Data Scientist

Activate; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health, Dental, Vision plans

401k matching

PTO + US holidays

Job summary

SirenOpt is hiring a Data Scientist to join the Applications Engineering team in an on-site role in San Leandro, CA. You will turn complex sensor signals into actionable predictions of material properties, bridging raw instrument data and manufacturing intelligence.

You will collaborate with software and hardware engineers to move models from research to production, validate them on new materials, and communicate results to customers and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Data Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics or related field, 3–5 years ML/data science experience; MS with 1–3 years is acceptable.
• Hands-on experience building and validating predictive models in Python.
• Ability to analyze multivariate, high-dimensional datasets and perform feature engineering.
• Strong communication skills for presenting findings to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Build, calibrate, and validate predictive models mapping sensor features to material properties.
• Design and evaluate model architectures and featurization for small-data, high-dimensional data.
• Develop validation frameworks with uncertainty quantification and out-of-distribution detection.
• Prepare documentation and handoff to software engineering for production deployment.

Skills

Python

ML / Data science

Statistical modeling

Communication

Small-data modeling

Education

Bachelor's in Data Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics

MS in related quantitative field

Tools

PostgreSQL

scikit-learn

Pandas/Numpy

Job description

About SirenOpt

SirenOpt helps manufacturers make better, safer, and more reliable micro- and nano-materials. These materials are the building blocks of critical sectors of the global economy such as batteries, computer chips, aircraft components, and power systems. But, surging material demand and growing complexity are pushing production to unprecedented scales and speeds, leaving manufacturers effectively flying blind. Small, undetected variations during production lead to wastage, lower performance, higher costs, and safety risks. SirenOpt is changing this by developing a manufacturing intelligence platform that non-destructively probes materials during production, revealing critical internal information without damaging them. Using a novel combination of cold atmospheric plasma, physics-informed machine learning, and predictive analytics, SirenOpt generates unique, real-time material fingerprints that capture material signals not accessible through conventional measurement techniques. These insights give manufacturers unprecedented visibility into how materials behave as they are made. We turn hidden data into actionable intelligence to help manufacturers reduce variability and thus increase yield and performance. The technology can be deployed as a standalone tool or integrated directly into factory production lines. SirenOpt is currently deploying early versions of its platform with some of the largest industrial manufacturers in the world across North America, Europe, and Asia.

About the job

Job Title: Data Scientist – Signal Modeling & Applied Metrology

Location: On-Site (San Leandro, CA)

Job Type: Full-Time

Role Overview

We are seeking a Data Scientist to join our Applications Engineering team. In this role, you will build and deploy machine learning models that turn complex, high-dimensional sensor signals into actionable predictions about material properties, bridging the gap between raw instrument data and manufacturing intelligence. This is a forward-deployed, customer-adjacent role. You will work directly with customer samples and datasets to execute proof-of-concept studies, validate model performance on novel materials, and translate results into product improvements. You will collaborate closely with software and hardware engineering teams to move models from research into production.

What You'll Do

Model Development & Calibration

• Build, calibrate, and validate predictive models that map sensor signal features to material properties
• Design and evaluate new model architectures and featurization strategies suited to small-data, high-dimensional scientific datasets
• Apply methods including regression, dimensionality reduction, probabilistic modeling, anomaly detection, and physics-informed ML

Model Validation & Production Readiness

• Develop testing and validation frameworks for model performance, including uncertainty quantification and out-of-distribution detection
• Characterize model robustness across sample types, process conditions, and instrument configurations
• Prepare models and documentation for handoff to the software engineering team for production deployment

Customer-Facing Proof-of-Concept Work

• Analyze datasets from customer proof of concepts
• Compile technical reports and supporting materials to deliver to customers
• Translate findings and stakeholder feedback into model improvement roadmaps

What We're Looking For

• B.S. in Data Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative science field with 3-5 years of applied ML/data science experience; or M.S. with 1-3 years (Ph.D. a plus, not required)
• Hands-on experience building and validating predictive models (supervised and self-supervised) in Python
• Ability to analyze multivariate, high-dimensional datasets and perform feature engineering and selection
• Solid grasp of statistical modeling: uncertainty quantification, regularization, covariate analysis, and feature importance methods
• Strong communicator; comfortable presenting technical findings to both technical and non-technical audiences

Nice to have:

• Experience working with time-series, spectroscopic, or other sensor-based signal data
• Prior work in manufacturing, materials science, energy storage, semiconductors, or another physical science domain
• Prior customer-facing or applications engineering experience in a technical product company
• Experience deploying models in production software environments
• Familiarity with data pipeline development (PostgreSQL or similar)
• Fluency in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, German, Korean, or another key stakeholder language

Base Pay Range: $100,000 USD - $160,000 USD

Benefits

• Equity and Salary compensation depends on experience
• Health, Dental, Vision plans provided
• 401k matching provided
• Time off: 20 days of PTO per year, plus approximately 15 paid US holidays per year