Director, Legal Compliance

Flagship Pioneering, Inc.•Cambridge, MA

2d•$172,000 - $236,500•Onsite

About The Position

Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies that change the world. Flagship Pioneering brings together the greatest scientific minds with entrepreneurial company builders and assembles the capital to allow them to take courageous leaps. Those significant leaps in human health and sustainability exponentially accelerate scientific progress in areas ranging from cancer detection and treatment to nature-positive agriculture. What sets Flagship Pioneering apart is its ability to advance biotechnology by uniting life science innovation, company creation, and capital investment under one roof in a way that is largely without precedent. Its scientific founders, entrepreneurial leaders, and professional capital managers are each aligned around an institutionalized process that enables the organization to innovate and transform for the benefit of people and planet. Many of the companies Flagship Pioneering 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 Pioneering 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. This is an outstanding career opportunity for a highly motivated Compliance Director to join the Legal Operations team at Flagship Pioneering. The Compliance Director will operationalize the compliance program supporting Flagship's government contracts and grants, building the policies, training, certifications, monitoring, and reporting needed to meet the organization's obligations and set scalable standards as international operations expand. This is a ground-up build: the successful candidate will design and stand up a program that does not yet exist today, with substantial ownership over its shape and direction. In the near term, the Compliance Director will work alongside outside advisors to establish the government contracting compliance program. The role will also require the Compliance Director to be well versed in the financial services and capital markets regulatory frameworks applicable to sophisticated capital allocators, both domestically and internationally including the compliance obligations that arise as fund structures, investment strategies, and regulatory expectations evolve over time. This position carries high visibility across the organization and requires a proactive, positive, and professional approach at all times.

Requirements

A minimum of five (5) to eight (8) years of professional experience in compliance, regulatory, or government contracts administration; direct experience with federal government contracting and/or grants compliance (e.g., FAR/DFARS, Uniform Guidance) is strongly preferred.
Familiarity with financial services or capital markets regulatory frameworks applicable to private fund sponsors, including the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and related SEC guidance, or a demonstrated ability to quickly build subject-matter expertise in a new regulatory area.
Experience designing or operating compliance programs for investment advisers, private fund managers, or similar financial services organizations is a plus.
Experience building or scaling compliance programs, policies, and training within a corporate or professional services environment.
Experience working with outside counsel or consultants to transition compliance functions in-house is preferred.
Strong working knowledge of compliance program design, including policies, training, monitoring, and remediation frameworks.
Ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical, scalable processes for a fast-moving organization.
Excellent organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple compliance workstreams simultaneously.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to train and advise non-legal stakeholders on compliance requirements.
Ability to build trusted relationships and establish clear escalation pathways across Flagship and its portfolio companies.
High degree of independent judgment, discretion, and sound decision-making.
Demonstrated willingness and enthusiasm to learn, evaluate, and apply state-of-the-art AI legal tools to improve the quality, speed, and efficiency of day-to-day compliance work.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree or relevant compliance certification (e.g., Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP), Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM), or similar) is preferred; a J.D. or other advanced legal or regulatory training is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

Operationalize the compliance program supporting government contracts and grants, including policies, training, certifications, monitoring, reporting, and remediation.
Build the controls, documentation, and reporting required for government contracts, grants, and other funded programs.
Monitor and advise on evolving financial services and capital markets regulatory requirements applicable to Flagship's investment activities, and help build the related compliance infrastructure.
Develop and maintain the compliance framework supporting Flagship’s fund operations, including policies, procedures, and controls addressing investor communications, conflicts of interest, personal trading, books and records, and related regulatory requirements.
Track regulatory developments affecting private fund sponsors and capital allocators, assess their applicability to Flagship’s activities, and recommend program enhancements to stay ahead of evolving obligations.
Coordinate country-specific compliance requirements for expanding international operations and set scalable global standards.
Establish consistent compliance ownership and escalation pathways across the Flagship ecosystem.
Work alongside outside advisors during the near-term ramp-up of the government contracting compliance program, with the goal of limiting external advisor support over time.
Partner with Finance, Contracts, and other functions to ensure compliance requirements are reflected in contracting and grant processes.