Research Engineer

The Bowden Lab at Vanderbilt University is seeking a highly capable research staff member to support the development validation and deployment of wearable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technologies for neuroimaging research. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working across hardware software human-subject study execution and project addition to direct technical work this person will help keep multiple projects moving by coordinating timelines tracking milestones improving documentation and supporting communication across collaborators trainees and lab projects. This is a Full-time research staff position. Initial appointment length is flexible and may be renewable depending on performance and funding.

We are especially interested in candidates who are not only technically strong but who can also help keep systems and projects together: keeping devices working identifying weak points early documenting workflows improving usability following up on open tasks and helping research move forward reliably across multiple funded efforts. Applicants are encouraged to submit figures photos GitHub links schematics or similar files with their application demonstrating relevant technical work. A brief statement of interest and references are also desired.

Project Areas Supported

• Wearable fNIRS for reading and neuroadaptive intervention including instrumentation array design data quality optimization real-time processing and repeated-session human studies.
• Wearable fNIRS platform development for mental health research including variable-intensity
  electronics AR-guided positioning enclosure/conformity updates signal quality validation and
  comparison against reference instrumentation.
• Additional laboratory projects requiring technical coordination experiment planning documentation
  milestone tracking and support for funded work across the lab.

Vanderbilt University is a globally-recognized research institution committed to advancing knowledge and improving lives through discovery innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. The role is based within Vanderbilts Bowden Biomedical Optics Lab run by Professor Audrey Bowden in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Build test debug and maintain wearable optical/electronic neuroimaging hardware.
• Support prototype iteration including electronics integration enclosure/interface refinement and bench validation.
• Develop and maintain software for data acquisition quality control preprocessing visualization and experiment support.
• Assist with real-time or near-real-time processing pipelines and decision logic for adaptive experiments.
• Support human-subject studies including setup instrumentation troubleshooting documentation and data quality tracking.
• Create and maintain clear technical documentation SOPs and onboarding materials for others in the lab.
• Help coordinate project timelines milestones dependencies and deliverables across multiple projects.
• Track action items and follow-up needs across collaborators trainees and lab personnel so that work does not stall.
• Contribute to figures methods technical reports progress updates and manuscripts as appropriate.

Supervisory Relationships: This position does not have supervisory responsibility; this position reports administratively and functionally to the lab PI.

Qualifications

• Bachelors or Masters degree in biomedical engineering electrical engineering computer engineering physics neuroscience engineering or a related field is required.
• Strong hands-on experience with at least some combination of sensing systems electronics embedded systems instrumentation signal processing or scientific software is required.
• Proficiency in Python and/or MATLAB is required.
• Demonstrated ability to debug technical problems systematically is required.
• Strong organizational skills attention to detail and ability to keep complex workstreams moving is required.
• Ability to work independently while coordinating across interdisciplinary collaborators is required.
• Experience with wearable sensing or neurotechnology is preferred.
• Experience with optical systems photodiodes light sources biomedical instrumentation or physiological signal acquisition is preferred.
• Experience with PCB/system bring-up embedded communication or hardware-software integration is preferred.
• Experience with computer vision UI development or AR-guided workflows is preferred.
• Experience supporting human-subject experiments is preferred.
• Familiarity with fNIRS EEG MRI or other neuroimaging modalities is preferred.
• Experience serving in a project-management or operations-support role in a research environment is preferred.