---
title: 'Scientist at Pilgrim'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-pilgrim-redwood-city-916e4q85xtdz'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Scientist at Pilgrim

- **Company:** Pilgrim
- **Location:** Redwood City, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/pilgrim/91a2f825-ee99-4193-b9cb-ffa733c9944c

## Job description

About Pilgrim:

Pilgrim develops and deploys advanced biotechnology for defense and national security. Our primary platform, ARGUS, is a fully autonomous system for detecting biological threats in near real time, from naturally occurring pathogens to engineered agents.

Pilgrim is not a research institute or academic lab - we engineer hardware for biology, turning breakthrough science into fielded capabilities. Located in Redwood City, our team pairs mechanical and electrical engineering with chemistry and biology to bring critical technologies to the people who need them.

About the Role:

As a Scientist at Pilgrim, you will develop and validate the biological workflows at the core of our products. You will move between hands-on bench work and system integration, designing experiments, troubleshooting failure modes, and refining protocols. Your work will span genomics, microbiology, and molecular assay development, and you will partner closely with engineers to translate scientific advances into integrated systems that perform reliably in the real world.

## Responsibilities

- Own the development and optimization of nucleic acid-based assays and sample-preparation workflows.
- Build and refine methods for lysis, nucleic acid extraction, purification, concentration, amplification, and sequencing preparation, maximizing recovery of low-abundance targets from complex environmental samples.
- Design and validate primer and probe sets for sensitive, specific target detection.
- Design and run experiments that expose failure modes and improve sensitivity, specificity, recovery, reproducibility, and limit of detection.
- Stress-test assays against real-world variation, including sample matrix, temperature, reagent age, contamination, and carryover.
- Translate manual bench protocols into automated workflows that run reliably on integrated hardware.
- Develop assays under appropriate design-control and quality practices, producing the documentation and traceability required for regulatory submissions, customer review, and audits.

## Qualifications

- Deep understanding of biology, biochemistry, or a related life science, with a demonstrated ability to design, develop, and troubleshoot experiments. An advanced degree (MS, PhD) is a plus, but not required.
- Hands-on experience developing nucleic acid-based assays and sample-preparation workflows.
- Advanced command of standard wet-lab equipment, instrumentation, and molecular biology techniques.
- Strong experimental judgment, attention to detail, and ability to interpret imperfect or conflicting data.

## About Pilgrim

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Pilgrim develops, validates, and deploys battlefield-ready biotechnology solutions to enhance the resilience and capabilities of military personnel.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Redwood City, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed (company was started by a 21-year-old founder, per Business Insider, but name not listed in available sources)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Defense and Space Manufacturing / Military Biotechnology
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied militaries, and national security agencies (B2G)
- Mission: "Where biology meets the battlefield" — building the warfighter of tomorrow by transforming breakthrough science into decisive capabilities for those who operate at the edge.

## Products & Services
- **[Kingsfoil](https://pilgrimlabs.com/)**: A hemostatic dressing that seals wounds and promotes healing – designed for battlefield and civilian use. (Medical device)
- **[Voyager](https://pilgrimlabs.com/)**: An inhaled mist intended to neutralize chemical threats, protecting warfighters from chemical warfare agents. (Biotechnology product)
- **[ARGUS](https://pilgrimlabs.com/)**: A surveillance platform for detecting biological and chemical hazards in high-risk environments. (Monitoring / detection system)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$7.55 million**, including a $4.3 million Seed round (March 2025) and a $3.2 million Pre-Seed round (March 2025), plus an earlier Angel round (November 2023)
- **Notable Investors**: Cantos (Seed lead), Thiel Capital, Refactor, and others
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew 50% year-over-year (from ~2 to 4 employees as of mid-2025)
  - 8 open positions posted on hiring platforms, indicating aggressive expansion
  - Featured in Business Insider (Aug 2025) for founder’s high-risk demonstration to secure funding

## Competitive Advantages
- First-mover focusing purely on **battlefield-ready biotechnology** for human performance and protection
- **Backed by prominent defense/tech investors** (Peter Thiel, Cantos, Refactor) lending credibility and network
- **Small, agile team** enables rapid prototyping and deployment of novel solutions
- Product pipeline addresses urgent, unmet needs (hemostatic control, chemical neutralization, bio-threat detection)

## Strategic Focus
- Move from concept to field-deployable products: Kingsfoil, Voyager, and ARGUS are in validation and testing phases
- Scale manufacturing and expand government contracts
- Continue building a talent-dense engineering and biotech team
- Extend dual-use applications (military and civilian emergency medicine)

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture** with direct impact on national security and warfighter survivability
- **Small, early-stage company** (currently 4 employees) offering outsized responsibility and the chance to shape product direction
- **In-office presence** in Redwood City, CA; some hybrid roles available (e.g., Biomedical Engineer on Built In)
- **Recent funding** provides runway and signals investor confidence
- **Exciting technical challenges** spanning electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and industrial design – as seen in open roles

## Sources
1. [pilgrimlabs.com](https://pilgrimlabs.com/)
2. [LinkedIn – Pilgrim](https://www.linkedin.com/company/pilgrimlabs)
3. [Built In – Pilgrim](https://builtin.com/company/pilgrim)
4. [VentureRadar – Pilgrim, Inc.](https://www.ventureradar.com/organisation/Pilgrim,%20Inc_%5Bdot%5D_/f199410e-2af6-4f52-af75-4125b4970d99)
5. [Black Flag Job Board – Pilgrim](https://www.blackflag.vc/hiring/pilgrim)

## Other roles at Pilgrim

- [Electrical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineer-pilgrim-redwood-city-sm3d2kfwwqe6) — Redwood City, CA
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-pilgrim-redwood-city-s22hyq21bkqf) — Redwood City, CA
- [Government Ops](https://feeny.ai/job/government-ops-pilgrim-redwood-city-1pv86r9rbvnj) — Redwood City, CA
- [Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-legend-biotech-us-philadelphia-pennsylvania-w3g5f30cgx1y) — Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States
- [Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-legend-biotech-us-philadelphia-pennsylvania-kf0pee9d5km0) — Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States
- [Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-cell-signaling-technology-danvers-4cxsxg9fh4mn) — Danvers, MA