About the Role
This is a founding technical role at a Y Combinator–backed consumer healthtech startup building a wearable that quantifies emotional states in real time. The company is early-stage (team of ~5), already has prototypes on users' wrists, and is growing fast. You'll own the core inference model that powers the product — bridging cutting-edge computational neuroscience with production machine learning engineering.
This is not a pure research role. Computational neuroscientists here effectively double as ML engineers, taking models from research through to deployment.
What You'll Do
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Design, develop, and iterate on the inference model that quantifies emotional states (e.g. energy, mood, focus) from multimodal wearable sensor data — including audio and biometric signals
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Own the full ML lifecycle: model development, evaluation, and production deployment
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Apply active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods to real-world signal processing challenges
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Bridge neuroscience research and production ML, collaborating closely with the founding team to shape both the science and the product roadmap
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Grow into a leadership role as the company scales
What We're Looking For
Required
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PhD in computational neuroscience, cognitive science, active inference, or a closely related field — this is a strict requirement
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Hands-on experience building and deploying inference models to quantify emotional or physiological states from wearable sensor data
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Strong machine learning engineering skills: model development, evaluation, and deployment
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Experience with active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods
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Comfort working on-site (San Francisco or London) and ability to work without new visa sponsorship (visa transfers considered for the London office)
Nice to Have
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Experience working in a fast-moving, early-stage environment
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Python proficiency across the ML stack
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Background in consumer health, biometrics, or affective computing
Not a fit: Candidates with a wet-lab-only neuroscience background and no computational or ML engineering experience.
Compensation & Benefits
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Salary: ~$150,000 USD (San Francisco) / ~£75,000 GBP (London)
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Equity: Up to 1–2% (founding team equity package)
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Backed by angels and strategic partners (pre-Series A / seed stage, YC Spring 2026)
Location
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On-site in San Francisco, CA, USA or London, UK — location is flexible between the two
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Visa sponsorship: Not available for new sponsorships; visa transfers may be considered for the London office
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