About the RoleThis 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 ForRequired- 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
