Senior Scientist I/II, Chemistry & Formulations

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Our start-up is building a novel chemical discovery platform to reshape how we develop formulations at the molecular level. By combining artificial intelligence with a cutting-edge laboratory discovery pipeline, our interdisciplinary team will chart an unexplored chemical landscape, enabling breakthroughs in drug delivery, agrichemical formulation, and safe, high-performance industrial chemicals.

Our company is backed by Flagship Pioneering, a biotechnology origination company that has founded and developed over 115 scientific ventures over the past 25 years. Flagship Pioneering is dedicated to the development of an ecosystem of first-in-category life sciences companies, 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 an experienced formulations chemist to lead the design, strategy, and implementation of a high-throughput chemical formulation and testing pipeline. This position will focus on building a rapid and evolving system for manufacturing chemical mixtures and measuring the physiochemical properties of these mixtures at various temperatures and levels of hydration. This position will also coordinate heavily with a Machine Learning Lead to integrate the bench top pipeline output with the training and output of a predictive model for formulation chemistry. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in organic chemistry, high-throughput chemical screening, spectroscopy, calorimetry, and other advanced techniques for the physical characterization of chemicals. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manufacturing formulations
  • Design and implement a scalable high-throughput workflow for generating diverse chemical mixtures.
  • Rigorously catalog known formulations for comparison to newly developed and untested formulations.
  • Establish automated liquid handling, dosing, and mixing protocols to ensure reproducibility and throughput.
  • Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for safe handling, storage, and disposal of raw materials and formulations.
  • Collaborate with upstream ML lead on formulation design workflows that maximize our canvassing of chemical property space and support the generation of high-quality, broad-coverage training data.
• Characterizing formulation properties
  • Assess viscosity, solubility, and other physiochemical features under different hydration and temperature conditions.
  • Apply spectroscopy (UV-Vis, IR, fluorescence) to quantify molecular interactions and stability.
  • Use calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis to measure thermodynamic and thermal stability profiles of formulations.
  • Develop and validate assays to track long-term stability and degradation of formulations.
• Screening formulation-cargo interactions
  • Design assays to evaluate compatibility of formulations with diverse small molecules, peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids.
  • Measure cargo protection and stability (e.g., aggregation, precipitation, degradation) under varied conditions.
  • Integrate biophysical characterization methods (DLS, CD, IR, LCMS) to assess cargo–formulation interactions.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS 

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field + 5 years of experience (including 2 years of industry at minimum).
• Extensive hands-on experience with formulation chemistry, high-throughput chemical screening, or analytical method development.
• Demonstrated expertise in chemical characterization techniques such as spectroscopy (UV-Vis, IR, NMR, fluorescence), calorimetry (DSC, ITC), and rheology.
• Proven ability to characterize physicochemical properties of complex mixtures under varying environmental conditions.
• Strong background in designing and executing high-throughput or automated experimental workflows.
• Committed team player with the ability to communicate and work collaboratively with ML scientists, lab scientists and operational team members.
• Prior leadership or team management experience preferred.
• Experience integrating benchtop experimental data into machine learning pipelines or predictive modeling workflows preferred.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, kinetics, and intermolecular interactions in multicomponent systems preferred.
• Familiarity with high-throughput robotics, automation platforms, or liquid handling systems for screening of solvents and liquids preferred.
• Knowledge of data analysis pipelines, including scripting skills (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB) for handling large experimental datasets preferred.
• Exposure to generative AI models for chemical discovery preferred.
• Experience working with biomolecules and protein chemistry preferred.
• Familiarity with principles of physical chemistry preferred.
• Experience in chemistry screening for personal care, nutrition, or aqueous coatings and adhesives preferred.

LOCATION:  Cambridge, MA

ABOUT FLAGSHIP PIONEERING:

Flagship Pioneering invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health, sustainability and beyond. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated more than 100 companies. Many of these companies 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.

At Flagship, we accept impossible missions to enable bigger leaps. Our core values guide us through uncertainty and toward lasting impact.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We recognize that great candidates often bring unique strengths without fulfilling every qualification. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your background and interest in Flagship.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

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The salary range for this role is $126,000 - $181,500. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. FL118 currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on FL118's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.