Clera
Neuroscience PhD / Computational Neuroscience ML Engineer
About this role
A Y Combinator–backed wearable startup seeks a Computational Neuroscience PhD to build the core inference model that detects real-time emotional states from multimodal sensor data. You'll blend neuroscience research with production ML engineering in a founding role with clear leadership trajectory.
What you'll do
- Develop and refine inference models quantifying emotional states from audio and biometric wearable data
- Translate neuroscience theory (active inference, cognitive frameworks) into scalable production systems
- Bridge research and engineering, operating simultaneously as both scientist and ML practitioner
- Shape technical direction of the core AI product in close collaboration with founding team
- Own end-to-end model development from research concept to deployment
- Iterate on multimodal sensor data processing pipelines
What they're looking for
- Computational neuroscience or cognitive science PhD-level expertise
- Python for ML development and model deployment
- Active inference and Bayesian brain frameworks
- Multimodal biosignal processing (audio, biometric, physiological)
- Machine learning model development and production systems
- Research-to-production translation
- Cross-functional collaboration in startup environments
- Neuroscience research methodology and experimental design
Benefits
- Meaningful founding-level equity (1–2%)
- Significant ownership and influence over company technical direction
- Clear pathway to leadership as company scales
- Remote and hybrid work arrangements available
- Opportunity to shape a novel emotional intelligence product
- Access to cutting-edge wearable sensor and AI infrastructure
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Clera
Clera builds an agentic operating system that automates complex workflows and processes through AI agents, with a platform designed to simplify distributed infrastructure management for developers. The company is hiring Founding Engineers, Customer Engineers, and Product Engineers to develop both backend systems and user-facing interfaces across their AI automation products.
View all jobs at CleraLikely interview questions
- Walk us through a project where you translated neuroscience research findings into a deployed machine learning system—what were the key challenges?
- How would you approach building an inference model for emotional state from multimodal sensor data? What frameworks would you consider?