Lila Sciences · 3 days ago
Senior / Scientist, Nucleic Acid Delivery
Cambridge, MA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
5+ years expLila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. They are seeking a Senior Scientist to lead the development of next-generation platforms for targeted delivery of nucleic acid-based therapeutics and collaborate across various teams to enhance therapeutic discovery and delivery.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Life ScienceSoftware
Responsibilities
Design modality-spanning libraries of delivery systems (LNPs and alternatives), exploring novel chemistries, architectures, and targeting strategies (antibodies/VHHs/peptides/glycans; tunable linker chemistries)
Implement state-of-the are and develop next-generation characterization methods to evaluate formulation and delivery performance. Establish in-vitro assays and collaborate with external partners to design and execute in-vivo studies
Closed-Loop Experimentation and Execution: partner closely with engineering and automation to design and exercise platforms for automated, high-throughput experimentation and data-rich workflows. Collaborate with AI team to run iterative experiments in real time, enabling fast optimization and discovery cycles
Collaborate, Lead & communicate: Work with chemists, material scientists, engineers, and data scientists to document systems, share insights, and refine best practices in autonomous science. Mentor junior scientists, align milestones with internal/external collaborators, contribute to IP and publications, and present findings across the org
Qualification
Required
Ph.D. in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, BioChemistry, or related field (or M.S./B.S. with 5–8+ years relevant industry experience)
Deep expertise in nucleic-acid therapeutics, targeted delivery platforms, and biophysical/bioanalytical assays
Experience building developing in vitro assays and integrating analytical instruments into automated or modular experimentation platforms
Experience engaging with external partners such as CROs in designing and shepherding in vivo studies, including mouse and NHPs
Strong working knowledge of automation/HTS and experimental design/statistics including design-of-experiments and Bayesian optimization
Proficiency in Python or other scripting languages for data analysis
Clear, concise documentation and communication; bias toward hypothesis-driven, quantitative decision-making
Preferred
Targeted nanoparticle experience (antibody/ligand decoration, linker chemistry) and affinity analytics (SPR/BLI)
Familiarity with GMP considerations for nanoparticle manufacturing
Familiarity with mRNA chemistry (base/cap/poly(A) engineering) and how cargo design interacts with LNP performance
Company
Lila Sciences
Lila Sciences creates a scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous labs for life sciences, chemistry, and materials science. It is a sub-organization of Flagship Pioneering.
201-500 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Lila Sciences has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (8)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$550MKey Investors
NVenturesFlagship Pioneering
2025-10-14Series A· $115M
2025-09-14Series A· $235M
2025-03-10Seed· $200M
Recent News
2026-01-03
2025-12-17
MIT Technology Review
2025-12-15
Company data provided by crunchbase