About Pilgrim

Modern conflict environments are more austere, distributed, and unpredictable than ever before — yet the medical systems supporting warfighters have not kept pace. Pilgrim is building advanced biomedical systems that extend military medical capability, enabling survival, adaptation, and resilience where traditional infrastructure cannot reach.

Our mission is to defend civilization by engineering systems that interact with biology. We are building the machinery that can prototype and deploy real, field-ready biotechnology for defense — bridging the gap between the benchtop and the battlefield. Over time, Pilgrim aims to become the world’s first true biodefense prime.

Why an Open Candidate Pool?

Our work is not standard — and neither are the people who can do it. We are looking for those who:

• Learn faster than their environment changes

• Can operate without precedent, playbooks, or institutional guardrails

• See patterns across disciplines — especially in life sciences, engineering, national security, operations, and emerging research

• Are motivated by mission, not job title

• Want to build things that materially change national capability

If that sounds like you, we want to meet you even if we don’t have a perfectly defined role yet.

Who Thrives Here

Pilgrim is a home for individuals who are:

• Engineers (biomedical, mechanical, electrical, fluids, systems, embedded, robotics, etc.)

• Scientists (molecular biology, immunology, synthetic biology, physiology, biofabrication, applied biology)

• Builders and Operators (field deployment, prototyping, hardware test & evaluation, program operations)

• Hybrid Thinkers who may not fit standard job descriptions:

  • scientists who hack

  • engineers who design experiments

  • operators who can build

  • researchers who ship

  • founders, indie scientists, tinkerers, field medics, special operations backgrounds

We value range over specialization and rate of learning over credentials.

What You’ll Do

Your work will vary by expertise, but may include:

• Translating biological or medical research into deployable systems

• Engineering prototypes that survive real-world environments

• Conducting rapid experimentation, iteration, and field testing

• Integrating biology, hardware, and software into functional, resilient tools

• Operating close to users and real mission needs

• Creating new approaches where no instruction manual exists

This is not lab-only, office-only, or theory-only work. You will build.

What You Bring

• Demonstrated evidence of exceptional ability

• Curiosity, mental flexibility, and intellectual honesty

• Comfort working near the limits of knowledge

• Bias toward action, experimentation, and solving real problems

• Ability to work in ambiguity, pressure, or incomplete information

• Desire to serve mission over ego

Traditional credentials (PhD, MS, military experience, startup track record, publications, etc.) may help — but none are required.

How to Apply

If you believe you can contribute to Pilgrim’s mission, even if you’re unsure how, apply anyway.

When submitting, share what you can do, how you think, and examples of things you’ve built, led, or solved — formal or informal.