Director of Research

Evolve; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Evolve is seeking an experienced Research Manager to lead the evidence strategy behind its neurotechnology platform in the US. You will own the research roadmap, prioritize studies with commercial impact, manage external partners, and translate evidence into product claims and customer confidence.

You will collaborate with leadership, neuroscientists, Product, Business Development, and scientific advisors to turn emerging science into a credible market-ready evidence base and ROI for customers.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of industry experience leading applied research or evidence generation for a commercial product or platform
• PhD preferred in biomedical engineering, brain sciences, biostatistics, behavioral science, or a related field
• Track record of building research roadmaps and focusing studies on business and product needs
• Experience managing external research programs with universities, PIs, CROs, health systems, or government labs
• Strong command of study design and validation, including reliability, validity, benchmarking, and external validation
• Hands-on experience with human-subjects research, including IRB processes, consent, and data protection
• Strong program management across budgets, contracts, timelines, milestones, and data deliverables
• Clear communicator who works with ML/data science, Product, Engineering, Commercial, and executives

Responsibilities

• Own Evolve’s company-wide research roadmap, prioritizing work based on value, product needs, and scientific gaps
• Translate input from Product, Business Development, Marketing, and Science into clear research priorities
• Sequence studies to support pilots and commercial priorities while building long-term evidence
• Decide internal vs external work and allocate resources accordingly
• Own active study portfolio and drive readouts and usable outcomes
• Define validation pathway across the platform from headset performance to cognitive assessment
• Partner with Science, ML, Product, and Engineering to connect measures to real-world outcomes
• Establish credible baseline claims and what further evidence is needed
• Develop economic evidence and ROI analysis linking outcomes to customer value
• Build and manage external research partnerships and an institutional publication strategy
• Lead non-dilutive funding opportunities and grant submissions

Skills

Research leadership

Roadmap prioritization

External partnerships

Study design & validation

IRB processes & patient data

Education

PhD in biomedical engineering, brain sciences, biostatistics, behavioral science, or related field

Job description

Evolve is building a neurotechnology platform to better measure and understand human performance and health. We are seeking an experienced Research Manager to lead the research and evidence strategy behind the platform.

This role is designed for someone who has built research programs inside a commercial organization and knows how to connect scientific rigor with business priorities. You will own Evolve’s research roadmap, prioritize the studies that matter most, manage external research partners, and help turn evidence into product claims, customer confidence, and long-term strategic value.

You will work closely with Evolve’s leadership, lead neuroscientist, Product, and Business Development team and scientific advisors. The strongest candidates will have experience taking an emerging product or platform from promising science to a credible evidence base, with a clear understanding of what needs to be studied, validated, and proven in the market.

Responsibilities

1. Own the Research Roadmap & Execution

• Own Evolve’s company-wide research roadmap, prioritizing work based on commercial value, product needs, and scientific gaps.
• Translate input from Product, Business Development, Marketing, and Science into clear research priorities.
• Sequence studies so near-term work supports active pilots and commercial priorities while longer-term work builds durable evidence.
• Decide which work should be run internally versus with external partners and allocate research resources accordingly.
• Own the active study portfolio and drive each program to a clear readout and usable outcome.

2. Build the Evidence Behind Evolve’s Platform & Products

• Define the validation pathway across the Evolve platform, from headset performance and signal quality to the cognitive performance assessment, core metrics, and models.
• Partner with Science, ML, Product, and Engineering to connect Evolve’s measures and interventions to meaningful real-world outcomes and use cases.
• Establish what Evolve can credibly claim today and what additional evidence is needed to support stronger claims over time.
• Develop the economic evidence and ROI analysis that connects Evolve’s outcomes to customer value, including productivity, readiness, performance, cost savings, or other operational impact.
• Ensure the evidence generated supports product development, commercial adoption, and long-term strategic value.

3. Lead External Research Partnerships

• Build a portfolio of university, clinical, government, CRO, and other research partners that strengthen Evolve’s evidence base and strategic position.
• Structure studies with clear objectives, timelines, budgets, deliverables, data rights, and publication plans.
• Manage partnerships from concept through readout and ensure they deliver against agreed goals.
• Build an institutional publication strategy that strengthens Evolve’s scientific credibility and supports priority claims
• Build and manage Evolve’s Scientific Advisory Board, identifying the right experts across neuroscience, human performance, and priority use cases

4. Build the Non-Dilutive Funding Pipeline

• Identify grant and non-dilutive funding opportunities aligned with Evolve’s research priorities.
• Develop research concepts and partner teams that position Evolve competitively for priority opportunities.
• Lead submissions end to end, coordinating scientific, technical, partnership, and budget materials.

What success looks like:

• A prioritized roadmap tied to product and commercial milestones, adopted by leadership
• Defined validation standards for core metrics, with studies underway against each
• Active pilots and research brought to readouts that support investor and customer conversations
• Competitive grant submissions with strong partner teams

Qualifications

• 8+ years of industry experience leading applied research or evidence generation for a commercial product or platform. Academic-only backgrounds are not a fit.
• PhD preferred in biomedical engineering, brain sciences, biostatistics, behavioral science, or a related field
• Track record of building research roadmaps and focusing studies on the questions that matter most to the business and product.
• Experience managing external research programs with universities, PIs, CROs, health systems, or government labs.
• Strong command of study design and validation, including reliability, validity, benchmarking, sensitivity to change, predictive modeling, and external validation.
• Ability to evaluate study design and challenge scientific assumptions without being the primary model builder or signal-processing expert.
• Hands-on experience with human-subjects research, including IRB processes, consent, and participant data protection.
• Strong program management across budgets, contracts, timelines, milestones, and data deliverables.
• Clear communicator who works effectively with ML/data science, Product, Engineering, Commercial, and executive teams.

Preferred Background

• Experience in wearables, neurotechnology, digital biomarkers, or other biosensing and measurement platforms.
• Experience establishing the evidence base for a new platform, metric, algorithm, or category of measurement.
• Experience validating sensor or hardware performance, including signal quality and human factors testing.
• Familiarity with EEG, PPG, HR/HRV, eye tracking, multimodal physiology, or cognitive assessment.
• Track record of winning competitive grants or running defense, government, or university-funded research (e.g., SBIR/STTR, DoD, NIH, ARPA-H).
• Experience substantiating product claims for wellness or regulated health products