Senior Optical Research Scientist

Join CoMind as a Senior Optical Research Scientist to innovate non-invasive neuromonitoring technology in London. Collaborate in a dynamic team and advance brain disorder diagnostics.

• Lead and directly contribute to laboratory, phantom, benchtop, and in-vivo testing of new optical neuromonitoring systems and methods
• Own defined experimental workstreams from planning and protocol development through execution, analysis, documentation, and communication of results
• Develop and validate tissue-mimicking phantoms and experimental setups used to assess optical system performance
• Perform in-vivo optical measurements on healthy volunteers, including subject setup, data acquisition, signal quality assessment, and interpretation of physiological responses
• Generate and analyse high-quality experimental datasets to support product development, system validation, and data science / machine learning activities
• Investigate device performance, signal quality, system limitations, and failure modes using structured troubleshooting and data-driven analysis
• Summarise findings, compile technical reports, and present results to research, product, engineering, clinical, and leadership teams
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to inform design decisions, support verification and validation activities, and ensure experimental evidence is translated into product and technical decisions
• Provide technical guidance to less experienced team members and help maintain high standards of experimental practice, documentation, and scientific rigour
• AI is fundamental to our culture — it's not just a tool, but a core part of how we work, collaborate, and innovate. We expect all team members to embrace AI in their daily work and continuously find new ways to use it effectively.

• Background in physics, medical physics, biomedical engineering, optical engineering, biomedical optics, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years undertaking laboratory testing and development of physiological or biomedical measurement systems, including experimental design, device application, data acquisition, and analysis.
• Strong hands-on experience working with experimental or prototype technologies, including setup, troubleshooting, measurement execution, and data quality assessment.
• Experience with in-vivo physiological signal acquisition, ideally using optical or optoelectronic measurement systems.
• Strong understanding of tissue optics, optical signal acquisition, and physiological measurement principles.
• Experience with tissue-mimicking phantoms, optical phantoms, flow phantoms, or experimental validation systems.
• Experience analysing complex experimental datasets and extracting meaningful signals, parameters, trends, or performance metrics.
• Fluency in at least one programming language used for data collection and analysis, such as Python, MATLAB, or LabVIEW.
• Ability to translate scientific or engineering questions into well-designed experiments with clear objectives, controls, and success criteria.
• Strong communication skills, including scientific writing, technical reporting, and presentation of results to different audiences.
• Experience working in an interdisciplinary team across optics, engineering, neuroscience, clinical science, product development, or data science.
• PhD in biomedical optics, medical physics, biomedical engineering, optical engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience with diffuse correlation spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, photoplethysmography, optical coherence tomography, or related biomedical optical techniques.
• Experience with non-invasive neuromonitoring technologies and associated physiological datasets.
• Experience acquiring physiological data in clinical or healthy volunteer settings.
• Experience supporting verification and validation activities for medical devices.
• Experience with Good Clinical Practice, ethical approvals, consent documentation, or study governance processes.

• Company equity plan so all employees share in the success of the company
• Salary-sacrifice pension scheme
• Private medical, dental and vision insurance (medical history disregarded)
• Group life assurance at 4x annual income
• Comprehensive mental health support, including unlimited access to 1:1 sessions with trained professionals
• Unlimited holiday allowance (+ bank holidays) and one week of remote working per quarter
• Lunch voucher (£10) every day for JustEat and free dinner on those days where you need to work later
• Twice weekly deliveries of fresh fruit and an extensive selection of snacks and drinks
• YuLife subscription, allowing you to turn your daily steps and meditation into discounts at a range of stores
• • Salary £58K – £81K • Offers Equity