Neuroscience PhD (Computational / Active Inference)

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

• 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

• Own the full ML lifecycle: model development, evaluation, and production deployment

• Apply active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods to real-world signal processing challenges

• Bridge neuroscience research and production ML, collaborating closely with the founding team to shape both the science and the product roadmap

• Grow into a leadership role as the company scales

What We're Looking For

Required

• PhD in computational neuroscience, cognitive science, active inference, or a closely related field — this is a strict requirement

• Hands-on experience building and deploying inference models to quantify emotional or physiological states from wearable sensor data

• Strong machine learning engineering skills: model development, evaluation, and deployment

• Experience with active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods

• 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

• Experience working in a fast-moving, early-stage environment

• Python proficiency across the ML stack

• 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

• Salary: ~$150,000 USD (San Francisco) / ~£75,000 GBP (London)

• Equity: Up to 1–2% (founding team equity package)

• Backed by angels and strategic partners (pre-Series A / seed stage, YC Spring 2026)

Location

• On-site in San Francisco, CA, USA or London, UK — location is flexible between the two

• Visa sponsorship: Not available for new sponsorships; visa transfers may be considered for the London office