---
title: 'Associate Scientist, Sensory Neurophysiology at Afference Inc'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/associate-scientist-sensory-neurophysiology-afference-inc-cleveland-20c8589t5b97'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-18'
---

# Associate Scientist, Sensory Neurophysiology at Afference Inc

- **Company:** Afference Inc
- **Location:** Cleveland, OH
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-08-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-18
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/afference/912ce64f-b298-4598-8667-8598bb4a22a3

## Job description

## About Our Work

We are neuroscientists who build ground-breaking human interfacing technology for the spatial computing era and next generation of human interaction. We stimulate nerves to create artificial tactile sensations, which provides novel communication options, seamless integration between humans and technology, improves interaction of 3D digital content. Our first products will be mobile, wearable devices that directly provide information to human nervous system ranging from simple alerts to streaming complex data from media and XR content to create the sensation of touch.

## What You'll Be Doing

The Sensory Neurophysiology Associate Scientist will contribute to the advancement of the company’s research and development efforts by working with a growing research team to design and conduct experiments that enhance the understanding of sensory perception. This individual will focus on stimulation paradigms to improved perceptual quality, advance interface design, advance user experience, understand user’s phenomenological experience, and other key aspects of connecting to the human nervous system. The Associate Scientist will work closely with interdisciplinary teams to translate neurophysiological insights into innovative consumer technology solutions.

## Key Responsibilities

- Design, conduct, and optimize perceptual experiments focused on sensory processing and perception.
- Independently execute well-defined experiments and contribute to the development and optimization of experimental paradigms, with guidance from senior scientists as appropriate.
- Perform interface experimentation to characterize, understand, and improve sensory experiences.
- Collect, curate, and analyze neurophysiological and behavioral data with statistical rigor.
- Develop, maintain, and improve software tools and scripts to automate data collection and analysis pipelines.
- Work closely with biomedical scientists in developing experiments, systems, and stimulation paradigms.
- Collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams including engineers, data scientists, and product developers.
- Document experimental protocols, results, and insights to support product development and scientific dissemination.
- Stay current with advances in sensory neuroscience and neurophysiology relevant to consumer technology applications.
- Other duties as assigned.

## What You'll Need for This Position

Education A degree in Neuroscience, Neurophysiology, Biomedical Engineering, Psychology, or a closely related field. Must-Have Skills & Experience

- Hands-on experience with neurophysiological experimental design and execution, preferably involving sensory systems.
- Experience with neural interfaces, wearable technologies, or related sensory stimulation and measurement techniques, preferably in a sensory research application.
- Experience in non-human biological experimental model research is a plus.
- Proficiency in data collection, statistical analysis, and visualization using tools such as MATLAB, Python, R, or similar.
- Experience with minor software development or scripting to support experimental workflows (e.g., Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW).
- Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and accuracy in experimental and data analysis tasks.
- Effective communication skills for collaborative and cross-disciplinary teamwork and human subject experimentation.
- Self-motivated, proactive, and comfortable working in a dynamic, small-team environment.

## What's in It for You

Work closely with cutting-edge technology. You'll be hands-on with novel neural haptic technology that's defining the future of human-tech interaction, spatial computing, and immersive experiences. Work in a close-knit, startup environment. We strive to create an intellectually stimulating and collegial working environment. Our energy for inventing, creating, and learning spans work and play: we have regular happy hours, plan field trips, plan ski trips, play games, play music, and generally have a good time. An early employee experience. We are an early-stage deep tech startup company that requires all members to contribute across the entire business. On any given day, there will be new challenges and new demands to propel the business forward. We expect all employees to be able to dive into any new challenges that present themselves, even if they are beyond the job description above.

## Compensation & Benefits

Afference is committed to providing the sense of touch for future interactive, embodied digital age. We are leading this effort through deep science and technology, which provides unique experiences compared to classical haptic technologies. Our lean team of experts demands a high level of excellence but can compensate with the commensurate upside potential of an early-growth startup in a high-growth sector of extended reality. Compensation offers depend on skills, qualifications, and experience, and range between: $80,000 to $90,000 per year at 100% FTE Benefits include:

- Medical, dental vision, life, STD, FSA, additional company perks
- Self-managed PTO

Location: On-site; Cleveland, OH office

## About Afference Inc

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Afference builds wearable neural interfaces using neural haptics to create artificial touch for digital interactions, enabling users to feel sensations from a ring-sized chip.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A – venture round of $15.3M closed December 2025)
- **Headquarters**: Boulder, Colorado, United States (with additional hub in Cleveland, Ohio)
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Jacob Segil (CEO) and Dustin Tyler (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Computers and Electronics Manufacturing, Neural Interfaces, Wearables, Haptics
- **Target customers**: B2B – Consumer electronics OEMs and big tech companies; B2C – Early adopters of the Afference Ring reference design
- **Mission**: To reimagine how humans connect by allowing people at a distance to feel the depth of connection that comes from combining sight, sound, and touch.

