AI for Science Engineer / AI for Science Engineeress

Introduction

The ETH AI Center is one of the largest AI centers in Europe, featuring over 130 professors from all 16 departments of ETH Zurich, as well as more than 1,500 associated PhD students and post-docs. Our mission is to promote interdisciplinary AI research and facilitate the transition from scientific discovery to societal impact.

Project Background

As an AI for Science Engineer, you will be at the forefront of developing advanced AI systems that enable researchers at ETH to accelerate their work. You will collaborate with research labs to identify scientific challenges and co-develop innovative solutions, including multi-step pipelines that plan and orchestrate simulations and experiments, curate data, evaluate models, and integrate domain-specific tools in unprecedented ways.

This role is perfect for an engineer passionate about deploying AI solutions rather than merely constructing infrastructure. If you see a research challenge and immediately begin brainstorming combinations of agents, models, and pipelines to tackle it, we want to hear from you! A portion of your work will involve collaboration with external research and industry partners.

Job Responsibilities

• Collaborate with research labs across ETH to identify high-impact use cases for agentic AI and co-develop novel pipelines and tools.
• Develop planning and orchestration components that convert research goals into executable workflows, considering constraints such as cost, latency, and fidelity, and adapt these workflows as new results emerge.
• Ensure that system processes are transparent: create traceable runs, reproducible results, and interfaces that allow researchers to understand and guide the work.
• Support research teams in data preparation and curation, helping them optimize, specialize, and deploy models through techniques like fine-tuning, distillation, quantization, and efficient inference.
• Contribute to evaluating and benchmarking AI systems in scientific tasks, including both open and closed frontier AI models.
• Create and open-source reusable recipes, reference architectures, and templates that lower the barrier for others to build upon.
• Stay at the cutting edge of agentic AI by assessing emerging frameworks, prototyping new patterns, and advising research teams.
• Engage in teaching and student projects.

Your Profile

• Preferably hold a doctorate in computer science or a related computational discipline; a master's degree with significant relevant experience is also welcomed. Engaging with researchers on their terms is essential.
• Experience in building and deploying agentic or LLM-based systems end-to-end, with typically 1–3 years of relevant experience (exceptional recent graduates are encouraged to apply).
• Strong software and systems engineering skills, including services, APIs, data pipelines, containers, and CI/CD.
• Hands-on experience with modern AI/ML tooling (LLM APIs, agent frameworks, RAG pipelines, PyTorch, HuggingFace) and proficiency in model optimization and efficient inference.
• Experience with GPU computing and high-performance or distributed computing environments.
• Familiarity with planning, scheduling, workflow engines, or reasoning systems, as well as scientific computing workflows, is advantageous; open-source contributions are a strong plus.
• An effective communicator who can bridge the gap between researchers and engineers—proactive, delivery-oriented, and eager to empower others in their work.
• Fluency in English.

What We Offer

If you are a highly motivated individual with a passion for AI and a desire to make a significant impact in a rapidly evolving field, we invite you to apply online using the form below. Join the ETH AI Center and work at the forefront of AI research in Europe, collaborating with leading faculty, global partners, and a thriving ecosystem in Zurich.

ETH Zurich is a family-friendly employer that offers excellent working conditions. You can expect an exciting work environment, cultural diversity, and a range of attractive benefits.

Curious? So Are We.

We look forward to receiving your online application, including your resume, cover letter, and any relevant portfolio or project samples.

For more information about the ETH AI Center, please visit our website.

Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.