the Service)
Indicative basic salary: 4,270.49 – 6,185.58 € (applicable as of 1st of July 2024)
For more detailed information please consult: Working Conditions
WE ARE
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. The current vacancy is with the Data Governance and Service Unit of the Digital Transformation and Data Directorate. The mission of the Unit is to unlock the potential of the Digital Transition, providing scientific insights and services which help businesses, researchers and policymakers innovate through data. It fosters a culture of data-driven excellence within the JRC through cutting-edge methods, tools and services to support evidence-based policy-making, increase Europe’s competitiveness and address global challenges. The Unit considers strategic issues around the ICT infrastructure required for both the JRC scientific community and more broadly as regards data-sharing at European scale. By ensuring better management, preservation and dissemination of data assets with a focus on FAIR and AI-ready data, the unit can maximize the overall effectiveness and impact of the JRC’s work. The Unit is located in two JRC sites (Ispra and Brussels).
The jobholder will work across different projects, in particular: providing scientific and technical input to Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcement, creating innovative solutions to underpin our data operations, and integrating AI solutions with external data sources. Concretely, s/he will:
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carry out and managing applied research projects aiming to assess societal risks posed by online platforms, and the effectiveness of mitigation measures put in place;
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contribute to the development of state-of-the-art AI and data science tools, including MLOps to obtain reproducible workflows, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) including information harvesting and retrieval for LLMs, innovative AI solutions such as AI agents that integrate with external data sources.
We offer:
A dynamic and multidisciplinary work environment. The candidate will join a team of applied scientists and researchers working at the intersection of technology and regulatory enforcement. S/he will have the opportunity to directly support EU policies, in particular by enforcing the Digital Services Act.
WE PROPOSE
This position provides the successful candidate with the opportunity to:
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join a dynamic team working on ground-breaking projects on information retrieval, data science, algorithmic systems and artificial intelligence, with a tremendous societal impact;
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help make the online space safer for all Europeans, while working on some of the most exciting and complex technical challenges brought about by large online platforms;
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closely collaborate with legal and policy experts as part of multidisciplinary case teams working on the enforcement of the Digital Services Act and Artificial Intelligence Act;
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work on cutting-edge AI such as natural language processing (NLP) and foundational model projects with a talented team of researchers and engineers;
S/he will join the DAIS (Data Analytics and Infrastructure Services) project. We are looking for experts in technical areas such as data science, information retrieval, and artificial intelligence. The position is currently located in Brussels (BE), if agreed in the interest of the Service, it could be moved to Ispra (IT).
WE LOOK FOR
We are looking for applied data engineers, data scientists, Information retrieval experts, AI experts and computer scientists with a keen interest in supporting EU digital policies and regulations. You should have the following experience/skills (essential):
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A university degree and at least 3 years of experience or a PhD (doctoral diploma) in disciplines relevant to this vacancy such as computer science, Information retrieval, AI or engineering.
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Practical experience in data science, data engineering, computer science projects, or in the design, implementation and evaluation of state-of-the-art AI systems.
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Very good (C1) knowledge of English.
Any of the following optional skills and experience would be highly desirable:
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Experience in the design and architecture of complex data management systems or in developing state-of-the-art solutions for data engineering, information retrieval and analysis.
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Experience designing and conducting scientific research and experimentation in order to assess the risks posed by complex sociotechnical systems and algorithmic systems.
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Experience managing technical projects, with the ability to coordinate their execution and completion, assisting with running the work of multidisciplinary teams.
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Experience in software engineering and development, with the ability to build, maintain and deploy high quality data science and AI libraries, tools and applications in Python programming language.
HOW TO APPLY
If you are already on a valid CAST FG IV reserve list, or you have already applied to one of the calls below, you can directly submit your application at JRC Recruitment Portal. If not, before applying to this position, you must register for one of the two following databases:
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the Call for Expressions of Interest | EU Careers (europa.eu) (CAST Permanent FG IV), which is used by a wide range of organisations (institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union), or
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the specialised call for researchers (JRC Call COM/1/2015/GFIV – Research), which is mainly used by the JRC.
Note that each of the calls above has different minimum eligibility requirements and different selection tests.
The JRC cultivates a workplace based on respect for other people and the environment, and embraces non-discriminatory practices and equality of opportunity. In case of equal merit, preference will be given to the gender in minority.