Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies that change the world. We bring together the greatest scientific minds with entrepreneurial company builders and assemble the capital to allow them to take courageous leaps. Those big leaps in human health and sustainability exponentially accelerate scientific progress in areas ranging from cancer detection and treatment to nature-positive agriculture.
What sets Flagship apart is our ability to advance biotechnology by uniting life science innovation, company creation, and capital investment under one roof in a way that is largely without precedent. Our scientific founders, entrepreneurial leaders, and professional capital managers are each aligned around an institutionalized process that enables us to innovate and transform for the benefit of people and planet.
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.
Responsibilities:
• As an embedded company team member, drive development of the business development strategy for a portion of the Flagship Pioneering portfolio companies to enable consistent deal
flow across the ecosystem
• Work as a cross-functional leader of the company, collaborating across multiple areas of the business to become an expert in their platform technology and products. Focus will be on
establishing the BD strategy for the company and driving it to deal execution. Deal execution (deal concept or term sheet to final executed agreement) can be performed in partnership with
transaction leaders
• Work closely with the CEO, relevant partner group, and members of the senior management team on the development of business development strategy as a contributor to corporate strategy and long-range planning, including identification of relevant value drivers of impactful deals.
• Enable the communication of the value proposition of the platform technology and portfolio by developing key messages and narratives to pressure test with stakeholders and build out into full
partnerable packages and deal concepts
• Frame the BD action plan including working with leadership to define data generation for validation, partnership scopes, research plans and exclusivity constructs
• Define the relevant biotech and pharma stakeholders.
• Lead and execute business development initiatives including outreach to potential pharma partners, diligence, and structuring of a transaction leveraging cross-functional team (e.g., R&D,
Strategy, IP, legal, finance).
• Cultivate a strong and effective partnership with the CEO and relevant partners as a united team that pursues buy-in for the strategy across the Company and with the Board.
• Work closely with the R&D team to evaluate the potential of early-stage compounds and to integrate a partnership perspective early in the research and development process.
Qualifications:
• Minimum 12 years’ industry experience with a demonstrated track record of business development and corporate strategy leadership.
identifying, evaluating and successfully structuring significant business transactions.
• An advanced degree (PhD, MD) is strongly preferred. MBA is a plus.
• Previous Senior or Executive Leadership experience required with an enterprise leadership mindset across disciplines, lines, and organizational boundaries a must.
• Ability to understand complex scientific ideas and effectively communicate their value proposition to key internal and external stakeholders.
• Prior experience developing or partnering various types of biotechnology platforms or therapeutic modalities (e.g., small molecule, RNA, protein biologic), especially with discovery and preclinical- stage (Series A and B) companies.
• Excellent presentation and communications skills—the ability to compellingly articulate, influence, and work successfully with varied audiences.
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.
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Privacy Notice for Applicants: When you apply for a role at Flagship Pioneering or one of its portfolio companies, we collect and use personal information you provide (such as your name, contact details, work history, and application materials) to evaluate your application, communicate with you, and comply with legal obligations. Your application data is processed through Greenhouse, our applicant tracking system, and may also be reviewed using AI-assisted screening tools. We do not sell your personal information. California residents have rights under the CCPA/CPRA including to know, delete, and opt out of the sharing of their personal information. If you are located in the EU or UK, we process your data under GDPR and you have rights to access, rectify, and erase your data. To exercise your rights or for questions, contact [email protected].
The salary range for this role is $300,000 - $340,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. Flagship Pioneering currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Flagship Pioneering's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.
Privacy Notice for Applicants: When you apply for a role at Flagship Pioneering or one of its portfolio companies, we collect and use personal information you provide (such as your name, contact details, work history, and application materials) to evaluate your application, communicate with you, and comply with legal obligations. Your application data is processed through Greenhouse, our applicant tracking system, and may also be reviewed using AI-assisted screening tools. We do not sell your personal information. California residents have rights under the CCPA/CPRA including to know, delete, and opt out of the sharing of their personal information. If you are located in the EU or UK, we process your data under GDPR and you have rights to access, rectify, and erase your data. To exercise your rights or for questions, contact [email protected].
Skills Required
- Minimum 12 years industry experience with demonstrated track record of business development and corporate strategy leadership.
- Proven track record identifying, evaluating, and successfully structuring significant business transactions and sell-side BD deals with pharmaceutical/biotech companies.
- Previous Senior or Executive Leadership experience with enterprise leadership mindset across disciplines.
- Experience developing or partnering biotechnology platforms or therapeutic modalities (e.g., small molecule, RNA, protein biologic), especially discovery and preclinical-stage (Series A and B) companies.
- Ability to understand complex scientific ideas and effectively communicate their value proposition to internal and external stakeholders.
- Experience leading cross-functional deal teams (R&D, IP, legal, finance) through diligence, structuring, and execution.
- Experience negotiating and conducting transactions from term sheet to executed agreement.
- Excellent presentation and communication skills.
- Advanced degree (PhD or MD).
- MBA.
Flagship Pioneering Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Flagship Pioneering and has not been reviewed or approved by Flagship Pioneering.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Feedback suggests salary bands are visible for many Boston/Cambridge roles and pay is considered competitive for key scientific and leadership positions. Transparency in postings supports expectations that offers align with local biotech norms.
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Healthcare Strength — Feedback suggests medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, HSA options, and mental-health coverage are comprehensive and well-regarded. Multiple items are employer-verified, reinforcing confidence in core health benefits.
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Parental & Family Support — Feedback suggests maternity/paternity leave and family leave are offered at meaningful levels. These programs sit alongside paid holidays, sick days, and PTO to support family needs.
Flagship Pioneering Insights
What We Do
Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has applied a unique, hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $30 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship is backed by >$3 billion of aggregate capital commitments, of which over $1.5 billion has been deployed toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside >$10 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem includes Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Moderna Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRNA), Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), and Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS).
