Jobs at Astera

Design and validate an electrostatic drive and field-effect position sensor for a nanoscale DNA-origami actuator; define device stack and direct cleanroom fabrication; perform electrical and force/displacement characterization (including AFM); ensure low-noise measurement toolchain and collaborate with molecular-design and controls teams for closed-loop operation.

Lead a program to create a high-resolution, whole‑brain primate anatomical and functional atlas integrating imaging, electrophysiology, connectivity, and computational models; coordinate internal teams and external partners; release openly accessible atlas and tools; and develop anatomically grounded computational models with NeuroAI collaborators.

Design and build flexible high-density neural probes, insertion needles, and precision insertion robots. Develop probe-to-chip integration, low-noise readout, microfabrication processes, insertion mechanics, machine-vision guidance, and electrode characterization to transition prototypes into reliable, manufacturable neuroscience instruments.

Design and build custom precision optical systems (large field-of-view, high-speed two-photon imaging and photostimulation), develop a miniature two-photon microscope for freely moving animals, and build electronics, control hardware, and software to integrate optics with data acquisition. Own instruments end-to-end and iterate designs with scientists and collaborators.

Develop and optimize a volumetric functional ultrasound imaging platform for awake, behaving primates; design and run multimodal experiments; build computational pipelines for reconstruction, preprocessing, registration, QC, analysis, and visualization; analyze large-scale datasets with statistical and ML methods; create cross-session/animal brain atlases; integrate fUSI with electrophysiology and other modalities; collaborate with engineers and mentor staff; publish open datasets and tools.

Lead large-scale human intracranial studies: design cognitive paradigms, collect and preprocess sEEG/ECoG/microelectrode data, analyze single-neuron and population activity, coordinate multisite clinical partnerships, own IRB/regulatory/data-sharing, and publish and release curated open-science datasets and tools.

Lead computational research integrating theory, large-scale neural data, and ML to model neural representations and dynamics, design testable experiments, build NeuroAI architectures, and validate model-guided closed-loop stimulation across species.

Lead and execute large-scale systems neuroscience research: design behavioral paradigms, collect multi-area neural recordings and causal perturbations, stitch datasets across sessions/animals, collaborate with engineering and computational teams, mentor staff, and publish/openly share tools and data.

Support the COO by tracking cross-functional projects, maintaining timelines and dashboards, coordinating meetings and vendor/facilities logistics, assisting recruiting and onboarding, planning events, and building automation and lightweight tools to improve operations. Use AI and no-code tools to streamline workflows and take on ad hoc initiatives as priorities shift.

Manage research data lifecycle for scientific programs, ensure FAIR/open science standards, build data infrastructure, train partners, maintain federal partnerships, and coordinate data policy and sensitive-release decisions.

Coordinate project efforts across a multidisciplinary team, manage communication, resolve risks, track budgets, and foster a collaborative environment.

Lead Astera's events and communications: design and run events end-to-end, build scalable playbooks and vendor relationships, manage website/blog/socials and external communications, steward voice and production calendar, hire and manage external contractors, and support general operations across a growing research institute.

Cover the Controller's leave by owning end-to-end finance: FP&A, accounting, treasury, compliance, audits, taxes, grants, and financial operations. Partner with leadership on budgeting and analysis, manage vendors/payments (via Ramp), oversee investments, and supervise one direct report. Role runs Sep 2026–Jun 2027 with conversion potential to permanent FP&A and finance operations leadership.

DiffUSE seeks individuals interested in interdisciplinary roles involving computational biology, machine learning, and open scientific tooling. Responsibilities include data processing, ML research, infrastructure engineering, and community building.

The Machine Learning Researcher will develop new architectures for data-efficient model induction, focusing on optimizing generalization performance and runtime inference in networks, while contributing to a performance-driven code base.

The Staff Software Engineer will architect high-performance infrastructure for AI models, design RL environments, optimize code, and resolve technical challenges to enhance research efficiency.

Lead the vision, strategy, and execution of The Stacks platform, ensuring alignment with Astera's mission while managing product development, user research, and performance metrics.

The Principal Software Engineer will define architecture for high-performance infrastructure, optimize RL environments, and turn prototypes into scalable systems, while resolving technical challenges.

The role involves developing bi-directional architectures for hierarchical perception in AGI, designing experiments, and collaborating across disciplines.

The Senior Software Engineer will architect systems for training models, optimize RL environments, write production-quality code, and resolve technical bottlenecks for research.