R&D Manager – Magycal Labs

About Magycal

At Magycal, we create next-gen digital products for sports and entertainment, reaching millions of users worldwide, having worked with leading national and global brands such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sport TV, Liga Portugal, Gestifute, SIC, Unitel, TVI, CNN, or Big Brother. We are a self-funded and independent company, which gives us the freedom to think long-term, move fast, and invest in what truly matters — including research and innovation.

 

Job Description

We are now launching Magycal Labs, a brand-new, autonomous and self-funded R&D Lab dedicated to pushing the boundaries of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Multimodal Interaction, applied to the future of sports and entertainment. Our products already reach millions of users worldwide, and Magycal Labs will be the engine driving the next wave of innovation.

We’re looking for a curious, driven, and proactive R&D Manager to build and lead this lab from the ground up. If you are passionate about cutting-edge research and want your work to have real-world impact at scale, we want to hear from you!

 

Responsibilities

  • Shape the Agenda: Collaborate with the scientific board to help define and drive the scientific direction of Magycal Labs, ensuring research is ambitious, relevant, and connected to Magycal’s broader innovation goals.
  • Lead R&D Projects: Manage scientific projects end-to-end — from planning and team coordination to delivery and reporting.
  • Hunt for Opportunities: Stay on top of national and European funding calls (e.g. FCT, Horizon Europe) and proactively pursue new project applications.
  • Write Winning Proposals: Draft and submit competitive research proposals, leading the process from identifying calls to final submission, with the help of an experienced funding consultant.
  • Contribute Technically: Contribute directly to the research and development work alongside the team.
  • Build the Team: Recruit, mentor, and inspire a multidisciplinary research team in a brand-new lab environment.
  • Communicate Results: Share findings through publications, presentations, and reports — both internally and with the wider research community.

 

Required

  • PhD (completed or near completion) in Computer Science, Informatics, or a related field.
  • Genuine interest in one or more of: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, or Multimodal Interaction.
  • Willingness and aptitude to manage people and research projects.
  • Proactive mindset and a sharp eye for funding calls and partnership opportunities.
  • Strong autonomy, critical thinking, and excellent communication skills.

 

Valued

  • Experience writing and submitting competitive research proposals.
  • Solid technical knowledge in one or more of our core research areas.
  • Prior experience leading R&D teams or cross-functional groups.
  • Track record of scientific publications or industry research contributions.

 

What do we offer?

  • A founding leadership role in a brand-new, purpose-built R&D Lab, with the freedom to shape its scientific agenda;
  • Salary above the Portuguese academic career salary tables, in accordance with the position and experience;
  • Work with the best that sports and television have to offer;
  • Freedom to manage daily routines;
  • Hybrid Workplace;
  • Work with the leading tools in the market;
  • Significant Annual and Spot Bonuses;
  • High-end healthcare insurance;
  • For parents: help to support the kindergarten expenses with a monthly check;
  • Five extra vacation days throughout the year, for a total of 27;
  • Informal and Fun Environment, where every opinion matters;
  • Participation in Conferences and Workshops: we encourage you to stay at the forefront of your field;
  • Team Building: we organise frequent team events like informal lunches, thematic dinners, escape rooms, sports events, gym classes, and outdoor activities. And we’re always open to new suggestions!

 

Location
Caparica (Madan Parque) & Coimbra (IPN – Instituto Pedro Nunes), Portugal.

Contact
Please send your CV to .

Love what you do. Do what you love.

The goal of Magycal has always been to allow people to connect and interact with their passions: what they watch, they follow, they love. We are constantly driven to create new forms of interaction with digital content and video streaming. Commit to quality, hard work, responsibility, and creativity are some of the core values that we hold dear in our DNA. If you share the same ideals, we would love to hear more from you!
Award-Winning Team

Work with the Best

To create products that change the world, you need to have high exposure. And to achieve it, you need to work with the best. Since Magycal’s foundation that we’ve been working with the best that sports and television has to offer, as they push us to deliver products that change people’s lives.

The Latest Tech

To perform at the highest level, you need to work with the best that technology has to offer. At Magycal we’re motivated to work with the best tools in the market to increase our productivity and deliver great products, even if that brings changes to our daily workflow.

Trust and Happiness

We believe that trust and happiness are crucial pillars of a successful company. As we fully trust our team we give everyone the freedom to manage their daily routines to maximise happiness. Of course that with freedom comes greater responsibility but we know that you are up to the challenge.

Annual Bonus

Magycal’s success is the result of great team work, high quality delivery, and strong individual performance and dedication. That’s why we’ve been sharing our success with our employees and prizing their individual performance in the form of meaningful annual bonuses.

Spot Bonuses

We also prize employees who go above and beyond the scope of their role with Spot Bonuses. We know that you are always willing to help when needed you but we believe that exceptional performances should be rewarded.

Healthcare

We provide a quality healthcare insurance that keeps you safe and sound on your daily life.

Parenthood

A new addition to the family is always a moment of joy, so we’re happy that you fully enjoy your parental leave. Furthermore, we help you to support the kindergarten expenses with a monthly check.

Daily Meal Allowance

In Portugal every employee has the right to receive a daily meal allowance. But we go over the top paying you 60% more so that you can maintain a healthy and balanced nutrition.

Informal and Fun Environment

Picture a workplace where: people have fun at work, go lunch together, play PS4, no dress code is required, weekly discussions of sports and TV events start the day, among others. Have we already mentioned that once in a while we record an amusing web series of our work and that the clients love it?

Conferences and Workshops

Like Albert Einstein once said, when you stop learning, you start dying. And an excellent way of learning, is to attend conferences and workshops, whether they are remote or in-situ. We encourage collaborators to suggest new events to attend, and we help them to cover their expenses when attending those events.

Board Game Nights

Everybody likes to play, so when possible we organize board game marathons so we can sit back and relax together! We have a few favorite games, but we love to try new ones, so feel free to bring yours!

Out of the Office Activities

We organise frequent out of the office activities for the team like informal lunches, thematic dinners, escape rooms, sport events, gym classes, and outdoor events, among others. And we are always open to new and exciting suggestions!

Location

Magycal’s headquarters location was carefully selected. Our offices are located at Madan Parque, an award-winning Science Park located next to NOVA School of Science and Technology, a leading university. We can easily reach Central Lisbon in 15 minutes and the famous sunny Costa da Caparica (Lisbon South Bay) beaches are only 5 minutes away from our office! That means you can have lunch in the sun, do some surfing, swim in the ocean, or just relax and enjoy the breathtaking views. Moreover, our office is located within the future “Portuguese Silicon Valley”, a huge development project that has just been announced.