Senior R&D Engineer Full Time NEW

Company Description

The opioid overdose crisis has been a nationally declared public health emergency since 2017, claiming over 80,000 lives in the US each year. Current naloxone delivery methods require a conscious user or a bystander to administer, leaving individuals who accidentally overdose alone without a viable rescue option. Rescue Biomedical is building a solution — A2D2 (Automatic Antidote Delivery Device), a closed-loop wearable that autonomously detects and treats opioid overdoses, delivering naloxone automatically the moment an overdose is detected and alerting EMS for further medical intervention.

Role Description

We are seeking a full-time Senior R&D Engineer to join our team, currently remote while we establish lab space in Southern California (this role will shortly transition to in-person). You will lead hands-on bench and experimental work across A2D2’s core subsystems, working closely with the co-founder as one of the first members of a growing team. As the program matures, this role evolves into broader technical leadership with increasing responsibility for partner-facing work and development strategy.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute bench experiments across sensing, detection, and drug delivery subsystems
• Develop and run verification and validation test protocols
• Maintain design history file and design controls documentation (21 CFR Part 820 / ISO 13485)
• Collaborate with our design partner on prototype iterations and human factors tradeoffs
• Support our regulatory partner with bench data packages for the 505(b)(2) submission
• Interface with subcontractors and review partner outputs
• Serve as scientific PI on NIH SBIR grants, contribute to progress reports and future applications
• Lead or co-author peer-reviewed publications and contribute to patent applications as a named inventor
• Grow into technical review of development partner deliverables and strategic input over time
• Travel periodically to partners and conferences as needed

Qualifications

Required:

• MS or PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or closely related field (experience gained during graduate research qualifies)
• Genuine bench comfort: you have independently designed, executed, and iterated on experiments and know how to generate clean, defensible data
• Technical depth in at least one core A2D2 subsystem (3+ years): physiological sensing, embedded or closed-loop systems, or drug delivery
• Working knowledge of design controls (21 CFR Part 820 / ISO 13485)
• Sound judgment under uncertainty and comfort working in an early-stage, resource-constrained environment
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship

Preferred:

• Background in combination product or drug-device interface development
• Signal processing or embedded algorithm experience relevant to physiological sensing or closed-loop detection
• Familiarity with NIH grant mechanisms or federally funded research environments
• Prior SBIR-funded startup or academic spinout experience
• Publication record and/or prior patent experience

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $110,000–$130,000
• Equity: 0.5–2% vesting over 4 years, early enough to be genuinely meaningful
• Named inventorship on patents and authorship on publications from your work
• A founding team member role with significant influence over technical direction and team culture
• Direct collaboration with the co-founder: low bureaucracy, high autonomy, high impact