Synthetic Data Generation Engineer

NestAI; Turku; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

NestAI in Turku, Finland, seeks a seasoned AI researcher to build and operate synthetic data pipelines for object detection in defence contexts. You will train diffusion-based generative models, including LoRA fine-tuning, and combine data sources to improve realism and model performance.

Work closely with the ML Platform and simulation teams to validate data, integrate with infrastructure, and push the boundaries of synthetic data quality for real-world applications.

Qualifications

• Several years of hands-on experience training generative models.
• Experience creating synthetic data in domains with limited real data.
• Deep familiarity with diffusion models and Python ML training frameworks.
• Judgment for when synthetic data is realistic enough to matter for training.
• Comfortable working with imperfect information in a rapidly evolving research area.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve generative pipelines that produce synthetic image and video data for object detection.
• Train and fine-tune diffusion-based models, including LoRA finetuning.
• Combine generative approaches with other data sources to boost realism and variation.
• Validate synthetic data against real-world outcomes to prove training improvement.
• Monitor new open-source models and evaluate their impact on pipelines.
• Collaborate with the ML Platform chapter and simulation team on shared data infrastructure.

Tools

Python

HuggingFace Diffusers

LoRA training

Omniverse

Job description

Company

NestAI is a European AI lab for defence delivering the adaptive operating system for modern battlefield operations. We develop adaptive intelligence for unmanned and command systems: AI that continuously learns from operational data and adapts to changing conditions.

Company

NestAI is a European AI lab for defence delivering the adaptive operating system for modern battlefield operations. We develop adaptive intelligence for unmanned and command systems: AI that continuously learns from operational data and adapts to changing conditions. NestOS is our open, modular and interoperable platform that enables this at scale and keeps capability evolution under sovereign European control. Founded in 2025 by Peter Sarlin, whose previous company Silo AI became Europe’s largest AI acquisition, NestAI brings together over 200 engineers and scientists and partners with leading European defence forces and industry.

Role Description

You’ll join the synthetic data team inside our ML Platform chapter, the group responsible for generating training data that doesn’t exist anywhere else yet. Real-world imagery for object detection in defence contexts is scarce by nature: the situations, assets, and conditions our models need to recognize are rare, hard to capture safely, or simply haven’t happened yet. This team builds the generative pipelines that close that gap, generating visual data under controlled conditions for scenarios that are difficult to capture directly. This role is for someone who has trained generative models themselves, not just fine-tuned or called pretrained ones, and who cares as much about whether synthetic data holds up in real-world model performance as about whether it looks convincing.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Build and improve generative pipelines that produce synthetic image and video data for object detection models, covering scenarios where real data is scarce or unavailable.
• Train and fine-tune diffusion-based generative models, including LoRA fine-tuning, to produce increasingly realistic and varied synthetic data.
• Combine generative approaches with other data sources to boost realism and variation and increase variation in the data produced.
• Validate synthetic data against real-world outcomes, proving it improves model training, not just that it looks good.
• Track the fast-moving generative model landscape and evaluate new open-source models as they emerge.
• Work closely with the wider ML Platform chapter and simulation team on shared data infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Several years of hands-on experience training generative models yourself, not only fine-tuning or calling pretrained APIs.
• Experience creating synthetic data in domains where real data is limited — image-based fields like medical, hyperspectral, or multispectral imaging are a strong analogue, even outside defence.
• Deep familiarity with diffusion models and Python-based ML training frameworks, including LoRA training and the Hugging Face Diffusers library.
• Judgment for when synthetic data is realistic enough to actually matter for training, and when it isn’t, however good it looks.
• Comfortable working with imperfect information in a research area that shifts month to month.

Nice To Have

• Experience with Nvidia Omniverse or other simulation environments, and combining simulation output with generative models.
• Exposure to generative world models.
• Background in a field where generating photorealistic, cost-efficient synthetic scenes at scale mattered (e.g. automotive or gaming).

How you think, learn, and take ownership matters more to us than ticking every box.

Why join NestAI

At NestAI, you’ll build meaningful, real-world technology as part of a world-class team of engineers, scientists, and experienced professionals. You’ll work on systems where reliability genuinely matters, contribute to Europe’s security and resilience, and solve problems that demand depth, trust, and craftsmanship.

If you want to build with purpose - and with leading experts in the field - you’ve come to the right place.

What we offer

• Occupational healthcare (currently provided by Mehiläinen)
• Epassi Flex benefit (sports, culture, commuting, wellbeing)
• Lunch benefit (25% tax-free coverage)
• Regular team lunches and all-hands events
• Your choice of Mac or PC
• Holiday allowance (50% of holiday salary)
• Phone benefit according to company policy (subscription and device)
• We are continuously developing and expanding our benefits as we grow.

Practicalities

Employment is subject to applicable security screening (including SUPO, where required).

NestAI is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants based on their skills, experience, and potential.