Senior Research Associate/Associate Scientist – Payload and Function

Company Summary:

Ring Therapeutics Inc. is a privately held, early-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new field of targeted medicines by exploiting naturally occurring commensal viruses. Ring Therapeutics is leveraging this versatile technology to develop a broad pipeline of novel, targeted medicines for disease with high unmet medical need.

Ring Therapeutics was founded in Flagship Pioneering’s venture creation engine, where companies such as Moderna Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Generate Biomedicines (NASDAQ: GENB) were conceived and created. Since Flagship’s founding in 2000, the firm has originated and fostered the development of more than 100 scientific ventures resulting in more than 500 issued patents and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Senior Research Associate or Associate Scientist to join our Payload and Function team to support the development of a re-dosable and targetable platform for delivering diverse therapeutic modalities. This role is centered on designing and developing in vitro cell killing assays to support the development of targeted oncology therapeutics.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in cell-based and biochemical assay development, and can generate high-quality, decision-driving data of functional activity. Experience with or exposure to ADC or small molecule drug oncology research and development is particularly desirable. Experience with RNAi (siRNA, ASO, etc.) therapeutics is considered a plus.

This is a highly collaborative hands-on role requiring scientific independence and a strong focus on building robust and predictive assays to drive platform development and candidate selection.

Key Responsibilities

Design and optimization of in vitro assays (cell-based and biochemical) to evaluate therapeutic function
Establish and maintain cancer cell-based in vitro models
Support development of quantitative and reproducible assay workflows to assess payload functional activity
Generate high-quality datasets to drive candidate selection
Collaborate cross-functionally with targeting, protein engineering, analytical, and translational teams to ensure assay outputs align with program needs
Present data clearly and provide actionable recommendations to project teams
Maintain rigorous experimental documentation and reproducibility standards

Required Qualifications

Senior Research Associate: B.S./B.A. in Biology or related field with +4+ years experience in an academic or industry setting. MS degree considered a plus
Associate Scientist: B.S./B.A. in Biology or related field with 6+ years experience in an academic or industry setting or MS in Biology or related field with 4+ years in an academic or industry setting
Strong, hands-on experience with in vitro assay development, with emphasis on cell-based assays
Experience with flow cytometry–based assays
Experience with cell viability or growth-inhibition assays
Experience with primary cells and other mammalian cell culture systems
Strong data analysis, interpretation, and troubleshooting skills

Preferred Qualifications

Industry experience in ADC, CAR T, or other oncology biologics discovery
Industry experience in oncology drug discovery and development
Industry experience with RNAi (siRNA, ASO, etc.) modalities
Experience with targeted delivery systems or nanoparticles
Experience supporting screening and ranking of conjugated molecules or biologics
Familiarity with cancer biology
Experience with data analysis tools (e.g., GraphPad Prism, FlowJo)
Experience working in cross-functional drug discovery teams

Key Competencies

Strong experimental design and troubleshooting skills
Experience in in vitro and biochemical assay development and optimization
Ability to generate quantitative, decision-driving data
Clear scientific communication and data presentation
Collaborative, execution-focused mindset with high attention to detail

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.

Jobs

Senior Research Associate