• Function title: Data Scientist
• Reference: NOC-EG-2024-FGIV/801
• Location: Brétigny-sur-Orge
• The selected candidate must reside either at this location or within a reasonable proximity that allows for the satisfactory execution of their duties – Information about living in Brétigny-sur-Orge
• Nature of the competition: Internal and external competition
• Applicable regulations: Conditions of Employment of Contract Staff at EUROCONTROL
• Function group: Function group IV
• Job level: 13-15 – Check salary simulations for the basic grade
• Generic post: Junior Specialist
• Number of posts: 2
• Duration of engagement: 3 Year(s) – extension or conversion of the contract is possible – see “Useful information” section
• Security clearance: Security vetting may be required in accordance with the relevant EUROCONTROL security policies
• Directorate/Service: EGSD/INO/ENG – Engineering Centre of Expertise
• Working arrangement: Hybrid work (A blend of onsite and remote work). Please note that EUROCONTROL does not offer full-time remote working arrangements.
• Competition publication date: 23/05/2024
• Competition closing date: 20/06/2024 (23:59 Brussels time)
• Reserve list: Applicable – See details in the “Useful information” section

Your team

Within the The European Green Sky Directorate, the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub (EIH) carries out research, innovation and simulation activities to help improve European aviation performance, safety and sustainability, bridging the gap between R&D and operations. The EIH also addresses emerging new technologies as well as deployment of drones and urban air mobility systems.

The Data Scientist conducts analyses of the vast amount of aviation data in order to design smarter data driven operational solutions. S/he applies data mining and machine learning techniques, performs statistical analyses and builds quality prediction systems.

Your role

Your role will be to:

• Design, develop, train, validate and deploy new machine learning models.
• Enhance data collection procedures to include information that is relevant for building models.
• Research opportunities for data acquisition and new uses for existing data and collaborate with stakeholders to identify opportunities for leveraging EUROCONTROL data to drive R&D solutions.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and build out new databases and API integrations.
• Process, clean and verify the integrity of data used for analysis and machine learning purposes.
• Write scientific papers, draft presentations and material for conferences. Conduct ad-hoc analyses and present results in a clear manner.
• Develop automated processes and visualisation tools to monitor and analyse the performance of deployed models.
• Carry out any other task in line with the main purpose of the job.

Required qualifications, experience & competencies

• University degree of at least 4 years in a relevant domain (e.g. Mathematics, Computing Science, etc.) followed by minimum 1 year relevant professional experience in applying machine-learning techniques and/or databases. Experience acquired in the aviation domain would be considered an asset.
• Professional training in Artificial Intelligence (AI) or in any aviation related field is an advantage.
• Mathematics and especially statistics skills, such as distributions, statistical testing, regression, etc.
• Understanding of a variety of machine learning techniques in supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning and their real-world advantages/drawbacks.
• Scripting and programming skills (Python mandatory). Knowledge of Java, Scala or C++ is a plus.
• The following would be desirable:
  • Experience with common libraries used in data science, such as Tensorflow, Pytorch, Scikit-Learn, MLflow, LightGBM, CatBoost, XGBoost, etc.
  • Experience with big data tools like Hadoop, Spark or Kafka.
  • Experience with relational SQL and NoSQL databases.
  • Experience with data pipeline and workflow management tools like Azkaban, Luigi or Airflow.
  • Experience with common data science toolkits, such as Python, R, Jupyter, Scala, Weka, Spark, etc. Proficiency in, at least, one of these is highly desirable.
  • Experience with data visualisation tools, such as D3, GGplot, Dash, Shiny, Grafana, Power BI, Tableau, etc.
  • Experience with Cloud environment, preferably Microsoft. Azure Experience with Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services will also be taken into account.
  • Knowledge of optimisation algorithms and solvers, including advanced meta-heuristics as well as classical methods.
• Analytical thinking: You apply a methodical approach to complex information.
• Creativity and innovation: You apply new approaches.
• Communication: You are able to foster two-way communication.
• Networking: You know how to maintain and expand effective networks.
• Result focus: You seek to improve personal performance.
• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment.
• Professional conduct in line with the corporate behaviours of the Agency, i.e. result-driven, readiness to change, customer focus, integrity and team-player approach.
• The working languages of the Agency are English and French. For this particular job, candidates must be proficient users of English at level C1/C2. The selected candidate will be required to become a basic user of French at level A1/A2 before the end of the probation period.
  The levels relate to the European-framework-reference Common European Framework of References for languages (CEFR).

Useful information

• Applications will be accepted from nationals of EUROCONTROL Member States only.
• The selected candidate will be offered a contract of 3 Year(s) and it may be renewed up to a maximum of 9 years or converted into an undetermined contract pursuant to the provisions of the Conditions of Employment of Contract Staff at EUROCONTROL. Before being established in the post, he/she will be requested to provide certified copies of his/her degrees and successfully serve a probationary period of 9 months.
• The successful candidate shall be engaged in principle at the basic grade of the advertised grades.
• Candidates declared suitable who are not selected for the post will be placed on a reserve list for similar roles. The reserve list will be valid for one year from the closing date of applications.
• Information on salary and benefits can be found on our Careers site
• EUROCONTROL is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to equality and diversity. In the event of equal merit, preference may be given to the applicant from the under-represented diversity characteristics in order to complement diversity of teams and rebalance the workforce.
• Candidates should go to our Careers site and read the tips on how to apply.