Flagship Pioneering: AI Automation Engineering Co-Op

Location: Cambridge, MA USA Department: Co-Ops & Internships

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 learning 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