Head of AI (All Genders)

Berlin, Germany; Munich, Bavaria, Germany

At Stark, we forge the future of European and national security through cutting-edge, AI-driven technology and unmatched engineering precision. As a premier defence technology company, our mission is clear: to equip NATO Allies and their partners with next-generation autonomous defence platforms and advanced AI-driven software built to perform in the worlds most demanding environments.

We believe that true security stems from relentless innovation. By combining elite engineering talent with agile technology and an AI-native operational culture, Stark turns complex defence challenges into field-tested, multi-domain solutions.

WHY JOIN US

• The software and systems you work on directly protect personnel and defend European and national sovereignty.
• You will work alongside industry-leading minds on autonomous systems, advanced propulsion, and secure cyber platforms.
• We foster a fast-paced, collaborative environment where bold ideas are supported by serious R&D backing.

YOUR MISSION

Reporting directly to the CTO, you will define and own STARKs AI strategy, across the product, across internal tooling, and across the entire technical organisation. Youll work shoulder-to-shoulder with Chief Engineers and Engineering Leads, setting a direction they can execute against.

On the product side, youll push the boundaries of whats possible in sensing, autonomy, and robotics for defence. On the internal side, youll systematically drive AI-powered productivity across every function at STARK. And beyond the company, youll be our most visible and credible AI voice; the signal that serious AI talent picks up when deciding where to build next.

WHAT YOU WILL DO AT STARK

• Define and own STARKs AI strategy across product and internal domains, setting a direction that Technical Leads can execute against
• Lead AI stack decisions, model selection, frameworks, MLOps infrastructure, evaluation, and tooling, in partnership with the CTO and Technical Leads, with final technical accountability sitting with you
• Act as connective tissue across teams: identify and resolve cross-team AI dependencies, shared infrastructure gaps, and redundant workstreams that individual leads cannot see from inside their own domain
• Drive internal AI adoption across STARK, developer productivity tooling, agent and automation infrastructure, and responsible-use frameworks across engineering and operations
• Provide technical oversight and challenge across all AI workstreams, asking hard questions on methodology, adversarial robustness, distribution shift, and performance under real operational conditions, without taking over delivery
• Monitor the academic and commercial AI landscape and translate relevant advances into concrete strategic inputs for the CTO and programme leadership
• Keep AI strategy grounded in operational reality by partnering with programme and product leadership so that what we build maps to real mission requirements, not research for its own sake
• Raise the AI bar at STARK: contribute to senior technical hiring, define the AI engineering standard, and build STARKs standing in the European defence-AI community
• Represent STARK externally, speak at defence, robotics, and AI venues, publish or present where it serves the mission, and act as a credible signal of the companys technical ambition

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE MISSION

• Degree in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, or a closely related field, or demonstrably equivalent depth through industry research and an open publication or open-source record
• Proven experience setting AI technical strategy at a senior level, across multiple domains simultaneously, not within a single team or project
• Deep technical fluency in at least one of: perception and sensor fusion, autonomy and motion planning, SLAM/localisation, or multi-agent coordination (C2), with enough breadth to engage credibly across all of them
• Strong track record of influencing technical decisions without direct line authority, working through and alongside Technical Leads, not over them
• Experience in defence, aerospace, or another safety-critical domain where AI system failure carries real-world consequence; direct UAS or ground-robotics experience strongly preferred
• Fluent English; working German is a practical advantage in Berlin or Munich

Eligibility for the required security clearance

NICE TO HAVE

• An existing network within the European defence AI community
• Prior experience in a staff- or principal-level AI role inside a scaling deep-tech or defence company
• A public profile, talks, papers, or open-source work, that already signals technical credibility
• Comfort operating in a high-autonomy, low-overhead role: setting direction and shaping outcomes without a large dedicated team
• If youre interested in building the future of European Defence with us, and you see yourself reflected on the description above, please send us your CV in English. Were looking forward to meeting you!

SECURITY CLEARANCE

Due to the nature of our work in the defence sector, candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance required for this position. Details will be provided during the recruitment process.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

DATA PRIVACY STATEMENT

This data privacy statement, which refers exclusively to data collected as part of the online application process, is to inform you about how your personal data that is collected as part of the online application process is handled at our end.

The controller

The controller under data protection law is:

SKD SE

• Französische Strasse 12, 10117 Berlin
• Commercial register entry number: HRB 260878

Registration Court: Amtsgericht Charlottenburg

Data Protection officer: heyData GmbH, Schützenstraße 5, 10117 Berlin, www.heydata.eu , datenschutz@heydata.eu

Personal data collected as part of the application process

Personal data means any information concerning the personal or material circumstances of an identified or identifiable individual. This includes information such as, for example, your name, address, telephone number and date of birth, but also data relating to your specific career etc. by reference to which a specific individual can be identified with reasonable effort. However, information which cannot be (in)directly associated with your real-life identity is not personal data.

Fundamentals and purposes of processing personal data collected from application documents and during the application process

If you apply to us electronically, i.e. via e-mail or using our online form, we will collect and process your personal data for the purpose of executing the application process and preparing contracts.

By submitting an application via our recruitment website, you express your interest in taking up work with us. In this context, you transmit personal data, which we will use and store exclusively for the purpose of your job search / application process.

In particular, the following data is collected during this process:

name (first and last names)

• e-mail address
• phone number
• LinkedIn profile (optional)

channel through which you found us

Furthermore, you can choose to upload expressive documents such as a cover letter, your CV and reference letters. These may contain additional personal data such as date of birth, address etc.

Only authorized HR staff and/or staff involved in the application process have access to your data.

The personal data is stored, as a rule, exclusively for the purpose of filling the vacancy for which you have applied.

Your data will be stored for a period of 180 days after the application process has been concluded. This is usually done to fulfill legal requirements and/or defending ourselves against any claims arising from legal provisions. After this period, we are obligated to delete or anonymize your data. In case of anonymization, the data will only be available to us in the form of so-called metadata, without any direct personal reference, for statistical analysis (for example, share of male and/or female applicants, number of applications per specified period of time etc.).

Furthermore, we reserve the right to store your data for 180 days after the application process has been concluded for the purpose of adding it to our Talent Pool in order to identify any other vacancies that may be of interest to you. This includes, for example, applications for apprenticeships or internships. By accepting the data privacy statement, you consent to any further storage of your data as well as its inclusion in our Talent Pool.

Should you be offered and accept a position with us during the application process, we will store the personal data collected as part of the application process for at least the duration of your employment.

Disclosure of data to third parties

Data transmitted as part of your application will be transferred using TLS encryption and stored in a database. This database is operated by Greenhouse, which offers a human resource and applicant management software solution (https://www.greenhouse.com/data-processing-addendum). In this context, Greenhouse is our processor under article 28 of the GDPR. In this case, the processing is based on an agreement for the processing of orders between us as the controller and Greenhouse.

Rights of data subjects

If we as the controller process personal data, you as the data subject have certain rights under Chapter III of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), depending on the legal basis and the purpose of the processing, in particular the right of access (article 15 of the GDPR)