Applied AI Engineer (m/w/d)

Job Description

Between AI possibilities and engineering reality, there is usually a gap.
➡️ Your job is to close it!

Some of the most valuable expertise at Etteplan has been built over years of solving complex engineering challenges, designing plants and delivering successful projects. Every day, our engineers make critical decisions, solve complex problems and create value for our customers.

Your mission is to identify where AI can support that work, remove unnecessary effort and help engineering teams focus on what they do best.

As an Applied AI Engineer, you bring AI into the day-to-day reality of engineering projects. You work with experienced engineers, understand their challenges and identify where AI can accelerate workflows, improve consistency and create measurable value.

From specifications and datasheets to drawings and engineering documentation, you build practical solutions that help project teams work smarter and deliver faster.
The result is not another AI prototype. It is measurable value in real customer projects: fewer hours per work package, more consistent output, and solutions the project teams keep using after you have moved on to the next case.

What you'll step into:

• Smart Factory Germany: more than 200 colleagues at five German sites, working across automation, digitalisation and IT/OT
• Your base is Leverkusen, Berlin, Brunsbüttel, Oberhausen or Wiesloch, hybrid, with the freedom to work where the use case is.
• Direct access to decision makers: you report to the Vice President Smart Factory Germany and work closely with our Group AI organisation in Finland.
• Your starting point is electrical engineering and instrumentation, where the opportunity for impact is highest.
• You are the first person in this role in Germany. The blank page is part of the offer.

Your Mission

🔧 Turn AI into an engineering advantage

You evaluate emerging AI technologies and identify where they can create tangible value for engineering teams. Rather than introducing tools for the sake of innovation, you focus on solutions that improve the way projects are executed.

🧩 Turn engineering challenges into AI opportunities

You work closely with engineering teams to understand where time is lost, information is difficult to access or repetitive tasks slow projects down.
Together, you identify high-value use cases and translate them into practical AI-supported solutions that fit naturally into existing engineering workflows.

⚙️ Prove AI where it matters

You bring AI solutions into live customer projects and validate their impact under real-world conditions. You establish baselines, measure outcomes and demonstrate tangible improvements in efficiency, consistency and delivery performance.

Success isn't determined by how impressive a solution looks. It's determined by whether project teams continue using it after the pilot ends.

🤝 Make it work without you

Everything you build is documented, versioned and handed over so that engineering colleagues can run and extend it themselves. You support our regional network of AI champions with building blocks and hands-on help. A solution that only works while you are in the room does not count.

Who we're looking for

We are looking for a builder.
Someone who enjoys turning ideas into working solutions and who is equally comfortable discussing engineering challenges and AI technologies.

You are curious about what AI can do, but even more interested in what it can achieve in practice.
Most importantly, you care about outcomes, not hype.

What you bring

✔ Understanding of plant engineering, ideally electrical engineering, instrumentation or automation

✔ Strong affinity for AI, prompting, agents, retrieval and modern AI workflows

✔ Experience working with Python and integrating data sources, tools and APIs

✔ Something you have actually shipped into real use, at work or on your own time

✔ A pragmatic mindset focused on delivery and impact

✔ The ability to bridge engineering expertise and technology

✔ Strong collaboration skills and the patience to work side-by-side with experienced domain experts

✔ Fluent German and English

Nice to have

➕ Experience in process industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals or energy

➕ Familiarity with engineering software ecosystems and their interfaces

➕ Experience working with RAG, agents, multimodal AI or retrieval-based solutions

➕ Experience capturing and operationalising expert knowledge

➕ Projects, experiments or side initiatives that demonstrate your curiosity and builder mindset

Between AI possibilities and engineering reality, there is usually a gap.

If you're the person who can close it, we'd love to hear from you.