Our Mission:

Merge Labs's long-term mission is to bridge biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability, agency, and experience. We're pursuing this goal by developing fundamentally new brain-computer interfaces that that connect with neurons using molecules instead of electrodes.

How We Hire

Hiring is one of the most important things we do at Merge. We're building a small, dense team tackling an ambitious mission, which means every person who joins us shapes what this company becomes. Our hiring process is designed to provide enough information to both Merge and our candidates to ensure that each new hire significantly increases our probability of success, and will love being part of our team.

Here's what to expect when you interview with us:

• Recruiter Conversation. A first chat with someone on our talent team to learn what you're working on, what you're looking for next, and whether Merge might be the right fit. This is also your chance to ask any early questions about the mission, the team, the role, or anything else on your mind.
• Hiring Manager Conversation. A deeper conversation with the person you'd work most closely with. We'll dig into your experience, how you think about the problems in this space, and what excites you about the work itself.
• Take-Home Assignment. A focused problem that mirrors the kind of work you'd actually do here. We design these to be respectful of your time and representative of the role -- no trick puzzles, no busy work. You'll have flexibility on when you complete it. For some roles, we will invite you to give a mini-seminar about your work instead of doing a take-home assignment.
• In-Depth Interview(s). Goes deep on specific competencies. Each interviewer owns a focus area (e.g., technical skills, scientific understanding, collaboration, leadership) and uses structured questions and rubrics to build a well-rounded view of strengths, gaps, and level.
• Onsite with Founders. Stress-tests mutual fit. The onsite looks at how you operate across multiple people and contexts, and gives you a clear view of the broader team, culture, and expectations. We'll also answer any unanswered questions from previous rounds.
• Reference Check + Offer. References are used to pressure-test strengths, gaps, and working style against what we've seen in your interviews. From there, we'll walk you through the offer, work through your questions, and either close confidently or part ways clearly.

Timeline. We aim to keep the full process to around 4 weeks, while adjusting to your timeline wherever we can., and we'll adjust to your timeline wherever we can.

If you need anything to show your best work, please ask. We know not everyone is at their sharpest with strangers. If there's something that would help like a different format, extra time, a break between stages, or just a heads-up that you tend to get in your own head, please tell us. We'd rather see the real you than an interview-optimized version.

Company Structure & Culture

• Everyone has the title "Member of <Role> Staff" to promote meritocracy and ensure the best ideas win regardless of seniority.
• We have an internal career progression system with different ladders for different expertise areas (Science, Machine Learning, Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, etc.).
• We run an annual review process with dedicated career conversations, but promotions are available any time of year when performance warrants it.

Benefits & Perks

• Health, dental, and vision → Two plan options. We cover 100% of the employee premium and 90% of the premium for dependents.
• 401(k) with Fidelity NetBenefits → 100% match on your first 3% of eligible compensation, then 50% on the next 2%.