Neuroscience PhD – Inference Modelling (Founding Role)

About the Role

A Y Combinator–backed consumer wearable startup at the frontier of emotional intelligence is hiring a founding Neuroscience PhD to own the core inference model that quantifies emotional states from wearable sensor data. This is a rare opportunity to join a five-person team at the ground floor, bridging cutting-edge computational neuroscience research with production machine learning — with real ownership and equity from day one.

The company builds a wearable device that tracks and trains emotional intelligence (EQ), processing hundreds of audio and biometric signals to surface actionable emotional state metrics in real time. Prototypes are already on users' wrists. The mission: make EQ measurable and trainable in an era where AI commoditises cognitive intelligence.

What You'll Do

• Design, develop, and iterate on the inference model that quantifies emotional states (energy, mood, focus) from multi-modal wearable sensor data

• Bridge neuroscience research and production ML — you will function equally as a research scientist and an ML engineer

• Evaluate and deploy models at scale, maintaining rigour from experimental design through to on-device or cloud inference

• Apply active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods to novel, real-world signal problems

• Help define the scientific roadmap as a founding team member, with the expectation of building and leading a research org as the company scales

What We're Looking For

Required

• PhD in computational neuroscience, cognitive science, active inference, or a closely related field (dealbreaker)

• Demonstrated experience building and deploying inference models to quantify physiological or emotional states from wearable or biosensor data

• Strong ML engineering skills: model development, evaluation pipelines, and production deployment

• Hands-on experience with active inference frameworks and computational neuroscience methods

• Proficiency in Python and relevant scientific/ML tooling

• Ability to work on-site in San Francisco or London

Nice to Have

• Experience with multi-modal biosignal processing (EEG, PPG, GSR, audio, etc.)

• Prior experience in a fast-moving early-stage startup environment

• Interest in consumer hardware and the intersection of neuroscience and product

Not a fit: Wet-lab-only neuroscience backgrounds without computational or ML experience.

Compensation & Benefits

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

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

• The company has recently closed a seed round with angels and strategic partners

• Visa sponsorship: Not available for new visas; existing visa transfers considered

Location

On-site in San Francisco, CA, USA or London, UK. Location is flexible between the two offices. This is not a remote role.