Empress: Proteomics Co-Op

This position is open exclusively to current Northeastern University Co-Op students.

Work Period: January 2027 to June 2027. This is a full - time, 40 hours per week position with 5 days in office.

About Empress

Empress is pioneering mechanistic intelligence for drug discovery — helping R&D teams understand what their molecules are doing, what is driving activity, what liabilities may emerge, and which candidates are best positioned to advance. By integrating multi-omics, chemoproteomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, computational inference, knowledge graphs, and CRISPR-based functional validation, Empress turns biological complexity into clearer development decisions. Our platform gives discovery teams access to capabilities that would otherwise require years, specialized infrastructure, and rare cross-functional expertise to build internally.

About Flagship Pioneering

Empress is a product of Flagship Pioneering's venture creation engine 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 company’s 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.

The Role

We're looking for a Co-Op to join our Proteomics team and contribute to the development of Empress's Integromyx and Perturb-seq platforms. You'll get hands-on experience across the full mass spectrometry-based proteomics workflows, from cell culture and sample preparation through LC-MS/MS acquisition on Orbitrap systems, including exposure to chemoproteomics experiments that sit at the intersection of chemistry and biology.

You'll work as part of a cross-functional team where your contributions matter from day one. We're looking for someone who is curious, detail-oriented, and eager to develop their skills alongside a team building something new.

Key Responsibilities

• Set up, maintain, and operate Orbitrap mass spectrometry and associated liquid chromatography systems
• Maintain mammalian cell cultures; prepare growth media and expand cells for experiment setup
• Execute proteomics sample preparation workflows including protein extraction, fractionation, and LC-MS analysis
• Use laboratory automation for sample preparation and processing
• Contribute to proteomics and chemoproteomics experiments and support data analysis
• Present findings in team and cross-functional meetings; maintain meticulous electronic lab notebook records

Basic Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a B.S. or M.S. program in Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Biochemistry, or a related field
• Coursework or hands-on laboratory experience in chemical biology, liquid chromatography, or mass spectrometry

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with analytical techniques with a focus on mass spectrometry, especially Thermo Fisher instrumentation
• Experience with liquid chromatography sample preparation and purification
• Familiarity with R, Python, or strong interest in learning informatics tools
• Interest in lab automation instrumentation
• Prior experience with mammalian cell culture

What We Offer

• Build alongside founders. You’ll work inside the same hypothesis-driven process Flagship uses to conceive and launch first-in-category companies.
• This can be the start of a longer story. Strong co-ops are considered for future opportunities across Flagship and its portfolio companies, not just for this one role.
• Work alongside people who left the safe path. Your colleagues are scientists, engineers, and operators who chose to build something new rather than join something already established.
• Take on real ownership. You're contributing to ventures that are still being defined. Your work can shape real decisions, not just support them.
• Be paid like the contributor you are. Compensation reflects the real work you take on.

Flagship Pioneering is 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.

The pay range for this role is $25 - $35 per hour. This role is a short-term engagement that is not eligible for health and welfare benefits. Retirement benefits may be available after completing a set number of hours. Compensation and benefits information is based on Empress's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.