Research Engineer in Artificial Intelligence for Experimentation on the Combination of AI and Formal Methods

Research Engineer in Artificial Intelligence for Experimentation on the Combination of AI and Formal Methods Download job offer in PDF format Contract type : Fixed-term contract Renewable contract : Yes Level of qualifications required : Graduate degree or equivalent Fonction : Temporary scientific engineer Level of experience : From 3 to 5 years About the research centre or Inria department The Inria center at the University of Rennes is one of eight Inria centers and has more than thirty research teams. The Inria center is a major and recognized player in the field of digital sciences. It is at the heart of a rich ecosystem of R&D and innovation, including highly innovative SMEs, large industrial groups, competitiveness clusters, research and higher education institutions, centers of excellence, and technological research institutes. Context The widespread adoption of AI across many areas of society calls for the development of techniques to make AI safer and more trustworthy. AI-based systems deliver impressive performance, but their lack of transparency makes them difficult to trust in industrial applications, as they provide no formal guarantees. Conversely, formal methods excel at logical reasoning and can prove properties of programs or detect errors, but they often face scalability limitations. To address this challenge, Inria and MERCE (Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe) have launched a joint project, called Défi FRAIME, to explore, on the one hand, how formal methods can provide guarantees for AI systems and, on the other hand, how AI can help make formal methods more efficient and easier for practitioners to use. The vision of the project is to intertwine formal methods and AI to efficiently design safe systems. The project is driven by industrial use cases in MERCE’s areas of expertise. This position is part of the FRAIME project, which provides a stimulating collaborative research environment involving 5 Inria teams and 2 MERCE teams, and will offer the successful candidate the opportunity to interact with around twenty recognized researchers in formal methods, software engineering, and AI. The position aims to ensure the monitoring, deployment, evaluation, and sharing of AI technologies within the project, while providing researchers with hands-on expertise and consolidating the knowledge gained through experimentation. The successful candidate will have access to following computing facilities: • Ilaas: https://www.ilaas.fr/ • Albert: https://ia.numerique.gouv.fr/outils-ia/albert-api/ • Abaca: (Inria internal computing infrastructure) The successful candidate will be based at the Inria Centre at the University of Rennes and will interact frequently with the MERCE teams (located nearby) and with the Inria teams in Nantes and Paris involved in Défi FRAIME. Assignment The position consists in identifying, deploying, and evaluating the AI technologies most relevant to the project’s experiments, particularly around LLMs and SLMs. The successful candidate will continuously monitor technological developments and set up the infrastructure required to support the research activities. They will assist researchers by providing hands-on expertise in AI technologies and contributing to the project’s technical choices. Finally, they will promote the sharing, consolidation, and dissemination of the knowledge gained, notably through documentation, experiment summaries, and presentations at plenary meetings. Main activities • Identification of technologies relevant to the experiments. • Monitoring of technologies related to the project (LLMs, SLMs). • Deployment of infrastructure that can be used throughout the project. • Implementation of evaluation methods for the experiments. • Providing researchers involved in the project with hands-on experience in AI technologies; proactively recommending technologies to be used. • Contributing to the sharing of know-how and knowledge on AI technologies within the project. • Consolidation and sharing of knowledge acquired within the project. • Production of summaries of the experiments conducted, and presentation at plenary meetings. Skills Required Technical Skills • Proficiency in RL / LLM / SLM technologies: fine-tuning (PEFT/LoRA), RAG, prompt engineering, quantization, inference optimization, technical infrastructure (local and remote deployment). • Ability to conduct experiments (benchmark design, reproducibility, and experiment tracking), analyze results, and evaluate AI systems. • Proficiency with collaborative development tools and practices (Git, continuous integration, software project management). • Master’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Applied Mathematics, or a related field. Additional Assets / Desirable Extra Skills • Experience with formal methods would be a plus. • Knowledge of energy measurement technologies would be an asset. • Knowledge of agentic frameworks would be a plus. Soft Skills • Professional proficiency in written and spoken English. • Strong written and oral communication skills. • Ability to work effectively as part of a team in a collaborative research environment. • Ability to work independently in project execution and problem solving. • Coordination skills. • Ability to interact with people from a variety of disciplines (AI, formal methods, software engineering). Benefits package • Subsidized meals • Partial reimbursement of public transport costs • Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.) • Possibility of teleworking (after 6 months of employment) and flexible organization of working hours • Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.) • Social, cultural and sports events and activities • Access to vocational training Remuneration monthly gross salary 2695 euros according to diploma and experience Apply for this position Share • Facebook • Linkedin • Twitter • Email General Information • Theme/Domain : Proofs and Verification Software engineering (BAP E) • Town/city : Rennes • Inria Center : Centre Inria de l'Université de Rennes • Starting date : 2026-12-01 • Duration of contract : 12 months • Deadline to apply : 2026-12-31 Warning : you must enter your e-mail address in order to save your application to Inria. Applications must be submitted online on the Inria website. Processing of applications sent from other channels is not guaranteed. Instruction to apply Please submit online : your resume, cover letter and letters of recommendation eventually Defence Security : This position is likely to be situated in a restricted area (ZRR), as defined in Decree No. 2011-1425 relating to the protection of national scientific and technical potential (PPST).Authorisation to enter an area is granted by the director of the unit, following a favourable Ministerial decision, as defined in the decree of 3 July 2012 relating to the PPST. An unfavourable Ministerial decision in respect of a position situated in a ZRR would result in the cancellation of the appointment. Recruitment Policy : As part of its diversity policy, all Inria positions are accessible to people with disabilities. Contacts • Inria Team : DEVINE • Recruiter : Bertrand Nathalie / nathalie.bertrand@inria.fr About Inria Inria, the French national institute for research in digital science and technology, supports the French government in national research and innovation strategies in the digital field, acting as Digital Programs Agency. Inria leads over 300 research and innovation projects with its 3,500 scientists, engineers, and support staff, in partnership with universities and the digital ecosystem (businesses, entrepreneurs, and public stakeholders). Together, we explore strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum computing, cloud technologies, digital transformation in healthcare, digital twins, and digital technologies for defence. We develop practical solutions such as software, tech startups, partnerships with national companies, and cutting-edge training programmes. Our goal is to drive scientific, technological, and industrial excellence to ensure France’s digital sovereignty.