Laronde is an early-stage biotechnology company with the mission to become the leader in the development of nucleic acid medicines by leveraging its multi-modality eRNA platform. Our modular Endless RNA™ (eRNA) platform, will be supported by a large-scale digital and manufacturing infrastructure with the bold vision of 100 new medicines within the next decade. With eRNA, we’re making new therapeutics that will become essential medicines of the future to address unmet needs across multiple disease areas. Check out www.laronde.bio for more information on our vision.

Laronde was founded by Flagship Pioneering, a team of entrepreneurial scientists that conceives, creates, resources and grows first-in-category life sciences companies. Since 2000, Flagship has created over 100 groundbreaking companies pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Moderna Therapeutics (MRNA), Seres Therapeutics (MCRB), Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS), Rubius Therapeutics (RUBY), Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), Kaleido Biosciences (KLDO) and Indigo Agriculture.

Position Summary:

Laronde is seeking an outstanding Scientist/Sr Scientist, eRNA Molecular Design to join a multidisciplinary team of experimental and computational synthetic biologists and engineers responsible for study, design and optimization of novel endless RNA (eRNA) therapeutics. The ideal candidate must have substantial academic and/or industrial experience in molecular biology techniques and will be responsible for driving innovative in-house nucleic acid manipulation and production workstreams to support the design and optimization of eRNA sequences and eRNA formulations. If you are a passionate and purposeful scientist keen on testing your hypotheses and learning from some of the best synthetic biologists and engineers whilst getting to work with complex multidimensional data sets, then we are looking for you.

Key Responsibilities:

• Utilize modern synthetic biology approaches to develop and implement strategies to optimize potency and safety of eRNA constructs
• Act as a technical lead for construct design across Laronde
• Collaborate with functional and program leaders to ensure that the new constructs are designed and constructed to meet specifications and communicate robustly with them throughout development

• Initiate and manage relationships with CROs/CDMOs

• Lead from the bench, mentoring junior team members to ensure best laboratory practices and scientific rigor in a diversified range of synthetic biology projects

• Work closely with an interdisciplinary team of experimental and computational biologists to design experiments, analyze data, interpret and present your results at company meetings and strategic program readouts
• Carefully document experiments in an electronic lab notebook and communicate results to collaborators
• Work effectively with High-throughput Pharmacology, Chemistry, Therapeutic areas, Discovery Biology, and Manufacturing teams to drive discovery and development efforts
• Maintain scientific and technical expertise through familiarity with scientific literature and attending conferences
• Work closely within an entrepreneurial, highly-collaborative, interdisciplinary, and fast-paced environment and willingness to change the status quo

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Cell Biology, Synthetic Biology, or related discipline with a minimum of 5 years of directly related experience in academic research and/or biotech industry

• Deep knowledge of molecular cloning strategies and experience designing translatable RNA constructs and characterizing their performance using analytical tools and cell-based assays

• Skills in synthetic biology, genetic engineering or gene circuit design, cell and molecular biology
• Experience with high-throughput screening strategies
• Experience with automated liquid handlers
• Bioinformatics skills for development and implementation of construct design workflows
• Experience with NGS methods and analysis is a plus
• Drug discovery experience in the field of RNA Therapeutics within industry or academy is preferred
• Peer-reviewed publications that can showcase your skills
• Demonstrated ability in working with highly skilled teams in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and technical environment
• Excellent communication, scientific writing, and presentation skills

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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.