Junior AI Research Scientist

At S[&]T we contribute to a safer life on Earth by translating space data into valuable and actionable insights. With this, we help organizations, governments and commercial entities to strengthen their information position and thereby improve their decision-making. We focus on 4 domains: Space & Science, Defence & Security, Environment & Sustainability and the High-Tech Industry. We control all levels of the data value chain from data source to user applications, and apply our expertise within our innovations, customer projects and talent acquisition services. Our headquarters are in Delft, The Netherlands and we have two satellite offices in Oslo, Norway and Rome, Italy with a total of 125 experts employed at S[&]T.

We are currently looking for a Junior AI Research Scientist to join the team in Helmond!

As mobility becomes increasingly connected and automated, ensuring that new vehicle technologies are introduced safely and responsibly is becoming more important than ever. The team you would be joining develops advanced technologies and assessment methodologies that support the safe deployment of Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) systems.

A major focus of the team is the development of scenario-based safety assessment methods for automated driving. To demonstrate that automated driving functions can operate safely on public roads, they must be tested against the wide variety of situations they may encounter in real-world traffic.

For this purpose, the team develops and maintains a data-processing pipeline that automatically detects, classifies and analyses driving scenarios based on real-world vehicle sensor data. Vehicle activities and interactions are identified, parametrised and stored in a scenario database, which can subsequently be used to test and assess automated driving functions.

The platform is developed in close collaboration with industrial and governmental partners and continues to grow in functionality and adoption. Current developments increasingly focus on assessing the safety of advanced and end-to-end AI-based driving systems.

Because the technology is used in the safety assessment of high-risk systems, explainability, reproducibility, and traceability are essential. For this reason, much of the underlying functionality relies on conventional deterministic algorithms rather than purely AI-based approaches.

In this role, you will develop new functionality for this driving-data analysis pipeline, primarily by designing and implementing deterministic algorithms in Python. Together with the development team and external partners, you will help translate technical and functional requirements into reliable, thoroughly tested software.

You will also contribute to the development of new knowledge and methodologies that support organisations responsible for evaluating the safety of current and future automated vehicles.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve deterministic detection and data-analysis algorithms in Python.
• Translate loosely defined requirements into robust and directly usable software functionality.
• Work with real-world vehicle sensor and driving datasets.
• Process and analyse large datasets in a cloud environment.
• Develop, test and deploy new components of the data-processing pipeline.
• Work closely with other developers, technical specialists and the Product Owner to validate assumptions, approaches and solutions.
• Contribute to sprint planning, roadmap discussions and other Agile development activities.
• Ensure that developed functionality is thoroughly tested, reproducible and explainable.
• Contribute ideas, technical solutions and improvements during team meetings.
• Support the development of methodologies and technical knowledge related to automated-driving safety assessment.
• Collaborate with industrial and governmental stakeholders working on automated mobility and vehicle safety.
• Contribute to other projects within the broader mobility and vehicle technology domain to expand your expertise and impact.

Requirements

• MSc degree in Data Science, Automotive Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science or a comparable technical field.
• Early-career profile with a strong foundation in data analytics, data science and/or AI-related methodologies.
• At least 2 years of experience programming in Python.
• Good knowledge of statistics and quantitative data analysis.
• Ability to work independently and organise your own activities.
• Familiarity with Agile software development.
• Experience with version-control and software-development workflows such as Git and CI/CD.
• Interest in connecting software development with real-world applications and safety-assessment methodologies.
• Comfortable working collaboratively in a multidisciplinary technical team.
• Proficient in both spoken and written Dutch and English.

Experience with one or more of the following would be considered an advantage:

• Software simulation
• Software testing
• Software architecture
• Databases
• Cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure

Interested? Then click to apply or send your CV and motivational letter to [email protected].

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