Java/AI Research Engineer Language Technologies (m/w/d)

We're looking for a Java/AI Research Engineer to join our team at the intersection of backend engineering and cutting-edge language AI. You'll work on real-world applications of LLMs, embeddings, and vector search, helping bring our intelligent translation agent LINA to life.

Your playground: Spring Boot, Java 17, PostgreSQL, Redis, and modern NLP frameworks. From designing scalable APIs to implementing retrieval-augmented generation pipelines and evaluating translation quality with COMET or BERTScore, this role is as much about building as it is about exploring.

Let's talk if you're excited about shipping AI features that improve people's workflows (not just demos), love clean code, and solve complex problems.

Java/AI Research Engineer - Language Technologies

Where AI meets real-world localization -- calm, focused, effective.

What You'll Work On

As a Java/AI Research Engineer at Lingohub, you'll be hands-on with both code and concepts. You'll work at the core of our AI efforts, helping us evolve our backend and bring smart language automation to life through our research initiative LINA -- a 3-year project to build an intelligent assistant for multilingual content teams.

You will:

* Develop and maintain backend services in Java 17 and Spring Boot, powering our AI-driven translation workflows.
* Build and integrate LLM-based features like context-aware suggestions, terminology enforcement, and automated pre-translation.
* Contribute to our retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines using vector databases and semantic embeddings.
* Design and document APIs that support LINA's features across web and API-based interfaces.
* Run and evaluate AI experiments using BLEU, COMET, BERTScore, and other quality metrics to guide development decisions.
* Work closely with the product team to translate research results into customer-facing features, focusing strongly on usability and performance.
* Help shape the architecture of LINA, our AI assistant, with a clear focus on multilingual content workflows.
* Collaborate with external research partners, academic advisors, and internal teams as part of the FFG-funded LINA research project.
* Take ownership of code, models, and results -- from prototype to production.

What We're Looking For

You don't need to be a machine learning PhD -- but you should be someone who enjoys turning complex ideas into clean, working code. You're a builder with a research mindset: curious, pragmatic, and focused on delivering real impact.

Core Requirements

* 3+ years experience with Java (Java 17 preferred) and Spring Boot in production environments
* Solid understanding of REST APIs, PostgreSQL, and scalable backend architecture
* Experience with Redis, Docker, and basic distributed systems concepts
* Interest in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and multilingual content
* Familiarity with LLMs, embeddings, or vector search (e.g., pg_vector, OpenSearch, Pinecone)
* Comfortable reading and applying concepts from AI papers or benchmarks (BLEU, COMET, BERTScore, etc.)
* Experience working with AWS services, ideally including Amazon Bedrock for LLM integration
* Ability to work independently, manage experiments, and iterate quickly in a small team

Bonus Points

* Experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures
* Knowledge of LangChain4j, HuggingFace, or OpenAI APIs
* Experience with AI evaluations or A/B testing in production
* Contribution to open-source projects, research work, or public talks in NLP/AI

What You'll Be Part Of

You'll join a small, experienced team of developers, designers, and product thinkers who care deeply about building great software -- and doing it sustainably.

* We're headquartered in Linz, Austria, and work primarily on-site, with the option to work 1-3 days per week from home. You'll be part of a focused and collaborative environment with a great view over the Linzer Hauptplatz.
* We believe in calm work: fewer meetings, more focus, and space to think. We trust you to manage your time and deliver outstanding results.
* You'll work closely with the CEO (Helmut), who also leads product and strategy, and with a team that enjoys solving real problems rather than chasing hype.
* We collaborate across roles -- frontend, backend, design, AI -- and help each other grow.
* You'll also be part of LINA, a three-year applied AI research project that offers opportunities to connect with academic and industry partners.

We're product-led, profitable, and not bound to VC timelines, which gives us the freedom to build with purpose and stability.

We believe in building great software and a great place to work. Here's what you can expect:

* Flexible working hours and a calm, focused environment with minimal meetings
* Hybrid setup -- mainly on-site in Linz, with 1-3 home office days per week
* Linz Mega-Ticket -- we cover your public transportation across the city
* Top-notch gear -- Mac or Linux, external display, and anything else you need
* Support for growth -- access to conferences, books, and research resources
* Regular team lunches and offsite retreats -- time to connect beyond code
* Real impact -- ship features used by global teams and help shape our AI future

Salary

The collective agreement minimum salary is 3,950 EUR gross per month (on a 38.5-hour basis). The actual salary depends on your qualifications and experience and is between 4,000 EUR und 6,000 EUR gross per month (on a 38.5-hour basis). The salary is paid 14 times per year. The collective agreement Informationstechnologie, Datenverarbeitung (IT) applies.

About this job

Employment type:

* Full Time (Permanent employment)
* Part Time (Permanent employment)

Salary:

4,000 EUR to 6,000 EUR monthly

Seniority level:

* Professional Experience

Work model:

Hybrid

Place of work:

* Linz

Field of work:

* IT, Data Processing

Unfilled vacancies:

1 vacancy unfilled for this position

About the company

Employer:

lingohub GmbH

Number of employees:

11 - 30 employees

Locations:

* Linz

Details about this job

Full Time (Permanent employment)

* Monday to Friday
* 38,5 hours
* 20% Homeoffice

Part Time (Permanent employment)

* Monday to Friday
* 20 hours
* 10% Homeoffice

Place of work

* Linz

Must-have skills

* Java
* Artificial Intelligence
* Machine Learning
* Natural Language Processing

Nice-to-have skills

* Deep Learning
* Prompt Engineering
* MCP

Why You'll Love Working Here

* Company laptop
* Dogs allowed
* Flexible working hours
* Good transportation connections
* Team events
* Home office
* Transportation allowance

All infos regarding your application

Required application documents:

* Résumé
* Cover letter

Contact person

Helmut Juskewycz
CEO
+436503266669