Senior Scientist/Principal Scientist, Formulation

The Company

Flagship Labs 112, Inc. (FL112) is revolutionizing sustainable water solutions by harnessing cutting-edge science to address global water scarcity. Our mission is to create scalable, sustainable solutions that reduce dependence on traditional water sources, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and support communities worldwide. Through interdisciplinary collaboration across biology, engineering, and environmental science, we are pioneering advancements that redefine access to sustainable freshwater.

FL112 is a well-funded, early-stage biotechnology company founded through Flagship Pioneering’s venture creation engine, where companies such as Moderna Inc. and Invaio Sciences were conceived and created. Since Flagship’s founding in 2000, the firm has originated and fostered the development of nearly 100 scientific ventures resulting in $90 billion in aggregate value, 500+ issued patents, and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents. 

The Role

We are seeking a highly skilled manufacturing and formulation scientist to join our team and play a key role in the scale-up and biomanufacturing of microbial-based solutions. This position will focus on the formulation, processing, and stabilization of microbially derived materials using advanced manufacturing techniques, including spray drying, lyophilization, and bioprocessing methods. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in microbial formulation, scale-up bioprocessing, and advanced characterization techniques to ensure optimal dispersion, stability, and aggregation control.

Key Responsibilities

1. Biomanufacturing & Process Scale-Up
   • Develop and execute large-scale biomanufacturing and/or fermentation processes for microbial formulations, ensuring efficiency and scalability.
   • Optimize fermentation, purification, and stabilization strategies to maximize yield and product quality.
   • Collaborate with upstream processing teams to ensure seamless production workflows.
2. Formulation Development & Stabilization
   • Design and optimize formulations for microbial stability and delivery, including bacterial and fungal-based solutions.
   • Apply spray drying, lyophilization, and microencapsulation techniques to enhance product stability and shelf-life.
   • Select and characterize excipients for improved solubility, bioavailability, stability, dispersal, and aggregation control.
3. Bioprocessing & Downstream Processing
   • Perform filtration, centrifugation, and chromatography to purify microbial formulations and active ingredients.
   • Develop process analytical tools to characterize intermediates and final formulations, with a focus on size distribution, aggregation, and dispersion properties.
   • Troubleshoot and resolve manufacturing challenges related to product aggregation, degradation, or solubility.
4. Technology Transfer & Manufacturing Support
   1. Lead tech transfer activities to scale processes from R&D to commercial manufacturing.
   2. Collaborate with engineering, regulatory, and quality assurance teams to ensure compliance with GMP and FDA/EMA regulations.
   3. Maintain comprehensive SOPs, batch records, and validation documentation.

Who you are

• Entrepreneurial scientist: You are a visionary scientist with a passion for innovation and real-world impact. You thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments where creativity and initiative are essential. You are not just a researcher—you are a builder, eager to pioneer novel scientific discoveries and transform them into practical solutions that address one of the world’s most pressing challenges: water scarcity. You excel at pushing boundaries, questioning conventional wisdom, and finding groundbreaking ways to apply science for meaningful change.
• 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 can convey technical information in a clear, concise, and decisive manner.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in biochemical engineering, chemical engineering, biotechnology, pharmacology or a related field.
• 4-6+ years of industry experience in biomanufacturing, formulation development, or process development. Highly relevant post-doc experience is welcome.
• Hands-on experience with fermentation and post-fermentation processing, including spray drying, lyophilization, and stabilization for storage.
• Proven experience with engineering and optimizing novel functional assays for microbially derived formulations.
• A strong background in protein biology, microbial formulation stability, aggregation control, and excipient selection is preferred.
• Familiarity with downstream processing techniques (chromatography, filtration, and purification) is a plus.
• Experience with analytical techniques (HPLC, DSC, DLS) is a plus.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Strong communication and organizational skills, with a track record of successful project management and scientific documentation.
• Experience collaborating with and guiding CROs on out-sourced projects highly desirable.

Join us in shaping the future of sustainability through cutting-edge biology!

About Flagship

Flagship Pioneering is a bioplatform innovation company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. 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. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.

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.