Vice President, Head of Research and Platform Innovation

The Company

Flagship Labs 110 Inc. (FL110) is a privately held, early-stage technology company developing a fully integrated, end-to-end platform to enable next generation proteomics. Our platform integrates groundbreaking innovations in bioengineering, machine learning, and custom microelectronics to offer a level of precision and insight never before achieved.

FL110 is backed by Flagship Pioneering, which brings the courage, long-term vision, and resources needed to realize unreasonable results. We are uniquely cross-functional and collaborative. Our teams thrive in unstructured and creative environments. Therefore, we seek individuals with an inclusive mindset and a diversity of thought.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

Position Summary

We are seeking an exceptional scientific leader to serve as VP, Head of Research & Platform Development, responsible for defining and executing FL110’s scientific strategy and leading the development of our nanopore-based protein reading platform.

This individual will lead multidisciplinary research teams spanning nanopore science, protein translocation and signal generation, molecular engineering, and related platform technologies. They will be responsible for integrating advances across these domains into a unified platform capable of enabling scalable protein reading.

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record leading complex, multidisciplinary research programs and translating scientific breakthroughs into enabling technology platforms. The successful candidate will be an ambitious, execution-oriented leader who thrives in environments characterized by technical complexity, scientific uncertainty, and rapid innovation.

 

Key Responsibilities

Scientific Strategy & Platform Leadership

• Define and execute FL110’s scientific strategy and long-term platform roadmap.
• Establish technical milestones, success criteria, and research priorities across the platform.
• Identify critical technical risks and develop strategies to accelerate platform progress.
• Ensure scientific investments are aligned with company objectives and future product requirements.

Research & Platform Development

• Lead & manage multidisciplinary research teams advancing FL110’s protein reading platform, including setting vision, research goals and helping defined strategies for execution of complex research tasks. 
• Drive integration across nanopore science, protein translocation, molecular engineering, chemistry, and computational analysis.
• Prioritize and guide research efforts to maximize platform performance and technical differentiation.
• Foster a culture of scientific rigor, innovation, and executional excellence.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with the VP of Technology & Development to translate research advances into future products and instrument architectures.
• Align research priorities with engineering, product development, and data science teams.
• Contribute to company strategy, organizational planning, and resource allocation.
• Serve as a collaborative and impactful member of the Leadership Team.

External Scientific Leadership

• Build and manage collaborations with academic, industry, and strategic partners.
• Contribute to intellectual property strategy and scientific positioning.
• Represent FL110 with investors, advisors, and external stakeholders.
• Help recruit, develop, and retain world-class scientific talent.

 

Qualifications

Required

• PhD in biophysics, molecular biology, bioengineering, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of scientific leadership experience beyond doctoral training.
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary research organizations.
• Experience advancing complex technologies from fundamental research toward scalable platforms or products.
• Strong systems-level thinking and ability to integrate work across multiple scientific domains.
• Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and make high-quality decisions under uncertainty.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and team-building skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience with nanopore technologies, single-molecule sensing, sequencing, proteomics, microelectronics or related fields.
• Experience developing life science tools, instrumentation, diagnostics, or platform technologies.
• Familiarity with protein engineering, molecular motors, membrane proteins, or biological nanopores.
• Experience leading programs that span biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computational sciences.
• Prior experience in venture-backed startups or rapidly growing technology companies.
• Track record of building strategic scientific partnerships and generating intellectual property.

About Flagship Pioneering

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 is 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.

The salary range for this role is $290,000 - $315,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. FL110 currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on FL110's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.