Job description
About the Role
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.
What You'll Do
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
What We're Looking For
Required:
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.
Compensation & Benefits
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
Location
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
Originally posted on Himalayas
Who can apply
Eligible countries: United Kingdom, United States. Accepted UTC offsets: UTC-10, UTC-9, UTC-8, UTC-7, UTC-6, UTC-5, UTC+0, UTC+14. Review the full description for employer-specific work authorization, residency and schedule requirements.