Ai Institute Coordinator - Ai4S

Job Reference

783_24_DIR_DIR_AIC

Position

AI Institute Coordinator - AI4S

Closing Date

Wednesday, 20 November, 2024
Reference: 783_24_DIR_DIR_AIC
Job title: AI Institute Coordinator - AI4S

About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses Mare Nostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for Euro HPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
The AI Institute will perform the following activities: develop an AI roadmap, increase BSC's capacity to develop AI algorithms, maintain an interdepartmental database of AI activities and results, increase the visibility of the BSC nationally and internationally, offer AI training, collaborate with industry and public administration, help ensure that ethical and social considerations are always prioritised, participate in project proposals, help to facilitate access to necessary data, and collaborate in the definition of future architectures for AI.

The AI Institute Coordinator will report to the Director of the Institute and will play a key role in helping to define and support the operations of the AI Institute at BSC. The selected candidate will work within a collaborative and dynamic environment, supporting a range of initiatives that advance AI research, development, and training.

This role will involve active participation in international collaborations, managing essential day-to-day activities, and coordinating cross-functional activities within the Institute. The AI Institute Coordinator will also help ensure effective communication with various stakeholders, including international partners, research institutions, and industry collaborators, while keeping inititiaves on track and aligned with the AI Institute's strategic goals.

The funding for these actions/fellowships and contracts comes from the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility - Next Generation, within the framework of the General Invitation by the public business entity Red.es to participate in the talent attraction and retention programs within Investment 4 of Component 19 of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.
For more information, please check: https://www.bsc.es/join-us/excellence-career-opportunities/ai4s

"La financiación de estas actuaciones/becas y contratos, procede del Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia de la Unión Europea-Next Generation, en el marco de la Invitación General de la entidad pública empresarial Red.es para participar en los programas de atracción y retención del talento dentro de la Inversión 4 del Componente 19 del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
Para más información: https://www.bsc.es/join-us/excellence-career-opportunities/ai4s "

Key Duties

The AI Institute Coordinator will support the AI Institute's Director in the following activities:

- AI roadmap – support in the definition of the structure of the roadmap and the definition and implementation of the consultation and prioritisation process for the roadmap, as well as it's periodic updating
- BSC's capacity to develop AI algorithms – support the Institute's manager in analysing the centre's current capacity and defining with BSC leadership, a vision and a plan to realise it
- Help to align AI developments with the various lines of development of "digital twin" simulations (e.g. digital twins of the earth "Destination Earth", digital twins of cities or human twins, among others) and explore novel AI approaches to improve different aspects of simulations and the analysis of the results of the simulations themselves.
- Increase the visibility of the BSC nationally and internationally – work with BSC's directors, its communication unit, its departments and others to raise BSCs profile as a centre of AI excellence. Liaise with research institutions across Europe, the US, India, and Japan, ensuring the AI Institute's active participation in international AI and HPC initiatives. Provide logistical support for international collaborations with institutions like Argonne and Columbia University (USA), Riken (Japan), and other global research partners, particularly the Trillion Parameter Consortium.
- Collaborate with the Education & Training team in order to foster AI training – work with the BSC departments, its Education and Training area, and other initiatives such as AI factories, in order to promote AI training activities at BSC
- Collaborate with industry and public administration – work with BSC's Innovation and Business Development Area to facilitate contacts with industry and public administration in order to promote research collaboration and transfer of results and promote key collaborations, including the Spain-IBM Memorandum of Understanding, particularly related to Large Language Models (LLM) and generative AI.
- Help to facilitate access to necessary data, including data for training and evaluating models in the different application areas will be increased. – work with BSC's operations department, particularly the data management group, the scientific departments, BSC Legal, and others, in order to help enable access to data while respecting all relevant regulation.
- Liaise with BSC's Operations Dept. and scientific departments and provide current and expected future needs for the infrastructure of AI-specific hardware accelerators and software environments optimized for AI workloads to allow researchers to efficiently train and deploy models on a large scale.
- Assist in planning, organizing, and overseeing multiple projects related to the Institute's research, development, and training initiatives, in collaboration with BSC PIs and PMO.
- Track project metrics, outcomes, and performance indicators and report on progress to the AI Institute Manager and senior leadership
- Help position The Institute as a meeting point for the teams that develop the applications in each scientific domain, with the organization of seminars, workshops, hosting guests and other activities that are useful for discussing new technologies, potential areas of application and, fostering internal collaborations.
- All of the above should be done within a context which prioritises ethical and social considerations and facilitates communication and collaboration across departments, research groups, and with external partners involved in AI projects and initiatives.

Requirements

- Education

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Project Management, or related field.

- A Master's degree is a plus.

- Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience

- 3-5 years of experience in R&D projects as a researcher or a manager, ideally within the AI, HPC, or technology sectors.

- Proven experience in interdisciplinary and research-driven environments, with an understanding of project timelines, budgets, and deliverables.

- Fluency in English is essential. Proficiency in Spanish and other European languages would be advantageous.

- Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience

- Familiarity with research environments and large-scale interdisciplinary projects.

- Experience in international collaborations, preferably involving academic or industry research partners.

- Competences

- Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to handle multiple activities simultaneously.

- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience in stakeholder and partnership management.

- Able to maintain the global vision with problem-solving skills and adaptability in a fast-paced, innovative environment.

- Able to work collaboratively within a diverse, multi-disciplinary team.

Conditions

- The position will be located at BSC within the Directors' Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance
- Duration: 4 years
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: 50.000,00 €
- Additional Expenses Grant: Each fellowship will be associated with a grant for additional expenses, such as IT equipment, travel, training, stays, etc.
- Starting date: asap - the incorporation for this vacancy must be before the 16th of December 2024

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

- A full CV in English, including contact details.
- A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

- Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points

- Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.
In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.
The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information, please follow this link.

Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link
This position is reserved for candidates who meet the requirements and have the legal status of disabled persons with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%. In case there are no applicants with disabilities that meet the requirements, the rest of the candidates without declared disability will be evaluated.