Senior Scientist, RNA Engineering

The Company

Flagship Labs 95, Inc. (FL95) is transforming the impact, breadth, and scalability of programmable medicines with a novel class of noncanonical viral vectors.

FL95 is a well-funded, early-stage biotechnology company founded by Flagship Pioneering, an organization dedicated to the origination and development of first-in-category life sciences companies.  Since 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered the development of nearly 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

We are seeking a Senior Scientist, RNA Engineering to join us in building a novel discovery and development platform for noncanonical viral vector-based programmable medicines. This is a rare and unique opportunity to be one of the first employees of a cutting-edge biotech startup. This candidate will be responsible for spearheading the early scientific strategy, platform development, R&D, and team building. 

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and lead short- and long-term research strategy for the characterization and development of a novel class of viral vectors.
• Design, produce, and quality control RNA constructs for viral vector-related applications.
• Characterize and optimize RNA-protein interactions for vector packaging and disassembly.
• Plan and execute experiments that evaluate expression and functional outcomes in mammalian cell systems.
• Prepare and deliver decision-enabling research data packages to leadership team.
• Supervise and train junior research associate(s).

Who you are

• Entrepreneurial scientist: You are a deep scientific expert in virology, gene therapy, or programmable medicines but academia was too slow for you. You have an unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit to build something new that will create huge impact for the world.
• Relentless Pioneer: You thrive in new and unknown territory - capable of charting comprehensive but actionable plans, executing rapidly and iteratively to make progress, and reliable in delivering decisive readouts on time.
• Team player: You flourish in collaborative work environments with other highly-skilled individuals. You readily celebrate your peers’ victories and support their challenges.
• Effective communicator: You not only understand the science but are capable of conveying technical information in a clear, concise, and decisive manner.

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in biology, biochemistry, biophysics, virology, or related field.
• 4+ years of experience, with a minimum of 2 years in an industry setting working on RNA function or RNA-protein interactions. Highly relevant post-doc experience is welcome.
• Deep laboratory and technical expertise in:
• RNA design, production, purification, and characterization.
• RNA structure determination and analysis (computational and experimental).
• Reconstitution of RNA-protein interactions in vitro for biophysical and biochemical characterization.
• RNA biology and engineering in the context of viruses, virus-like particle (VLP), and/or capsid proteins.
• Various molecular biology and recombinant DNA techniques.
• Experience with RNA translation optimization (e.g., IRES engineering) is preferred.
• Knowledgeable about state-of-the-art of programmable medicines and gene therapy (mRNA, DNA, etc.) is preferred.

Location: Cambridge, MA

More About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life science platform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $100 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.1 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $19 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises  transformative companies, including  Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Indigo Ag, Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Tx, and others.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunit