Probe Engineer

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward a better future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive progress. We have committed a $3.5B endowment to that work and fit the form of our support to the function it serves: grants, investments, and in-house research programs. We accept meaningful risk in the research we back and expect some of it to fail because transformative ideas are rarely the ones already proven. Our projects, and the foundation itself, operate like high-velocity startups, with a high performance bar and competitive compensation to match. We are searching for leaders who are compelled by the challenge of driving high-impact change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming at astera.org/vision.

Astera Neuro seeks to understand and engineer consciousness. We believe consciousness is the process by which the brain builds a coherent internal model of the world and the self. We aim to understand this model and to develop the technologies to write experience directly into the brain. By combining large-scale neural recording, causal perturbation, and brain-based AI, we seek to move neuroscience from observing correlates of experience to engineering it. The same tools carry direct therapeutic promise for neurological and psychiatric diseases that alter perception, thought, and sense of self. Because the science and tools required do not yet exist, we are assembling a founding team of neuroscientists, theorists, and engineers to create them. We do high-risk, high-reward science in a well-resourced, collaborative environment with competitive pay, and share everything openly under Astera's Open Science Policy.

Working closely with our experimental, surgical, and software teams, probe engineers here design and build the recording hardware – the probes, insertion mechanisms, and robotics that determine how much of the brain we can see, and how well.

The role spans three tightly coupled problems: the probe (thin, flexible, high-density electrode arrays), the needle (the micro-machined tool that carries a probe past the meninges without damaging it or the tissue), and the robot (the precision system that places many probes quickly, accurately, and repeatedly while avoiding vasculature). You will move fluidly across mechanical design, microfabrication, and control, and you will own hardware from initial concept through benchtop validation and into the recording rig.

We are hiring at multiple levels. As an Engineer, you will lead well-defined hardware projects with regular guidance. As a Senior Engineer, you will own hardware lines end-to-end, drive design decisions, and set fabrication and test strategy. As a Principal Engineer, you will define the probe and robotics roadmap, mentor engineers, and shape how mechanical, fabrication, and control work fit together at Astera. We will calibrate scope and title to your experience.

• Design flexible, high-density neural probes; thin-film polymer arrays (polyimide, Parylene C, or comparable) patterned with hundreds to thousands of microelectrodes, from layout through fabrication and encapsulation.

• Build probe-to-chip integration and the readout signal chain, bonding high-density electrode arrays to amplifier and acquisition electronics, and developing the low-noise front-end that amplifies, digitizes, and streams microvolt neural signals to the acquisition system.

• Design insertion needles and needle-pincher mechanisms; micro-machined and electrochemically etched tools that grasp, insert, and release flexible probes at micron-scale placement accuracy.

• Develop insertion strategies that solve the hard mechanics of putting a flexible thread into soft tissue; managing bending stiffness and buckling, temporarily stiffening the probe for insertion, and mitigating the forces that build up across many closely spaced insertions.

• Build a precision insertion robot; multi-axis motion, servo and linear-motor drives, and the real-time control that makes placement fast, accurate, and repeatable.

• Develop machine-vision guidance for the robot; imaging and computer vision that locate targets, guide the needle to them, and avoid surface vasculature during insertion.

• Build electrode characterization and process pipelines, impedance and electrochemistry (e.g., Pt, PEDOT coatings), yield, and reliability testing that turn a working prototype into a manufacturable part.

Required:

• Strong hands-on engineering across mechanical design and prototyping; you move fluently between CAD, the machine shop, and the benchtop.

• Experience building precision electromechanical or robotic systems (multi-axis motion, servo/linear-motor control, tight tolerance stacks).

• Familiarity with microfabrication and thin-film processes (photolithography, deposition, etching, cleanroom work), or a demonstrated ability to pick them up fast.

• Comfort with real-time control and the software that drives hardware (Python plus C/C++ or comparable; embedded, FPGA, or RTOS a plus).

• Working knowledge of the signal-acquisition chain – how low-level analog signals are amplified, digitized, and acquired – and comfort collaborating with electronics engineers on it.

• Genuine interest in building instruments for neuroscience, and in the tissue-mechanics constraints that make this problem hard.

Preferred/Nice to Have:

• Flexible/thin-film electrode microfabrication (polyimide, Parylene C, PDMS) and electrode electrochemistry.

• Micro-machining and electrochemical etching of fine metal tooling (e.g., tungsten, tungsten-rhenium).

• Low-noise analog/mixed-signal front-end design for recording microvolt-scale signals (amplification, filtering, multiplexing, digitization).

• High-density interconnect and packaging; bonding fine-pitch electrode arrays to electronics (e.g., flip-chip, wire bonding, ACF, or comparable).

• Precision motion control, machine vision, or real-time closed-loop robotics.

• Surgical or medical-device hardware, including sterilization, sterile workflow, and design under regulatory constraints.

• Neural interfaces, MEMS sensors, or other implantable devices.

• Contributions to open-source hardware, instrumentation, or scientific-computing projects.

Additionally Expected at Senior / Principal Level

• A track record of taking hardware from concept to working, validated device; owning design tradeoffs, fabrication, and test.

• Experience making and defending tradeoffs across precision, reliability, manufacturability, and biocompatibility.

• Comfort working across the stack, from mechanical design and fabrication to control software and system integration.

• A history of mentoring engineers or leading technical initiatives (Principal level).

PhD with 3 to 12+ years of experience. Backgrounds in mechanical, electrical, biomedical, or materials engineering, mechatronics, robotics, applied physics, MEMS/microfabrication, or related fields are all welcome. Graduate work or research experience is a plus but not required. We value demonstrated skill and relevant experience above credentials.

The posted salary range is based on location in the Bay Area. The successful candidate will receive a competitive compensation package, commensurate with their experience and location.

Astera Neuro is hiring a probe engineer to design the flexible neural probes, insertion needles, and precision robotics that make large-scale recording possible: devices that place thousands of electrodes with micron precision while sparing the tissue around them. If you want to build the physical instrument at the heart of a new neuroscience, let’s talk.

Astera Neuro provides a comprehensive benefits package and total compensation that is competitive and commensurate with the level of experience and qualifications.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion!