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

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.

About MuRay Tech

MuRay builds compact laser-plasma accelerators that generate a controlled muon beam. Muon scans today are passive and take days. Active Muon Imaging produces the same scan in seconds, at higher resolution. We work with partners in aerospace, defence, and energy today. Next: security, customs, and medical imaging.

MuRay Tech develops safe, rapid and accurate active muon imaging solutions for industrial quality assessment, security and customs inspection and medical diagnostics. Our platform combines laser-plasma-accelerator-driven muon sources, next-generation particle detectors and AI to enable high-resolution 3D imaging with automated decision-making.

The company operates at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, and Tehnopol in Tallinn, Estonia. Our main development partners span the energy, defence, aerospace and security industries. Our initial technology and business focus is on the quality and safety assessment of critical metallic and ceramic components, such as rocket engines, gas turbines, jet engines, and large-scale nuclear or industrial systems.