Lead Research Engineer; f​/m​/d - Foundation and Models Structured Data

Lead Research Engineer (f/m/d) - Foundation and World Models on Structured Data

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong.

What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

At SAP’s Business AI Research, we are exploring the next frontier of AI methods on structured business data – graphs, tables, time series, and more. Foundation Models on Structured Data, like SAP-RPT-1, have ushered in the GenAI era for business relevant scenarios – scenarios that have so far been addressed with classical, often tree-based methods. Now, we are taking the next step.

We collaborate with our existing applied research teams in creating novel benchmarks for business problems and the development of novel architectures and models, with the goal to publish benchmarks and models at scientific conferences and in the open-source community. We are working jointly with our academic partners to create ever better means of solving real business problems.

Contribute to pioneering technical advances to the field of foundation models on structured data, as well as exploring world models for solving business problems.

Define the data, training, and experimentation environment to enable scalable access to data and compute.

Define and lead the creation of new training and benchmark datasets, bringing together rich semantic context with large scale business data.

Collaborate on definition of evaluation frameworks and benchmark suites, driving internal and external exploration of novel tasks.

Make critical design decisions regarding the selection and implementation of underlying technologies.

Execute scientific experiments on internal as well as public data.

Define and drive open source model and software contributions based on research deliverables.

PhD or Master’s degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, physics, mathematics or other relevant disciplines.

5+ years of professional experience with a deep background in Machine Learning on Structured Data, and its application in a business context.

Demonstrated ownership of scalable machine learning and data environment, with deep understanding of success criteria and trade offs.

Knowledge of latest research and development trends in Foundation Models on Structured Data.

Experience in Data Engineering with a hands‑on approach to solving data challenges.

Fluent in Python and the ability to convert your ideas into productive code.

Developer experience with any SAP Application and its underlying data models is a plus.

Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in cross-cultural teams.

SAP's AI organization is dedicated to seamlessly infusing AI into all enterprise applications, enabling customers, partners, and developers to enhance business processes and generate remarkable business value. Join our international AI team where innovation thrives, opportunities for personal development abound, and exceptional colleagues collaborate globally.

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development.

Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

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