Head of Applied Science (Expression of Interest)

Subconscious•New York City, NY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This is an exploratory conversation for a planned function, not an immediately funded salaried vacancy or a guaranteed start date. No cash salary is available today; any equity arrangement must be agreed separately. The role involves building the applied science function that turns an executive question into a defensible experiment and a decision-ready readout. Subconscious is building the intelligence to run the economy, starting with a simulator for business decisions, using causal experiments on simulated markets to test products, pricing, messaging, and go-to-market choices before capital is committed. The long-term ambition is to help businesses discover unmet demand and build around what people actually need. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will own scientific scoping, study design, interpretation standards, and the applied science hiring plan. You will partner with the Deployment + Operations co-founder on delivery, with accountability for the quality and usefulness of the science. You will set the functional roadmap and propose staffing and spending priorities with the founding team. Hiring and budget commitments depend on approved resources; an established team or funded budget is not assumed.

Requirements

Led applied quantitative research or customer-facing science and remained hands-on with experimental design and analysis.
Can show a study that changed a business decision, explain its limitations, and defend the inference under scrutiny.
Can work in Python or R and lead scientists across research and enterprise delivery.
Evidence of judgment, execution, and leadership.
Ability to work in person in New York City or San Francisco.
Ability to collaborate directly with the founders.
Willingness to work across scientific and commercial boundaries.
Willingness to do the early work yourself.
Ability to confirm practical collaboration hours and any travel expectations.

Responsibilities

Own scientific scoping, study design, interpretation standards, and the applied science hiring plan.
Partner with the Deployment + Operations co-founder on delivery; your accountability is the quality and usefulness of the science, while that role owns the overall engagement.
Set the functional roadmap and propose staffing and spending priorities with the founding team.
Audit a representative customer question from decision brief through evidence and identify where assumptions could change the recommendation.
Create a reusable protocol for population selection, experimental design, uncertainty, and human-baseline validation appropriate to the use case.
Lead an initial customer study and produce a readout that separates estimated simulated effects from claims about real-world outcomes.
Define which engagements are repeatable, which require new research, and which we should decline.