Muon Tomography Engineer (m/f/d)

MuRay Tech is a deeptech spinout from DESY, Hamburg. We're hiring a Muon Tomography Engineer to build the algorithms that turn raw track data into 3D density reconstructions for our Active Muon Imaging system. You'll take reconstruction from POCA and ASR through to likelihood-optimization methods, fuse in optical priors, and solve the statistics of high-flux track pile-up. Direct ownership of the tool a customer's pass/fail decision runs on.

The role

As Muon Tomography Engineer, you'll own how raw track data becomes a 3D density reconstruction. That spans algorithm development, multi-modal data fusion, and the statistical methods that make it work at scale. Concretely, you will:

• Implement density reconstruction methods, taking inspiration from likelihood-optimization-based methods. Package the result as a standalone tool.
• Explore adaptive reconstruction grids to reduce memory requirements and increase reconstruction speed.
• Optimise reconstruction algorithms to leverage the muon beam's narrow energy bandwidth, using spectral width as a per-track error estimate.
• Explore fusing optical images of the scan volume and DUT geometry into the reconstruction, as constraints that further limit the solution space.
• Develop statistical methods to resolve track pile-up at high muon flux, where one-track-at-a-time assumptions break down.

What you'll bring

• Tomographic reconstruction expertise. You've implemented POCA, ASR, or comparable scattering-tomography algorithms. You move to likelihood optimization when point-based methods run out of accuracy.
• Numerical methods for performance. You've built adaptive or multi-resolution grids before. You've traded resolution against memory and speed to do it.
• Uncertainty modeling. You turn a beam's energy spectrum into a per-track error weight, not a single global constant.
• Multi-modal data fusion. You've combined tomographic data with an external prior before, like an optical image or object geometry. You've used it as a hard constraint on the solution, not just a reference.
• High-flux track statistics. You've solved pile-up or hit-ambiguity problems in tracking detectors before, where more than one particle can be in the detector at once.
• Production software engineering. You take a reconstruction method from research code to a maintained, standalone tool with a fixed input/output format.

How we work

• Skunkworks approach: We work in small teams with full ownership. We keep it simple, stupid.
• Move fast: a shiny prototype means we spent too long on it. We build to learn. We polish later.
• Disagree together, commit together: we debate and challenge, regardless of title. Then we deliver the decision as one team. We win as a team. We pivot as a team.
• Courage: we always make the call. A mistake isn't a failure: it's proof we're improving. Either way, we own the outcome.
• Honesty and transparency: we share what's really happening, good or bad. That lets everyone make the right call. We stay open. We stay honest.

What we offer

• Impact: you own the tool that turns raw tracks into density maps. That output is what a customer bases a decision on: pass or fail, repair or replace.
• Pace: commercial scanning services launch within a year. Your reconstruction tool makes that possible from day one.
• Data: MuRay has on-demand time at multi-GeV beamlines, including DESY's PRIMA. That gives you dense, controlled-source track data to develop and validate against.
• Network: research collaborators include DESY, DLR, CERN, and Imperial College London. Commercial partners include Siemens Energy, Airbus, Caelora, and ZAL.
• Ownership: an equity plan gives you a meaningful stake in the company.
• Compensation: a salary that reflects your contribution to MuRay's growth.
• Relocation: we support your move. If you're relocating from outside the EU, we help with the paperwork.

About MuRay Tech

MuRay builds compact laser-plasma accelerators that generate a controlled muon beam. Muon scans today are passive and take days. Active Muon Imaging produces the same scan in seconds, at higher resolution. We work with partners in aerospace, defence, and energy today. Next: security, customs, and medical imaging.