Staff Machine Learning Engineer/Scientist
Job type: Full Time · Department: Machine Learning · Work type: Hybrid · USD 176000 - 220000 / year
Santa Clara, California, United States; New York, New York, United States; Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Precision Neuroscience is building a next-generation brain–computer interface (BCI) to heal and empower millions of people living with neurological conditions.
Our first product, Layer 7, is designed to help people with severe paralysis operate digital devices using only their thoughts—opening up new possibilities for daily life.
Our team brings together experts in neurosurgery, AI and machine learning, microfabrication, electrical engineering, clinical science, and more. We combine deep technical rigor with a people-first mindset to turn breakthrough research into real-world medical solutions.
As a Precision employee, you’ll join one of the fastest-moving and best-capitalized companies in the emerging field of brain–computer interfaces. Since our founding in 2021, we have raised more than $180 million, advanced our technology through validation, and initiated human trials with leading hospitals across the country.
Our Values:
We build for human impact, measuring progress by the lives our work can change.
We do no harm, holding ourselves to the highest standards of safety, integrity, and responsibility.
We innovate with urgency because the stakes are high and our users can’t wait.
We bring sharp minds, open ears, pairing expertise with curiosity, humility, and respect.
And we lead the way, taking ownership of our work and helping to shape the future of our field.
We are seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer/Scientist to join our mission of advancing brain-computer interface technology by developing and leading the scientific and algorithmic work that enables our revolutionary BCI platform to transform patients' lives. This is a senior, high-impact role at the intersection of neuroscience and machine learning, where you will help shape the scientific direction of our ML team — defining research agendas, generating and testing hypotheses, and bridging rigorous academic neuroscience with real-world clinical systems.
This position is on-site at least 3 days a week at our Santa Clara or New York offices. We are unable to consider remote workers or people not currently based in the United States who do not have working rights. Travel up to 20% to clinical sites and to collaborate with teammates in other locations.
Key Responsibilities
Scientific Leadership — Define and drive a research agenda for neural decoding and algorithm development. Stay at the cutting edge of neuroscience and ML research, and lead periodic state-of-the-art reviews with the broader team.
Hypothesis-Driven Development — Translate deep knowledge of neural signals and motor cortex function into concrete, testable hypotheses. Design and iterate on approaches grounded in both the academic literature and clinical reality. Operate comfortably in ambiguous problem spaces, deriving solutions from first principles and neuroscience fundamentals.
Neural Decoding — Build proof-of-concept demonstrations and production-ready models for decoding motor and speech intentions from neural signals including under real-time and low-latency constraints. This includes signal preprocessing, model development, and validation across patient populations.
Large-Scale Initiative Planning — Own and lead major workstreams end-to-end. Scope initiatives, document plans, and leverage the broader ML team to execute effectively and on schedule.
Cross-Functional Collaboration — Partner closely with ML engineers, software engineers, clinical, and product teams to integrate models into the product, while meeting quality and regulatory requirements. Serve as a scientific authority in cross-functional settings, contributing to company-wide strategy and initiative planning — not just executing within the ML team.
ML Pipeline Design — Contribute to cloud and local ML pipelines for data cleaning, model training, and validation. Work with engineers to integrate into the broader MLOps infrastructure.
Mentorship & Standards — Set a high bar for scientific and engineering excellence across the team through code reviews, architecture discussions, and documentation. Mentor ML scientists and engineers at all levels, and actively shape how the team approaches hard problems — not just what it builds, but how it thinks.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
PhD in neuroscience, neural decoding, computational neuroscience, computer science, physics, applied math, or a closely related field, with a strong background in deep learning. 2+ years of industry or postdoctoral experience strongly preferred.
Deep, intuitive understanding of neural signals — including single-unit and population-level activity, motor cortex function, and how the brain encodes and produces movement, speech, and other behaviors.
Demonstrated ability to apply academic knowledge to functional engineering problems; experience shipping or validating models in a real-world or clinical context is a strong plus.
Strong coding skills with Python and PyTorch, including fluency with modern AI coding tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code). Candidates should have strong CS fundamentals and be able to contribute meaningfully in a fast-paced, AI-assisted engineering environment while maintaining rigor.
Experience designing and conducting experiments, ideally involving human subjects or clinical populations.
Experience with digital signal processing and neural signal preprocessing.
Publication record at reputable neuroscience and/or ML conferences.
Proven ability to independently plan and lead large-scale technical initiatives, set direction, and drive execution across a team.
Strong plus: background in robotics, edge deployment, or model quantization for hardware.
Strong plus: experience at research-focused organizations with a translational component (e.g., academic BCI labs, neurotech companies, or computational neuroscience groups at industry research labs).
Strong plus: knowledge of real-time systems or embedded systems.
Strong plus: medical device or FDA regulatory experience.
Diverse workforces create the best culture, company, and products. We at Precision are committed to an inclusive culture that celebrates the uniqueness and contributions of everyone.
As an equal opportunity employer, Precision does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The actual base salary offered is determined by a number of variables, including, as appropriate, the applicant's qualifications for the position, years of relevant experience, distinctive skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location of residence and/or place of employment.
Precision Neuroscience does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies, staffing firms, or third-party recruiters. Any resumes submitted without a prior written agreement and an authorized job order will be considered the property of Precision Neuroscience, and no fee will be owed in the event a candidate is hired. All qualified candidates should apply directly through our careers page.
We prioritize candidate security. Please be aware that job offers will only come from emails ending with @precisionneuro.io
For roles based in Massachusetts: it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
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