PhD Research Associate (Industry PhD Program) - Artificial Intelligence, SAP Labs Singapore

SAP SE; Singapore; On-site; SGD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech firm in Singapore is hiring a PhD Research Associate for its Industry PhD Program. In this role, you'll conduct cutting-edge research in Business AI while pursuing your PhD at the National University of Singapore. Candidates should have strong programming skills, relevant qualifications, and a desire to contribute to innovative AI solutions. This position offers an exciting opportunity to blend academia with practical industry experience.

Benefits

Constant learning and skill growth

Competitive benefits

Collaborative team environment

Qualifications

• Experience with generative AI and machine learning.
• Strong programming skills in relevant languages.
• Ability to work in global teams across time zones.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research in generative AI and machine learning.
• Collaborate with data scientists and engineers on projects.
• Communicate research findings effectively.

Skills

Machine learning proficiency

Deep learning frameworks

Programming in Python

Excellent English communication

Education

Undergraduate or master’s degree in a relevant field

Acceptance to the NUS PhD program

Tools

Python

C++

Java

Scala

Linux

Job description

PhD Research Associate (Industry PhD Program) – Artificial Intelligence, SAP Labs Singapore

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we’ll bring out the best in you. We are builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what’s next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You’ll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your well‑being, and truly belong. We offer constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

*SAP will be prioritizing candidates with full working rights in Singapore.*

Role

As a PhD Research Associate in the Industry PhD Program (IPP), you will be at the forefront of innovation in Business AI. You will work full‑time at the SAP Business AI unit while pursuing your PhD degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS). You will conduct cutting‑edge research in generative AI and machine learning and publish your findings in top academic conferences and journals aligned to internal guidelines. Possible PhD topics, informed by real industry problems, include AI agents based on large language models (LLMs) and vision models, robust LLM‑based evaluation, resilient multimodal retrieval‑augmented‑generation (RAG), document AI, multimodal LLMs for tabular AI, and synthetic data for anomaly detection. Your research will be supervised by a mentor at SAP and an academic supervisor at the university.

While your focus will be on research and completing your PhD, you will be able to gain industry exposure through working on projects with our data scientists and developers to embed the latest advancements in AI/ML into our software products. This unique opportunity combines academic pursuit with practical experience, allowing you to gain valuable insights into the real‑world impact of your research. Successful candidates need to be accepted into the PhD program by NUS.

Expectations and Tasks

• Push the frontiers of what is possible in AI in an SAP‑defined research project
• Explore, understand, and implement recent research approaches and find ways to improve them
• Understand business processes and assess the business relevance of AI solutions
• Create excellence both in terms of research results quality and system scalability
• Communicate the relevance of implemented systems and achieved results in a visual and consistent way
• Work closely with the data science and engineering teams to transfer research results into product code base
• Ability to work in global teams with different time zones
• Immerse yourself quickly into new topics, terminology, and development tasks
• Complete all academic requirements and your PhD degree on time

Educational and Experience Requirements

• Undergraduate or master’s degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or equivalent fields
• Acceptance to the NUS PhD program
• Experience with machine and deep learning software packages and frameworks
• Hands‑on with programming languages such as Python, C++, Java, Scala
• Experience in Large Language Models, Generative Pre‑trained Transformer models, foundational models, etc.
• Strong desire to overcome obstacles and make your work benefit SAP’s customers
• Excellent written and communication skills in English

Optional

• Publication track record on deep learning and machine learning
• Operational knowledge of Linux distributions
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies

Job Segment: Data Science, AI Developer, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you need assistance to navigate our website or complete your application, please email Recruiting Operations Team: [e-mail].

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual preference, disability, or protected veteran status, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

Requisition ID: 439621 | Work Area: Administration | Expected Travel: 0 – 10% | Career Status: Student | Employment Type: Limited Full Time | Additional Locations: Singapore, SG, 117440

Job Segment: SAP, ERP, Cloud, Research Associate, Technology, Research