Senior Research Associate, Formulations

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Flagship Pioneering is a platform innovation company that invents and builds companies that change the world. We bring together the greatest scientific minds with entrepreneurial company builders and assemble the capital to allow them to take courageous leaps. Those big leaps in human health, sustainability and beyond exponentially accelerate scientific progress in areas ranging from disease detection and treatment and nature-positive agriculture to novel applications of AI that are driving the creation of new technologies.   

What sets Flagship apart is our ability to advance science and technology by uniting innovation, company creation, and capital investment under one roof in a way that is largely without precedent. Our scientific founders, entrepreneurial leaders, and professional capital managers are each aligned around an institutionalized process that enables us to innovate and transform for the benefit of people and planet.   

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. 

THE ROLE

This role will be a foundational hire supporting our formulation and product development efforts, with a primary focus on the development, screening, and optimization of dried powder formulations. The individual will play a critical hands-on role in executing formulation strategies using techniques such as lyophilization and spray drying, while contributing experimental rigor, physical insight, and data-driven decision-making to early-stage platform development.

The Senior Research Associate will work closely with process development partners to produce robust, stable, and scalable powders. In addition to executing experiments, this role will contribute to experimental design, data interpretation, and the establishment of best practices for formulation screening, characterization, and documentation in a fast-moving, early-stage environment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, execute, and optimize dried powder formulations using lyophilization and spray drying, with a focus on stability, reproducibility, and performance across multiple formulation variables;
• Execute formulation screening efforts using statistically grounded experimental designs (e.g., DoEs), including selection of factors, responses, and experimental conditions, and translate results into actionable next steps;
• Evaluate the impact of excipients, processing conditions, and storage environments on material stability, integrity, and functionality, including under accelerated or stress conditions;
• Characterize dried powder products using appropriate analytical and physical methods (e.g., particle size and morphology, thermal analysis, moisture content, bulk properties) to inform formulation and process decisions;
• Support process development and scale-awareness by documenting critical parameters, identifying sources of variability, and generating data relevant to future scale-up, tech transfer, or external partnerships;
• Maintain clear, rigorous experimental documentation and generate high-quality summaries, figures, and datasets suitable for internal decision-making, patent disclosures, and external communication;
• Contribute to the establishment of long-term formulation workflows, best practices, and standards that support platform development in a small, highly collaborative team.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor’s degree (with 5-7 years of relevant research experience) or Master’s degree (with 3-5 years of relevant research experience) in chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, materials science, biotechnology, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience with drying-based formulation techniques, including lyophilization and/or spray drying, and an understanding of how process parameters influence solid-state properties;
• Strong grounding in physical chemistry or materials science principles relevant to dried systems, including glass transition behavior, crystallinity, moisture interactions, and excipient effects;
• Experience designing and executing statistically informed experiments (e.g., DoEs), with the ability to interpret interaction effects and use data to guide experimental iteration;
• Familiarity with analytical and characterization techniques for powders and solid-state materials (e.g., DSC, TGA, particle sizing, microscopy, bulk property measurements), and the ability to select fit-for-purpose methods;
• Familiarity with downstream processing operations (e.g., tangential flow filtration and other purification workflows);
• Proven ability to work independently in a dynamic, early-stage research environment, balancing hands-on execution with thoughtful experimental planning and cross-functional communication;
• Strong scientific documentation and communication skills, with experience generating reproducible records and decision-enabling datasets;
• Embodies resilience and scientific rigor in pursuing complex technical questions by iteratively testing hypotheses and refining parameters through uncertainty to converge on robust, optimized solutions.
• Demonstrated curiosity, adaptability, and comfort working across disciplines, with an interest in translating early scientific concepts into robust, scalable technologies.

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 $81,000 - $107,250. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. Protocos currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Protocos's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.