Scientist LLM's and agentic AI

About this position

Worldwide, conflicts, criminal activity, and subversive actions threaten our security. To counter these threats, TNO conducts innovative research and applies it in close collaboration with our security partners. In doing so, we support, among others, the Ministry of Defence and the Police in making the best-informed decisions and in carrying out (semi-)automated actions they can rely on.

We do this by conducting applied research, developing innovative ideas, and translating them into practical solutions. Examples include the deployment of intelligence for Defence, the development of decision-support models for the Public Prosecution Service, and the use of NLP for the analysis of criminal communications. In this role, you will work within the research group Intelligence & Decision Support. This driven team of more than 35 colleagues brings together a wide range of expertise and backgrounds and is part of the Defence, Safety & Security unit.

What will be your role?

As a scientist, you will contribute to research projects on LLMs and agentic AI for decision support for partners in the defence and security domain. Working in multidisciplinary teams, you will tackle various research questions, helping to define approaches and methodologies. Based on scientific research, established methods, and best practices, you will develop concepts with your team, where modeling and programming around LLMs are essential parts of your work.

Your deliverables may include proofs of concept, always keeping in mind the impact of the tools you develop on the daily operations of our partners. You will communicate project results to partners and act as a valuable discussion partner for colleagues.

Examples of projects include:

• Developing an LLM concept for decision support for the Police.
• Creating a proof of concept for mission planning for Defence.
• Contributing to a Dutch LLM.
• Demonstrating the feasibility of agentic AI for security partners.
  
  

At TNO, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to explore new AI tools, attend conferences, and pursue new research directions. You can also initiate internal research lines and contribute to project acquisition and collaboration proposals. In addition to projects, you can take on various side activities aligned with your interests and development goals, such as coordinating internships, organizing technical or social events, and mentoring new colleagues.

What we expect from you

You are motivated to contribute to the military and security domain and eager to learn so your work increasingly aligns with partners’ needs. You can handle sensitive information and are open to joining exercises or working on-site with partners to build valuable domain knowledge. Your curiosity drives you to seek out the information you need for your assignments. You are analytically strong and can help translate science into practice.

You thrive in working on multiple projects and teams simultaneously and can switch between them effectively. You enjoy collaboration and use your communication skills while planning your work autonomously and taking initiative. You can present conclusions clearly in text, presentations, diagrams, and data visualizations, and you are comfortable facilitating expert workshops.

You love working with AI, especially LLMs, and want to deepen your expertise in the coming years. Beyond prompt engineering, you are interested in fine-tuning, explainability, robustness, adversarial attacks, and other topics to build reliable systems. You enjoy diving deep into tasks such as fine-tuning smaller models and developing specialized applications. You are eager to learn, share knowledge with colleagues, and work as a team player.

What You Bring:

• An academic Master’s or PhD in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, or Operations Research.
• Excellent communication skills in Dutch and English, both spoken and written.
• Solid programming experience in Python (and possibly other relevant languages).
• Experience with common LLM workflows, such as RAG pipelines, fine-tuning/LoRA, and model adaptation.
• Familiarity with modern LLM tools, e.g., HuggingFace, LangChain, or LlamaIndex. Experience with enterprise models and APIs (Azure AI / Foundry or OpenAI GPT API) is a plus, especially if you’ve built applications interacting with LLMs.
• Experience with data analysis and visualization/user interfaces (e.g., Vue.js and React).
• Demonstrable affinity with the security and defence domain; experience in this field is a plus.

What you'll get in return

Challenging and varied work with a real impact. And plenty of opportunities as, at TNO, you are in charge of shaping your career. We offer a gross monthly salary between € 3,500 and € 4,500 (based on your knowledge and experience), 8% holiday pay, a 13^th month bonus of 8.33% and a flex budget (5.58% + € 180). In addition, you will be given every opportunity to develop yourself.

Perhaps you would like to grow your career in the direction of commerce or consultancy? Or would you like to become a project manager? Immerse yourself in sustainable innovations? Or carve out a career as a technical expert?

TNO offers optional employee benefits, enabling you to tailor your benefits package to match your personal situation. You may also expect:

• An extremely professional, innovative working environment where colleagues are leading experts in their field.
• The opportunity to attend courses, workshops and conferences, and to receive training and coaching based on your needs.
• 33 days annual leave plus a flexible holiday that can be used on a cultural, religious, or otherwise important day of your choosing (on a full-time basis).
• An employer working towards a respectful, inclusive, and equitable work environment where every employee can flourish, with various initiatives such as Jong TNO, numerous expertise based guilds, Rainbow Community and Round Tables on diverse inclusion topics.
• We offer a comprehensive and flexible mobility plan that also includes full compensation for public transportation for commuting and business travel.
• Great social events with your team and other TNO colleagues. That’s how you will get to know a lot of people really quickly.
• Flexible working hours, the possibility to work parttime (32 or 36 hours) and the possibility of working from home.
• A good pension scheme.

Read more about tailoring your benefits package.

TNO as an employer

Our people are at the heart of TNO. Their curiosity, expertise and entrepreneurial mindset make it possible to deliver high-impact research and innovations that contribute to society’s sustainable wellbeing and prosperity. That is why we invest in an inspiring and inclusive working environment where colleagues can excel, have autonomy and continue to grow.

Your talent and ambition have every opportunity to flourish at TNO. You work with experts (both within and beyond TNO), have access to advanced technology and the freedom to explore, experiment and innovate. Our strength lies in independence, reliability and collaboration. We find each other in wonder and ingenuity. We are driven to push boundaries. By working with businesses and government, and by connecting different perspectives, we strengthen our innovative capability and create responsible, meaningful results.

At TNO, we believe this is our time to help society, government and business move forward faster. Together with driven colleagues, you turn knowledge into concrete innovations or ventures that truly make a difference by combining the power of science and entrepreneurship. And in doing so, you make your mark on our time.

The selection process

Please apply before the 1st of June, 2026. The selection process comprises two interview rounds. The preliminary interview takes place on the 15th or 16th of June, 2026. The second interview round has been scheduled for the 23rd of June, 2026. In a final meeting we will discuss the terms of employment and your tailored benefits package. We aim to finalize the entire process within four weeks.

The selection process may include an online assessment and a reference check.

As you will be working for clients in the domain of defence and security, a Certificate of No Objection issued by AIVD (the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service) is mandatory. This means you will have to undergo a security screening. Read more about security screening.