Director Caltech Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Melody is an early-stage focused research organization engineering continuous molecular monitoring technology and designing closed-loop interventions for human health. We leverage protein engineering, medical device engineering, and physiology modeling. As a FRO, we uniquely bridge blue-sky science and hardcore manufacturing and pioneer new applications. 

We are a nonprofit startup based in Pasadena, founded by scientists and engineers from Janelia and Caltech and incubated by Convergent Research. Our goal is to produce public goods: biosensors, devices, datasets, protocols, and tools that help launch a broader field of real-time molecular medicine.

About the role: we are hiring a bioelectronics engineer to build and run our foundry approach which integrates protein biosensor and device engineering. This role is for those who are systems-minded experimentalists and engineers and care about constraints early on that will help make a product work in real world settings. You own the wet side of the interface and, in the early days, you will do whatever the foundry needs most. As the team grows, this role becomes the technical owner of biosensor integration, directing development towards performance in real world settings.

You may excel in this role if you enjoy owning science and engineering projects "soup to nuts" (in our case, from protein to in vivo experiments), mapping R&D systems to lab workflows that our team can execute, integrating molecular biology, materials chemistry, and electronics, and working closely with a team spanning those fields. Specifically, you will:

• Lead Melody's wetware integration strategy across biosensor proteins, surface chemistry, hydrogels, membranes, and readout hardware.

• Design diagnostic experiments that distinguish biosensor failure from immobilization failure, hydrogel diffusion limits, biofluid matrix effects, optical artifacts, electrochemical artifacts, fouling, drift, or hardware noise.

• Execute directed evolution workflows and guide protein design based on these results.

• Synthesize or adapt materials for bioelectronics interfaces.

• Merge novel device hardware with these proteins and materials in close collaboration with the hardware team.

• Help automate fabrication and assay workflows using our robotics.

What success looks like:

In 3 months - set up foundry experimentation end-to-end with a focus on ensuring a tight feedback loop for protein engineering.

In 6 months - design a novel biosensing scheme (e.g., highly multiplexed readout) and test on the benchtop.

In 15 months - refine wet-facing parts for initial in vivo studies and prepare to iterate based on those results.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in a relevant science and engineering field with demonstrated strong independent ideation and execution or BS/MS with extensive industry experience (> 5 years).

• Deep expertise in two or more of these areas with working competence across them: protein engineering, protein expression/purification, bioconjugation, surface chemistry, hydrogels or biomaterials, optical biosensing, electrochemical biosensing, microfluidics, assay automation, biofluid assay development, and biofouling characterization and mitigation.

• Ability to build or customize instrumentation for protein biophysics, optics, and electrochemistry.

• Quantitative judgment for designing experiments under real-world constraints, matching roadmap goals to instrument capabilities and lab throughput.

• Demonstrated precision in experimental work and scientific project management.

• Strong technical communication skills across the relevant scientific fields and teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 3+ years industry experience in device engineering, particularly molecular sensing and medical device design.

• 2+ years industry experience in medical device manufacturing.

• Ability to write custom scripts for data analysis and interfacing with lab instruments.

• Conceptual command of the electronic nose field.

• 2+ years of team management and mentoring experience. We are especially interested in those with a track record of coordinating across chemists, materials scientists, hardware engineers, software/data scientists, vendors, and academic collaborators.

$95,000 - $150,000 a year

• 401k match up to 6% of base salary.
• Excellent health, vision, and dental benefits.
• Paid time off and company holidays.

Melody FRO, LLC is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by Company policy. We strive for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibit harassment of any kind.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.