Senior Scientist, Molecular Biology

Flagship Pioneering, Inc.•Cambridge, MA

About The Position

We are building a new venture, FL122, with the mission of reducing the risk of polygenic disease in children born through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). The company was founded by Flagship Pioneering, an innovative enterprise that conceives, creates, resources, and grows first-in-category life sciences companies. Flagship Pioneering has created over 100 groundbreaking companies over the past twenty years, all of which are pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial, and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Moderna (MRNA), Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics, and Quotient Therapeutics. We are an equal opportunity employer. Position Summary: We are seeking a first Molecular Biology hire, who will define and build the experimental foundation of the company’s scientific platform. As an early stage hire, you will operate with significant ownership, designing core protocols, establishing technical standards, and shaping the direction of experimental strategy from first principles, reporting the results to senior leadership. We are looking for someone who is resourceful, is open to a rapidly changing, agile environment and has bias to action. The ideal candidate combines deep technical rigor with a growth mindset, pays attention to detail, and has a deep-rooted desire to achieve excellence. Being collaborative is key – the environment is an early stage startup, where all members of the team need to work closely together to break new ground in science.

Requirements

Ph.D. in biology, molecular biology, genetics or a related discipline with 5+ years of relevant post-academic or industry experience with an excellent research track record
Deep expertise in the handling of minute amounts of nucleic acids, including rigorous QC and troubleshooting of low-input workflows
Experience testing and optimizing single cell RNA sequencing methods end-to-end, including library quantification and QC (e.g., yield, size distribution, complexity)
Demonstrated ability to independently design, troubleshoot, and iterate on technically demanding experimental systems
Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous startup environments with high ownership and accountability

Responsibilities

Deliver molecular biology research projects with a high degree of autonomy, including project design, implementation, troubleshooting, interpretation and reporting results to senior leadership
Help implement appropriate instrumentation, reagents, and consistent workflows to support scalable and reliable experimental operations
Handle and process human biospecimen, specifically human sperm cells, in a BSL2 setting with rigorous adherence to quality and reproducibility standards
Develop, optimize, and benchmark workflows for extracting and quantifying minute amounts of nucleic acids from single cells and other low-input samples
Test, compare and implement multiple single cell RNA sequencing methods, including library quantification and QC required for Illumina sequencing
Interact with external advisors, leveraging their inputs and building high-quality relationships