Senior Director, Strategy and Operations

As Sr. Director, Strategy and Operations for 2 Origination Teams, you will facilitate, coordinate, and manage the execution of company creation activities with entrepreneurialism, creativity, agility, and achievement-orientation. This role serves as an operations thought partner to Origination Team Leaders, ensuring excellence in scientific innovation and entrepreneurial company creation by supporting Flagship-wide corporate processes, leading program management best practices, and developing Origination talent and culture. This highly visible position coordinates organizational execution, optimizes communication, workflows, resource management, and productivity to drive value creation across our companies. You will have dual reporting lines to the Origination Team Leaders.

Responsibilities

• Work with Origination Team Leaders to set organizational priorities, ensuring objectives and activities are clearly communicated, understood, and tracked.
• Maintain dashboards and track KPIs for Origination Team strategy and operations.
• Partner with portfolio companies’ leadership teams to ensure effective, timely execution of complex projects leading to value creation milestones.
• Collaborate with Finance, HR, and individual originators to provide visibility and guidance on resource allocation across projects and companies.
• Partner with Flagship Pioneering (FSP) functions (Finance, HR, Legal, Business Development, CEO office, Pioneering Medicines, Pioneering Intelligence, and advisory groups) to ensure effective collaboration with OPT portfolio companies.
• Set agendas and cadence for Origination Team meetings, ensuring successful preparation, execution, documentation, and follow-up of decisions and action items.
• Play a cross-functional leadership role in identifying, designing, and implementing strategic initiatives that impact the portfolio.
• Prepare or contribute to high-quality reports, briefings, and presentations for Origination Team Leaders (e.g., portfolio reviews).
• Develop and utilize program management tools, processes, and AI agents to ensure efficient tracking and reporting.
• Develop, maintain, and disseminate best practices for ideation, company creation, launch, and fundraising preparedness.
• Enable transparent and candid communication across the Origination Team and portfolio companies.
• Identify opportunities for Origination Team projects and companies to collaborate with FSP capabilities and ecosystem companies; facilitate and track collaborations.
• Collaborate with FSP Talent Acquisition and HR leaders to ensure timely hiring and onboarding of new Origination Team members.
• Guide people resource allocation across the portfolio to align with bandwidth, development, and execution priorities.
• Actively participate in culture development and sustainability.
• Work closely with Finance partners on Origination Team budgeting.
• Identify issues impacting successful execution of plans, escalate risks, and offer mitigation ideas.
• Bring high energy and team spirit to foster a highly functioning team.

Requirements

• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in life sciences or engineering disciplines preferred; equivalent work experience considered. (Ph.D. a plus).
• 7+ years of industry/biotech experience in drug discovery, drug development, or engineering related to life sciences tools.
• Scientific/research background, preferably with broad disease-area expertise.
• Management consulting experience in biotech or life sciences considered.
• Experience across multiple therapeutics modalities (e.g., RNA-based therapies, biologics/antibodies, small molecules) a plus.
• Strong understanding of the biopharmaceutical landscape and/or life sciences tools/technologies space, including key players, emerging trends, and technological advancements.
• Program/Project/Portfolio Management experience; familiarity with project management tools and dashboards preferred.
• Strategic mindset with operational rigor.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and manage multiple projects.
• Exceptional leadership skills, emotional intelligence (EQ), and ability to lead through influence.
• Exceptional communication skills; ability to analyze, synthesize, and convey complex scientific and business information to senior stakeholders.
• Strong financial literacy.
• Passion for growth and development, with openness to giving and receiving constructive feedback and a track record of acting on feedback.
• Ability to work onsite in Cambridge, MA, preferably 5 days a week (flexibility for 4 days).

About the Company

Flagship Pioneering is a scientific innovation engine that invents and builds companies to change the world. We unite life science innovation, company creation, and capital investment under one roof to advance biotechnology in human health, sustainability, and beyond. Our team of scientists, entrepreneurial leaders, and capital managers collaborates through an institutionalized process to drive breakthroughs for people and the planet.

Many Flagship-founded companies have addressed urgent global challenges, including vaccinating billions against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, and enhancing agricultural resiliency and sustainability. Flagship has been recognized on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list and Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies” list.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $220,000 - $270,000. Compensation depends on qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience.

Benefits

• Healthcare coverage
• Annual incentive program
• Retirement benefits
• Broad range of other benefits