Principal Research Scientist

Principal Research Scientist

Company: Zentrela Inc.

Company Headquarters: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Work Location: Remote – Canada

Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent

Travel: Occasional travel to research facilities (CAN / USA), and industry / scientific conferences.

Compensation: CAD $90,000 - $125,000 Base Salary + Publication Bonuses + Annual Performance Bonus + Potential Equity

About Zentrela

At Zentrela, we're pioneering a new standard for measuring the effects of wellness products on the brain.

Using our proprietary Cognalyzer® AI-powered EEG technology, we help leading consumer health, nutraceutical, and wellness companies objectively measure and demonstrate their products' mental wellness effects through rigorous, efficient, and cost-effective human research.

We're looking for a hands-on scientific leader who LOVES doing science, designing human studies, leading trials as Principal Investigator (PI), analyzing data, writing and publishing scientific papers, and presenting discoveries to the world.

This is a unique opportunity to lead pioneering scientific research while growing toward an executive scientific leadership role in an innovative neurotechnology company.

What You'll Do

• Lead human research as Principal Investigator (PI): Design and oversee scientifically rigorous human wellness studies, ensuring research quality and regulatory compliance.
• Design research studies: Meet with clients to understand their objectives and independently develop research protocols, informed consent forms (ICFs), and experimental methodologies.
• Manage regulatory approvals: Lead IRB/REB submissions and applicable Health Canada/FDA regulatory processes.
• Oversee research execution: Scientifically supervise research teams, ensure protocol adherence, and keep clients informed of research progress.
• Analyze study results: Personally conduct statistical analyses, interpret findings, and generate scientifically rigorous research results.
• Lead scientific publications: Write manuscripts, manage peer-review submissions, and publish original scientific findings.
• Present our science: Communicate research results to clients and present original research at scientific conferences and industry events.

What We're Looking For

Mandatory Qualifications & Experience

• Advanced degree (preferably PhD) in Neuroscience, Psychology, Biomedical Sciences, Clinical Research, or a related field.
• Proven experience independently leading human research studies in an industry environment.
• Experience managing research ethics submissions, regulatory requirements, and research approvals.
• Recent, hands-on experience conducting statistical analyses and interpreting human research data.
• Proven track record personally writing and leading peer-reviewed scientific publications.
• Demonstrated experience presenting research findings at scientific conferences or industry events.
• Excellent scientific writing, presentation, and communication skills, including explaining complex findings to non-scientific audiences.
• Ability to serve as PI for applicable studies, subject to regulatory and institutional requirements.

The Mindset That Will Make You Successful

• You LOVE doing science: You enjoy personally analyzing data, writing manuscripts, and publishing original research — not just managing others who do.
• You're a pioneer and innovator: You're excited to challenge traditional clinical research models and develop smarter, more practical, agile, and cost-effective approaches to conducting rigorous human research, without compromising scientific integrity.
• You thrive in fast-paced industry environments: You understand and enjoy the pace, accountability, and practical impact of industry research compared with traditional academia.
• You take ownership: You're independent, proactive, organized, and committed to delivering high-quality work on time.
• You communicate exceptionally well: You're responsive through email and instant messaging, comfortable collaborating remotely, and enjoy engaging with both scientific and business teams.
• You're humble, open-minded, and entrepreneurial: You welcome different perspectives, challenge conventional approaches, and are excited to help build something innovative.

Huge Plus

• Experience in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, consumer health, or biotechnology industry.
• Entrepreneurial experience and a demonstrated interest in scientific innovation.
• Hands-on EEG signal analysis experience, including preprocessing and feature extraction.
• Hands-on Python programming experience for scientific data analysis, statistical modeling, and visualization.
• Hands-on experience developing machine learning (ML) and AI models for EEG analysis, including feature engineering, model training, testing, and validation.
• Experience developing new research methodologies or validating emerging scientific technologies.
• Experience preparing and submitting research grant applications and successfully securing competitive research funding.

Why Join Zentrela?

Lead pioneering research: Help establish EEG-based measurements as a new scientific standard for evaluating mental wellness effects.

Stay hands-on: Personally design studies, analyze data, write publications, and present scientific discoveries.

Work remotely with a strong team: Collaborate directly with our CEO and business team, receive guidance and mentorship from our CSO, work closely with our Lead Data Scientist, and rely on our research coordinators and assistants to execute studies.

Challenge traditional research models: Help develop more agile, practical, and cost-effective approaches to conducting rigorous human research.

Get rewarded for scientific impact: Earn publication-specific bonuses in addition to your base salary and annual performance bonus.

Grow into executive scientific leadership: For the right person, this role offers an opportunity to progressively take on broader scientific and strategic responsibilities and grow into an executive leadership position as Zentrela expands.

Compensation & Growth

We offer a compensation structure designed to reward scientific productivity, performance, and long-term commitment:

• Base Salary: CAD $90,000–$125,000 annually, depending on qualifications and experience.
• Scientific Publication Bonuses: Additional compensation for achieving agreed peer-reviewed publication milestones.
• Annual Performance Bonus: Based on research quality, project execution, scientific contributions, and overall performance.
• Potential Equity Participation: Based on demonstrated performance, commitment, long-term contribution, and company approval.
• Career Growth: Opportunity to progressively assume greater scientific and strategic responsibilities, with a potential pathway toward executive scientific leadership.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV/resume, highlighting:

1. Human research studies you've independently led.
2. Peer-reviewed scientific publications you've personally authored or led.
3. Your hands-on experience with statistical analysis.
4. Scientific conferences or industry events where you've presented original research.
5. Any relevant experience with EEG analysis, Python programming, or AI/ML development.

Help Pioneer a New Standard for Human Wellness Research! 🧠

We're looking for a scientist who doesn't just want to manage research, but genuinely loves doing science, publishing discoveries, and helping pioneer a new standard for EEG-based research in the wellness industry.

If that sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you!