Neuroscience PhD / Computational Neuroscience ML Engineer

Role Summary

A Y Combinator–backed wearable technology startup is hiring a Computational Neuroscience PhD to own the core inference model that quantifies real-time emotional states from wearable sensor data. This is a founding technical role — you'll sit at the intersection of neuroscience research and production machine learning, and you're expected to grow into a leadership position as the company scales.

The company is building a wearable device that infers and interprets a user's emotional state in real time using a proprietary AI model processing both audio and biometric signals. The mission is to make emotional intelligence trainable and help people reliably reach peak mental performance states.

Responsibilities

• Develop and iterate on the inference model that quantifies emotional states from multimodal wearable sensor data
• Bridge neuroscience research and production machine learning — you'll operate as both researcher and ML engineer
• Translate theoretical frameworks (e.g. active inference, cognitive science) into deployable, scalable systems
• Collaborate closely with the founding team to shape the technical direction of the core AI product

Requirements

• PhD in computational neuroscience, cognitive science, active inference, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated experience bridging neuroscience research and production machine learning systems
• Strong Python proficiency for ML model development and deployment
• Comfort working in a fast-moving early-stage environment
• US work authorization required (visa transfers considered; no new visa sponsorship)

Nice to Have

• Background in active inference or Bayesian brain / predictive coding frameworks
• Experience with multimodal biosignal processing (audio, biometric, physiological data)
• Prior founding or early-stage startup experience

Not a fit if: your background is exclusively wet-lab neuroscience with no ML or computational modeling experience.

• Base salary: ~$150,000 USD (US) / ~£75,000 GBP (London)
• Equity: Meaningful founding-level equity (up to 1–2%)
• Founding team role with significant ownership and growth opportunity
• Primary office: London, UK (on-site) — San Francisco, CA also available
• Remote and hybrid arrangements are also considered
• Visa sponsorship: Not available for new sponsorships; visa transfers are acceptable