Scientific Software Engineer – EO, ML & Digital Twin for Wildfires
The host organization: The Remote Sensing Lab (RS Lab), National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Zografou Campus (Hybrid position; 1year contract with possiblity of extension)
The Remote Sensing Lab (RS Lab) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is a leading academic research group working at the intersection of Earth Observation, geospatial technologies, artificial intelligence, and environmental monitoring. RS Lab coordinates and participates in multiple European and international research projects, and contributing to cutting-edge applications in climate monitoring, land and ocean observation, environmental sustainability, and digital transformation. Our team brings together researchers, engineers, and project managers working on high-impact scientific and applied projects with strong societal relevance. We value collaboration, innovation, open science, and impactful communication of research results to both scientific and public audiences.
The position
We are seeking a Scientific Software Engineer to co-design and implement the production architecture of a Wildfire Digital Twin for the Mediterranean, for the MeDiTwin project, integrating Earth Observation data streams, ML/physical models, daily product generation, and a user-facing interface, in close collaboration with ECMWF scientists. You will transform existing research models, EO data sources, and Jupyter-based tools into a robust, automated operational system.
What you will build
- Ingest and manage large EO & meteorological datasets
- Organize data for cloud-native access
- Build automated pipelines: data → preprocessing → inference → postprocessing → daily wildfire products
- Containerize and orchestrate workflows with Docker, Kubernetes, workflow orchestrators
- Version, validate, and publish reproducible daily products
- Expose outputs via APIs (e.g., FastAPI), dashboards, and web mapping tools
- Implement monitoring, logging, and GitLab CI/CD for operational robustness
Required Background & Skills
- Experience working with traditional and cloud-native geospatial formats (NetCDF, GRIB, GeoTiff, JP2000, Zarr, COG, GeoParquet, etc).
- Experience working with SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs (STAC) and/or DataCube.
- Experience building data pipelines for large geospatial datasets
- Experience turning research code into operational systems (Containerization, Kubernetes, workflow orchestration)
- Familiarity with ML inference pipelines in geoscience contexts
- Ability to build service layers or UIs (e.g., FastAPI, dashboards, web mapping tools)
- Experience working with GitLab and GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
What we offer
- 1 year contract with the possibility of extension
- Entry into a fast-growing EO & AI innovation ecosystem with strong international collaborations
- Professional development though training opportunities
- Exposure to high-impact European research projects in Earth Observation and AI
- Hands-on experience working with interdisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers
- Flexible working conditions (Hybrid)
How to apply
Interested candidates are invited to send their CV (2pgs max) and a short motivation email to ikarasante@mail.ntua.gr
