Senior Research Associate, Cell Biology

The Company:

Flagship Labs 102, Inc. (FL102) is a privately held, early-stage biotechnology company developing a novel drug discovery platform to generate a new modality of drugs against conventionally undruggable protein targets.

FL102 was founded by Flagship Pioneering, an organization dedicated to the origination and development of first-in-category life sciences companies. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures resulting in $20+ billion in aggregate value, 500+ issued patents, and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents.

The Role:

FL102 is seeking an ambitious, creative, and talented Senior Research Associate, Cell Biology to be part of an early-stage team of a cutting-edge biotech startup. This candidate will engage in cell-based assay development and high throughput DNA library screening, building our drug discovery initiatives. Being one of the first employees of the startup, this opportunity offers the unique experience of driving the early platform development, R&D, and strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive scientific and R&D efforts by conducting experiments alongside Scientists.
• Assist in the development of reporter cell lines and assays to enable high throughput drug discovery for each pipeline target.
• Perform reporter cell-based assays to support the identification of lead drug candidates.
• Validate gene and protein expression patterns to evaluate functional outcomes in mammalian cell systems.
• Work collaboratively in cross-functional teams with experts in genomics, proteomics, biophysics, and AI/machine learning.
• Prepare and deliver decision-enabling research data packages to leadership team.

Qualifications: 

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in cellular biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a related field.
• 3-5+ years of experience in biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies working on drug discovery, focused on high-throughput cell-based assay development for drug screening.
• Experience in:
• • Maintaining and handling of numerous mammalian cell lines.
  • Mammalian cell-based systems to assess protein function and protein-protein interactions. (g., fluorescent-based assays, luminescence-based assays)
  • Methods for transient expression of proteins and validation. (e.g., transfection, fluorescence microscopy)
  • Lentiviral delivery vectors. (g., production, handling, transduction, profiling)
  • Assays to analyze changes in gene and protein expression patterns. (g., RT-qPCR, Western Blotting, co-IP, ELISA, NGS, etc.)
  • Molecular biology techniques (e.g., PCR, cloning, plasmid preparation)
• Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work as part of a diverse and inclusive team.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced and quickly evolving environment, with the ability to iteratively make progress and to drive achievement of key project goals to agreed timelines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, capable of delivering scientific information in a concise and effective manner to a multi-disciplinary audience.
• Passion for pioneering unknown territories and building novel technologies and solutions to unmet needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cell separation and profiling methods (e.g., flow cytometry, FACS, MACS).
• Experience with in vitro genetic engineering workflows. (e.g., CRISPR based systems)
• Familiarity with the following would be considered a bonus: Benchling, GraphPad Prism and FlowJo software.

About Flagship:

Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture.  Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies, and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at