Founding LPA Engineer (m/f/d)

Applicants from the EU and non-EU are welcome to apply

▪ Industry: Deep-tech / Active Muon Imaging & Laser-Plasma Accelerators

▪ HQ & Locations: Hamburg (DE) – HQ; Tallinn (EE)

▪ Size: 1–10 employees

Company Mission

The company develops safe, rapid and accurate active muon imaging solutions for industrial quality assessment, security and customs inspection and medical diagnostics. Their platform combines laser-plasma-accelerator-driven muon sources, next-generation particle detectors and AI to enable high-resolution 3D imaging with automated decision-making. The company operates at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, and Tehnopol in Tallinn, Estonia. Their main development partners span the energy, defence, aerospace and security industries. Their initial technology and business focus is on the quality and safety assessment of critical metallic and ceramic components, such as rocket engines, gas turbines, jet engines, and large-scale nuclear or industrial systems.

Core Values

Skunkworks approach: They work in small teams with full ownership. They keep it simple, stupid. Move fast: a shiny prototype means they spent too long on it. They build to learn. They polish later. Disagree together, commit together: they debate and challenge, regardless of title. Then they deliver the decision as one team. They win as a team. They pivot as a team.

Courage: they always make the call. A mistake isn't a failure: it's proof they're improving. Either way, the own the outcome. Honesty and transparency: they share what's really happening, good or bad. That lets everyone make the right call. They stay open. They stay honest.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Assemble and lead the Muon Source team, covering LPA, converter, and optics; start hands-on, hire and structure the team as the work grows

• Oversee the development of working points and a density-tailored plasma source that survives the thermal load of a 100 Hz, 100 TW focus—millions of consistent shots, not one good shot

• Lead the development of the plasma source and execute experiments at user facilities to iterate the design toward powering the transportable muon source

• Isolate the laser specs that matter most—pulse energy, duration, pointing and energy stability, beam quality—and ensure they get delivered

• Own the vacuum system and the laser transport line, including vacuum chambers, differential pumping, vibration management and thermal management, turning the LPA into a machine that fits inside a shipping container and runs 24/7

• Define the requirements for the control system, the machine protection system, and the diagnostics suite that let the machine run unattended

• Manage the budget and make technical decisions within your area of responsibility

• Participate in hiring processes to expand the Muon Source team as the scope grows

Requirements

• Team leadership. You've built and led a technical team before. You're ready to be hands-on again before this one exists

• Hands-on LPA experience. You've built and operated a laser-plasma accelerator. Not just modeled one. Injection, dephasing, depletion, and guiding physics you've tuned on real hardware

• Experimental leadership at user facilities. You've planned and run a multi-year experimental campaign before. You know how to iterate a design from real beamtime data

• High-power laser system literacy. You can write a spec a laser manufacturer can build to: pulse energy, duration, pointing and energy stability, beam quality. You hold vendors to it

• Vacuum and opto-mechanical engineering judgment. You know what vacuum chamber design, differential pumping, vibration isolation, and thermal management require to keep the LPA running under continuous, high-average-power use

• Controls and diagnostics systems thinking. You can translate "runs unattended, 24/7" into concrete requirements for a control system, a machine protection system, and a diagnostics suite, even where another team builds them

• Minimum 3 to 5 years postdoc experience

• Doctorate (PhD / Dr.) required

• At least full professional proficiency in English; German or Estonian is a plus

• Willingness to work primarily on-site in Hamburg (no full remote; approximately one home-office day per week)

• Occasional travel required to visit and work at different research facilities across the world

• Ability to start in January 2027 or latest February 2027

Core Benefits

• Key Role with Direct Impact: Without your LPA, our core product – the transportable muon source – cannot operate

• Founding Role with High Autonomy: Build both the accelerator team and the machine from the ground up, taking full ownership of technical and budget decisions

• Unique Deep-Tech Challenge: Hands-on work with laser-plasma accelerators at 100 Hz / 100 TW and active muon imaging technology that is revolutionizing industrial inspection

• Access to World-Class Infrastructure: On-demand beamtime at multi-GeV facilities such as DESY PRIMA, plus collaborations with ELI Beamlines, EPAC, and ATLAS

• Strong Network & Visibility: Collaborate with leading partners such as DESY, DLR, Siemens Energy, Marvel Fusion, and other high-tech organizations

• Attractive Compensation Package plus a substantial employee equity program and relocation support, including for non-EU candidates

• Culture of Ownership & Speed: A skunkworks approach, flat hierarchies, bold decision-making, and full transparency create an environment for personal growth

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