Head of AI Research

About the Role

We are a seed-stage deeptech company building an advanced materials acceleration platform at the intersection of physics-informed AI, robotics, and autonomous experimentation — with a focus on the energy sector and beyond. Our mission: compress decades of materials discovery into years by connecting frontier machine learning with real-world experimental pipelines.

We are looking for a Head of AI Research to define and lead our AI-for-Materials research agenda. This is a foundational leadership role for someone who wants to shape not just a team, but a new scientific discipline — inventing the representations, learning paradigms, and evaluation frameworks that will underpin the next generation of materials discovery.

What You'll Do

• Define a clear research vision and roadmap for AI-native materials discovery, setting thesis-level bets and identifying high-impact research directions.

• Identify where existing ML paradigms fall short for physical matter and specify what must be built from the ground up.

• Lead development of a Materials World Model that integrates experiments, simulations, and learned representations across scales.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Programs, Hardware & Automation, and Software Architecture teams to embed research into end-to-end discovery loops.

• Ensure all models and pipelines are grounded in physical reality and continuously validated against experimental feedback — not just data-driven patterns.

• Balance long-horizon research ambitions with near-term deliverables and scientific rigor.

• Build, hire, mentor, and challenge a world-class team of senior ML researchers and computational scientists.

• Foster a culture of deep thinking, honest evaluation, scientific taste, and intellectual courage.

• Influence the broader field through external collaborations, publications, and a clear, opinionated point of view on the future of scientific AI.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• Advanced degree (PhD strongly preferred) in machine learning, computational physics, chemistry, materials science, or a closely related field.

• 7+ years of experience in AI/ML research, including demonstrated leadership of senior individual contributors.

• Deep expertise in representation learning, scientific ML, or foundation models with relevance to physical or chemical systems.

• Strong intuition for — or direct background in — physics, chemistry, or materials science and their governing constraints.

• Proven ability to operate at the boundary between theory, systems, and real-world experimental feedback.

• Demonstrated scientific judgment: comfort with irreversible prioritization calls under uncertainty, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to diverse audiences.

• English fluency required; additional languages are a plus.

• Based in Berlin, Germany or willing to relocate.

Nice to Have:

• Experience working in or alongside autonomous laboratory / high-throughput experimentation environments.

• Background at national labs, research institutes, or research-forward industry settings (e.g., materials, energy, or chemical sectors).

• Track record of cross-disciplinary collaboration bridging ML and physical sciences.

Location & Work Arrangement

This is a full-time, on-site role based in Berlin, Germany. Candidates must be based in Berlin or willing to relocate. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Why This Role

• Rare opportunity to define an entire research discipline at an early-stage company with a technically ambitious mission.

• Work at the frontier of AI and physical science — where models must meet reality.

• Join a team with deep roots in top-tier research, national laboratories, and leading industrial science organizations.

• Shape the team, culture, and scientific direction from the ground up.