## Products & Services
- **Afference Ring**: A reference design for wearable neural haptics. It is a chip-scale actuator that creates sensations (tingling/buzzing) on the finger and hand without covering the skin, using 5-7x less power than other haptics. Connects via Bluetooth.
- **Phantom Platform**: The underlying neural interface platform (previously called Phantom) that converts digital signals into artificial touch sensations. Enables “referred sensation” – feeling the wearable’s effect away from the device.
- **Phantom Technology Licensing**: Afference’s neural haptics actuator is designed for integration into third-party wearables (rings, watches, surgical robots, teleoperation systems, military radios, etc.).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric (Funding)**: Total funding of $20.55M across four rounds (Pre-Seed $1.5M in Sep 2023, Seed $3.5M in Oct 2024, Grant $200K in Apr 2024, Venture Round $15.3M in Dec 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Hannah Grey VC, Konvoy, Samsung Next, Ohio Third Frontier (grant). Also partners with “many of the biggest consumer electronic OEMs and Big Tech companies.”
- **Growth Signals**: Employee headcount of 19 with +10% monthly growth; awarded CES 2024 Best of Innovation Award; 40+ patents; founders have a track record of 3 exits and $250M in revenue across 10 product lines.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary neural haptics technology**: Solid-state actuator with no moving parts, chip-scale size, ultra-low power consumption (5-7x less than other haptics).
- **Referred sensation**: Creates feeling away from the wearable, a phenomenon unique to Afference.
- **Deep research roots**: Founders are world experts in neural interfaces (publications in *Nature* and *Science*); Dustin Tyler is a National Academy of Inventors member and chaired professor at Case Western Reserve University.
- **Patent portfolio**: 40+ patents covering medical-grade neuromodulation methods adapted for consumer wearables.

## Strategic Focus
- Current priorities include scaling the microchip from benchtop science to production with consumer OEMs, deploying artificial touch into AI-powered wearables, and building the sensory layer of AI for the next decade.
- Dual-location strategy: Cleveland hub for R&D and manufacturing (leveraging local engineering and manufacturing expertise), Boulder hub for business development, product, and marketing.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Science-first, evidence-based decision-making, long-horizon thinking. The team includes PhD researchers, neural engineers, and experienced hardware/software engineers.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid policy – up to 2 days/week flexible work from home, with meaningful time in labs (Cleveland) or collaborative office (Boulder).
- **Locations**: Two hubs in innovation-friendly US cities: Cleveland, OH (manufacturing & R&D) and Boulder, CO (business & product).
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, dental, 401k, life insurance, self-managed PTO.
- **Engineering culture**: Grounded in decades of neural interface research; opportunity to bring a novel haptic chip from prototype to mass production; work shaping the future of human-AI interaction.

## Sources
1. [afference.io (homepage)](https://www.afference.io/)
2. [afference.io/careers](https://www.afference.io/careers)
3. [linkedin.com/company/afference-inc](https://www.linkedin.com/company/afference-inc)
4. [afference.io/team](https://www.afference.io/team)
5. [afference.io/news](https://www.afference.io/news)

## Other roles at Afference Inc

- [Hardware Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-test-engineer-afference-inc-cleveland-ycjtg7tjjrz2) — Cleveland, OH
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-afference-inc-cleveland-bfaytwk555mj) — Cleveland, OH
- [Electrical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineer-afference-inc-cleveland-qsmg4fse5enr) — Cleveland, OH
- [General Application](https://feeny.ai/job/general-application-afference-inc-boulder-cdh0a57byzxf) — Boulder, CO
- [ASIC Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/asic-engineer-afference-inc-cleveland-a0edsza0fh60) — Cleveland, OH