Scientist, Biochemistry

Company Summary:

Serif Biomedicines, Inc. is a privately held, early-stage biotechnology company developing a novel approach to gene therapy that can address currently untreatable diseases. Serif Biomedicines was founded by Flagship Pioneering, an innovation 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), Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MCRB), Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Tx, Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), and Indigo Agriculture.

The role

We are seeking an outstanding Scientist I, to join us in ideating and building the next generation of Programmable Medicines. We’re looking for a versatile bio/chemist whose experience ranges from chemical biology to molecular biology. More broadly, we’re looking for an individual who brings scientific rigor, intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm, and a desire to innovate new nucleic acid therapeutics. This individual will have the opportunity to work in a dynamic and fast-paced entrepreneurial environment, working as part of a highly collaborative and growing team.

Key responsibilities

• Contribute to Nucleic Acid Chemistry innovation, aligned with the company’s core strategic ­goals. We are looking for motivated creative thinkers who want to contribute to nucleic acid chemistry and molecular biology to influence the company’s scientific directions.
• Plan and execute Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Biochemistry experiments. Along with ideation, we’re looking for someone who’s excited to work in a team setting and help us make leap and bounds at the bench. Key skillsets include:
• Deep experience with methods for enzymatic modification of nucleic acids
• Familiarity with various methods for purifying and analyzing nucleic acids (HPLC, gel electrophoresis, TapeStation, fragment analyzer, etc.)
• Deep understanding of enzymatic reactions involved in nucleic acid synthesis and post-synthetic modifications.
• Enzymatic screens, fluorescent-based assays (cell-free translation, FRET, FP)
• Experience with small/mid-scale and chromatographic purification of nucleic acids (gel extractions, HPLC, Akta, FPLC)
• Experience and understanding of enzymatic reactions and protein purification. Along with design and optimization of nucleic acid production and modification, you’ll be familiarizing yourself with a variety of post-translational protein modification that require protein purification, buffer exchange, and quality assessment.
• Routine experience with protein QC and analysis (SDS PAGE, CE, and HPLC)
• Small scale purification or buffer exchange of proteins (dialysis, TFF, Akta)
• Contribute to the ideation and iteration of non-viral nucleic acid cargo delivery. We’re looking for someone who wants to learn all aspects of drug development, who’s able to dive deep and nimbly in new topics and supports all inter-departmental efforts.

Who you are

• Technical expert:
• You have Ph.D. and 0-2 years of industry experience, in chemistry, biochemistry or biomedical engineering, and you’re experienced (and excited about) nucleic acid chemistry innovation, production, purification, and assay development.
• You have a Master’s Degree and 2+ years of experience in industry and want to be part of a dynamic team.
• Mission-driven scientist: You are a deep scientific expert in nucleic acid biology, but want a team-centric environment as fast paced as you are. You have an unquenchable spirit to build something new that will create huge impact for the world.
• 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 support your colleagues’ challenges & celebrate their victories.
• Effective communicator: You not only understand the science but are capable of conveying technical information in a clear, concise, and decisive manner.

Location: Cambridge, MA

Values and Behaviors:

Flagship is an experiment in institutional, entrepreneurial, and innovation practiced in the context of a small company with an insurgent mindset. We are seeking individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit, strong communication skills, and comfort in working in and contributing to a dynamic and cross-functional team environment.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, we encourage you to 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. The level of the role will be commensurate with the education and years of experience of the identified candidates.

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.

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.