Hardware Technician

COMPANY DESCRIPTION Flagship Pioneering is a platform innovation company that invents and builds 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, sustainability and beyond exponentially accelerate scientific progress in areas ranging from disease detection and treatment and nature-positive agriculture to novel applications of AI that are driving the creation of new technologies. What sets Flagship apart is our ability to advance science and technology by uniting 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. THE ROLE We are seeking a hands-on Hardware Technician to join our small engineering team. This is a critical build and fabrication role supporting the design, assembly, and testing of advanced systems across both our aerial platform and ground-based hardware. You will work on precision mechanical and kinetic engineering challenges — from custom airframe structures and integration of high-performance subsystems to the development of specialized ground equipment and deployment infrastructure. This role demands someone who can move fluidly between detailed fabrication work (CNC machining, 3D printing, composite layup, wiring) and systems-level assembly, all while maintaining exacting standards in a fast-moving, prototype-heavy environment. You will be the technical backbone enabling our engineering team to iterate rapidly, test boldly, and translate concepts into field-ready hardware. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Assemble, wire, and test mechanical design structures and subsystems, including composite and foam structures; Fabricate and test custom mechanical components using CNC machining, 3D printing (FDM and SLA), hand tooling, and composite lay-up techniques, working from engineering drawings and CAD files (STEP, DXF, STL); Support R&D of mechanical and kinetic designs of custom fixtures, actuation mechanisms, and specialized equipment enclosures; Build and assemble wiring harnesses, power distribution systems, low-voltage subsystems, and electronic subassemblies; Troubleshoot mechanical failures and fabrication issues, making real-time decisions to resolve problems and maintain build schedules; Maintain shop equipment, manage parts inventory, and track component status to ensure smooth build workflows and on-time hardware availability; Inspect finished assemblies for quality, dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and compliance with engineering specifications using precision measurement tools (calipers, micrometers, gauges, CMM as needed); Collaborate with engineering leads to optimize designs for manufacturability, cost, and field reliability; provide feedback on feasibility and manufacturing constraints early in the design cycle; Document fabrication processes, maintain build logs, and capture lessons learned to establish repeatable manufacturing procedures and support scaling; Support field deployment preparation including equipment packing, pre-deployment validation tes