Flagship Pioneering: AI Automation Engineering Co-Op

Flagship Pioneering Co-Op Program; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Build alongside founders

Future opportunities across Flagship

Collaborative team environment

Real ownership and impact

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Flagship Pioneering Co-Op Program in Cambridge, MA, seeks a hands-on builder to design, prototype, and deploy AI-powered automations. You will work with cross-functional teams, using low-code platforms and Python/JavaScript to improve business workflows and learn from seasoned founders.

You will take ownership of projects from concept to deployment, evaluating tools and approaches and delivering reliable, maintainable solutions.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled graduate student in CS/IS or related field.
• Proficient in Python or JavaScript.
• Familiarity with APIs, webhooks, and HTTP.
• Experience with AI tools or models in projects.
• Interest in building AI-powered automation and tooling.

Responsibilities

• Build and deploy automations using low-code platforms and custom code to automate business workflows.
• Integrate AI models via APIs into automation pipelines.
• Help deploy and maintain applications on AWS.
• Evaluate tools and approaches for new projects considering trade-offs.
• Test work thoroughly, focusing on accuracy and edge cases.
• Iterate on proof-of-concept solutions based on feedback from stakeholders.
• Maintain clear documentation for future maintenance.
• Support AI tool pilots and training materials for non-technical users.

Skills

Python

JavaScript

Education

Current graduate student in Computer Science or Information Systems

Tools

Zapier

Make

Power Automate

Workato

VS Code

AWS

Job description

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 Flagship Pioneering

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.

Flagship Pioneering Co-Op Program

Welcome to Flagship Pioneering Co-Op Program for the cohort dreaming big and taking courageous leaps. You’ll join fellow peers across our ecosystem of companies and learn firsthand how we build first-in-category companies. You’ll have access to enrichment sessions, a dedicated professional development track, and a mentor that help guide you toward your next step. By the end, you will carry on a meaningful project outcome, a genuine network, and a front-row view of how Flagship pioneer new ventures that change the world.

About the Team / Role

This is a hands-on building role. You will work closely with cross-functional stakeholders to design, prototype, and deploy AI-powered solutions that improve how teams work. Projects range from low-code automations using platforms like Zapier, Vercel, and Workato to full-stack applications built with tools like Claude Code and VS Code, written in Python or JavaScript, and deployed on cloud infrastructure like AWS.

You will take ownership of projects from start to finish: understanding a business process, exploring how to redesign it with AI, building a working solution, and iterating until it holds up in practice.

We’re looking for someone who is curious about not just how to build, but how to build well. That means learning to evaluate which tools and approaches fit a given problem, thinking through a design before jumping into code, and being open to feedback on your approach along the way.

Who This Is For

This role is for builders who are curious, resourceful, and eager to learn. You don’t need to know everything, but you should be excited to figure things out. You’re a strong fit if you:

• Have looked at a manual process and thought, “This wouldn’t exist like this if it were built today”
• Like to prototype quickly and learn by building
• Have hands-on experience building with AI tools, models, or APIs, even in personal or school projects
• Are starting to develop instincts for choosing the right tool for the job, not just using the one you know best
• Ask questions about why something is designed a certain way, not just how to make it work
• Care about whether something actually works reliably, not just in a demo
• Are energized by new technology and lean into learning it
• Can explain what you built and why to someone non-technical

Key Responsibilities

• Build and deploy automations using low-code platforms (e.g., Zapier, Workato) and, where needed, custom code (e.g., Python, JavaScript) to automate business workflows
• Integrate AI models via APIs into automation pipelines
• Help deploy and maintain applications on cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS)
• Learn to evaluate different tools and approaches for new projects, considering tradeoffs like speed, complexity, and long-term maintainability
• Test your own work thoroughly, with a focus on accuracy and edge cases, especially for data-sensitive workflows
• Iterate on proof-of-concept solutions based on real-world performance and feedback from business stakeholders
• Keep clear notes on how your solutions are built so others can understand, maintain, and extend them
• Support AI tool pilots and help create training materials that make it easier for non-technical users to adopt AI-enabled workflows

Basic Requirements

• Current graduate student in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, JavaScript)
• Basic understanding of APIs, webhooks, and how web services communicate
• Comfort working with AI tools in a development or productivity context
• Strong problem-solving skills and a willingness to learn new tools quickly

Preferred Requirements

• Experience with low-code or no-code automation platforms (e.g., Zapier, Make, Power Automate, Workato)
• Experience building and deploying applications on cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and development environments like VS Code

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 Flagship Pioneering’s good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.

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