Senior Research Associate, Platform Biology

Apriori Bio is an early-stage biotechnology company with an ambitious and exciting mission: to lay the foundation for Global Pathogen Shield™ protective interventions that that can neutralize a wide range of the most dangerous and rapidly evolving infectious pathogen threats. The company is developing a revolutionary approach to this challenge and recruiting a team of top-tier scientists to build what it believes will be a powerful, first-in-category R&D platform.

Apriori Bio was founded by Flagship Pioneering, a biotechnology 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.

Position Summary:

We are seeking an innovative and focused Senior Research Associate with experience using Next Gen Sequencing to screen pooled libraries, including virus-like particles. The candidate will support screening of human sera to generate neutralization data for AI/ML design of anti-viral vaccines. The ideal candidate will have a track record of success executing and optimizing NGS assays. Experience with RNA and RNA viruses is a plus. This role requires collaboration with a matrixed team of scientists and data scientists to deliver on the company platform and pipeline goals. Experience with vaccines, virology and AI is also desirable.

Key Responsibilities:

• Perform critical data-generating experiments
• Execute NGS-based sera neutralization assays of pooled virus-like particles
• Execute and optimize cell culture processes for library production to achieve high quality and high yields of vectors
• Implement strategies to increase throughput of sera screening
• Effectively capture experimental protocols and data in an ELN
• Conduct experiments, analyze data, and troubleshoot to improve NGS workflow
• Work closely with molecular virologists and data scientists to support the design and deployment of innovative, proprietary assays
• Help build the infrastructure of laboratory protocols, tools, and systems to enable focused and rapid discovery and early pipeline development
• Communicate insights and conclusions to the scientific team and executive management

Minimum Qualifications:

• B.S. in bio-medical engineering, molecular biology, virology, immunology or a related field with 5+ years experience, including direct experience with NGS-based screening; or M.S. with closely related experience
• Direct experience generating dose response curves
• Direct experience with pooled library screening
• Experience with molecular cloning, qPCR, and sequence analysis

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with viral library generation and/or high-throughput assay development
• Familiarity with NGS/RNA-Seq methods and their implementation
• Familiarity with laboratory automation
• Understanding of viral functional genomics and viral phylodynamics/evolution

Values and Behaviors

We are seeking individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit, strong communication skills, and comfort working in and contributing to a dynamic and cross-functional team environment. The level of the role will be commensurate with the education and years of experience of the identified candidate.

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