Principal Software Engineer

Location: Cambridge, MA 

Flagship Labs 104 (FL104) is a privately held, early-stage company leveraging artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) to transform how we reason about complex phenomena. This is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of scientific innovation, as we leverage cutting-edge advancements in AI and ML to drive breakthroughs in drug discovery and fundamental science.  

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 www.flagshippioneering.com. 

Position Summary: 

We're looking to welcome a dynamic Principal Software Engineer to our scientific team. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in the design, development, and application of LLM-based software to support scientific reasoning. It's a unique opportunity to influence our team’s culture and tackle intricate technical challenges in an innovation-driven environment. This role is among the first hires, and we’re looking for someone who is excited to help drive the technical and scientific direction of the company. 

Key responsibilities: 

• Promote a collaborative software development environment by adopting Git, participating in code reviews, and delivering reliable software. 
• Streamline application deployment via Docker containerization and managing CI/CD pipelines. 
• Spearhead the design, implementation, and optimization of LLM systems through prompt engineering and multi-agent systems. 
• Establish testing frameworks for model evaluation, ensuring robustness and efficiency in software solutions. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s in computer science or a related field and 12+ years of industry experience, M.S. and 9+ years of experience, or Ph.D. in computer science and 5+ years of experience. 
• Proficient in Python. 
• Extensive experience with AWS offerings including EC2, ECS, S3, Lambda,  RDS and well architected best practices. 
• Solid experience with deep learning, particularly with LLMs. 
• Proficiency in workflow orchestration and containerization. 
• Proven experience in establishing and managing CI/CD pipelines. 
• Strong leadership skills in promoting code quality standards, conducting infrastructure improvements, and driving best practices in software engineering. 
• Energetic self-starter with the ability to work effectively in a startup environment. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Prior Full Stack Engineering experience, especially Python proficiency. 
• Skill in front-end and back-end web development. 
• Experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry is a distinct advantage. 

Why Join Us? 

FL104 offers you a unique opportunity to: 

• Collaborate with highly talented, interdisciplinary team members. 
• Participate in the evolution of a pioneering early-stage company, with the immense potential to transform how much a single scientist can accomplish. 
• Contribute to a proactive work culture, with an emphasis on mutual learning and continuous improvement. 

Values and Behaviors:

Flagship is an experiment in institutional, entrepreneurial, and innovation practiced in the context of a small company with an insurgent mindset. We are seeking individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit, strong communication skills, and comfort in working in and contributing to a dynamic and cross-functional team environment. The level of the role will be commensurate with the education and years of experience of the identified candidates.

Flagship Pioneering is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.