My postdoctoral experience — studying brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) — was pretty good at first. In two years I had collected a lot of human brain data and published a high-impact paper. But the day-to-day routine of sitting in front of a computer analysing data quickly turned to drudgery. Work felt insular and lonely, and I realized that the thrill of scientific discovery no longer motivated me. What I needed was to feel that my work was helping people.

Although I loved being involved in the scientific enterprise, I knew I needed to work on challenging projects in a team setting, and that I was particularly good at technical communication and organization. Focusing on these attributes I came up with a shortlist of potential career options: science policy, science administration and project management.

It was a hard move to make — I had a gnawing fear that accepting a job away from academia was tantamount to selling my soul. Fortunately, my adviser was very supportive, and even offered me a leave of absence to pursue other opportunities.

With his support I investigated several possibilities: advising members of Congress in Washington DC on science-policy issues, administrative positions at a science-funding agency and a scientific centre of excellence, and project-management positions in industry.

But then my adviser won a large contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a cortical interface to allow amputees and paralysed individuals to control prosthetic arms using their thoughts. This contract required the lab to build a BMI device and get formal approval to test the device in human clinical trials. The project had everything I was looking for. So I convinced my adviser that he needed a project manager to navigate the regulatory process and manage development activities across institutions and cross-disciplinary teams. Then I convinced him that I was the best person for the job.

A year-and-a-half later and I definitely don't regret my decision to jump off the academic tenure track. The job has been immensely challenging and rewarding, and much more fun than I'd ever imagined. The DARPA contract runs out soon, but I've gained a wealth of experience and I've built a compelling CV that will help me find my next position.