Chief Scientific / Medical Officer (Stealth Photonic Bio-sensing Venture) in London

We are an early‐stage deep‐tech photonic bio‐sensing company combining silicon photonics, micro‐fluidics, and applied AI to bring high‐end optical diagnostics out of the central lab and onto a low‐cost disposable chip plus a compact reader. The first product is a point‐of‐care diagnostic addressing a multi‐billion dollar clinical market currently served by hand‐aligned, six‐figure bench‐top instruments.

The mission is to provide clinical‐grade flow cytometry at the point of care, making it accessible to the 3.7 billion people on the planet who currently lack access to such infrastructure. The convergence of silicon photonics, AI design, and disposable micro‐fluidics has made it viable to achieve a 90‐second result for £5.

Your role involves owning the clinical and scientific story end‐to‐end, deciding which biomarkers and clinical questions to pursue, and shaping the company's scientific roadmap over the coming years.

Responsibilities:

• Develop the scientific narrative: the biomarker → clinical decision story behind every commercial bet, investor pitch, and grant.
• Establish clinical and research partnerships across haematology, oncology, infectious disease, transplant, and translational research.
• Define assay and panel strategy, including which markers to ship first and the rationale for clinician acceptance.
• Design clinical evidence and trials, working with regulatory consultants to navigate pre‐submission, CLIA‐Waiver / IVDR, and pivotal studies.
• Recruit and chair a Clinical Advisory Board across priority therapy areas.
• Contribute to scientific authorship through publications and grant submissions.
• Frame future scientific direction as the company's roadmap evolves.

This position is London‐based with a hybrid working model; fully remote is not suitable at this stage.

Your profile:

• MD, PhD, or DPhil in haematology, immunology, clinical pathology, or cancer immunology.
• 5–10 years industrial experience as CMO/CSO at a diagnostics, cytometry, or cell therapy company or equivalent translational‐research portfolio.
• Experience designing multiparameter immunophenotyping panels and translating them into clinical decisions.
• Fluency in the roles of oncologists, haematologists, and HIV physicians regarding relevant clinical metrics.
• Active clinical practice (1 day/week NHS or honorary contract) is a strong positive signal.

Qualities we are looking for:

• Clinical empathy as the unit of value.
• Sceptical of biomarker hype cycles.
• Comfortable moving at two speeds: fast in science and slow in regulatory matters.
• Intellectually honest about uncertainty.
• Bias to engage clinicians directly.
• Long‐horizon patience for pivotal study readouts.

What we offer:

• Done > perfect: A prototype on the bench is worth a thousand‐slide deck.
• Outcome > metrics > intuition: Metrics guide us, outcomes define our goals, and intuition is tolerated when necessary.
• A bad decision is better than no decision.
• Over‐communicate by default to avoid ambiguity.
• Compassion and trust over performance incentives.
• Founding team‐level equity with salary set at pre‐seed close.

Who you'd be working with:

Prathap, the founder, is a repeat founder and AI expert based in London. He has a background in software engineering and has transitioned into life‐sciences instrumentation. He has built the multi‐physics BO engine that produced the current tape‐out candidate and owns GTM, funding, and the early organisation.

How we work focuses on daily relationships, emphasising done over perfect, outcome over metrics, and fostering a culture of communication and trust.