Preclinical Neuroscientist — In Vivo Electrophysiology

Axoft; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Axoft is seeking a Neuroscientist to lead and execute neural implant surgeries, develop behavioral tasks for animal studies, and collect electrophysiology data from implanted interfaces in collaboration with engineering and CRO partners.

You will assess signal quality during recordings, troubleshoot artifacts, and help advance study protocols across teams. The role may involve travel and flexible hours to support preclinical research programs.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in systems neuroscience, biomedical engineering, neuroengineering, electrophysiology, or a related field.
• At least three years of relevant academic or industry experience in in vivo animal research.
• Extensive hands‑on experience in animal neurosurgery, including independently implanting neural electrodes or other neural devices in research animals.
• Hands‑on experience acquiring in vivo electrophysiology data with implanted multielectrode arrays (e.g. Neuropixels).
• Experience debugging and denoising electrophysiology recording hardware outside of optimized laboratory environments.
• Experience designing or adapting behavioral tasks and conducting behavioral testing in research animals.
• Strong attention to detail in surgical preparation and documentation of procedures.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across scientific and engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Plan and coordinate neural implant surgeries with animal research facilities and CROs; manage schedules and resources.
• Perform neural implant surgeries in collaboration with veterinary and facility staff; document procedures and follow‑ups.
• Identify and evaluate solutions to surgical challenges and develop new procedures with input from clinical neurosurgery advisors.
• Design, pilot, and refine behavioral tasks to meet study objectives; train animals and track performance across sessions.
• Set up and run in vivo electrophysiology sessions; assess signal quality, identify noise/artifacts, troubleshoot issues.
• Write and maintain study protocols; communicate progress and technical issues to collaborators.

Skills

In vivo animal research

Neurosurgery

Electrophysiology

Neuropixels

Behavioral task design

Scientific communication

Hardware troubleshooting

Study protocol writing

Education

PhD in neuroscience/biomedical engineering

Tools

Neuropixels

Neural recording hardware

Histology techniques

Job description

Axoft is seeking a Neuroscientist to lead and execute neural implant surgeries, develop behavioral tasks for animal studies, and collect electrophysiology data from implanted interfaces in collaboration with engineering and CRO partners.

You will assess signal quality during recordings, troubleshoot artifacts, and help advance study protocols across teams. The role may involve travel and flexible hours to support preclinical research programs.