At Flatiron Health, our commitment to fostering a culture of growth and development is deeply ingrained in our DNA. Our changemakers embody our core value “learn, teach, grow” through their spirit of relentless curiosity and knowledge-sharing. We don’t gatekeep—this series serves as a collection of diverse learnings, contributions, and perspectives from our changemakers. Ranging from personal development stories to first-time manager tips & tricks to impactful projects, this series showcases our commitment to continuous improvement with one another and within our broader community.
Welcome to Flatiron Health’s Life Sciences Hub in Durham! At Flatiron, we recognize that office culture and environment are influential decision points for your next career move. In this blog, you’ll learn what makes the Life Sciences Hub a great place to grow. With a blend of convenience and hybrid-encouraged collaboration to support work-life balance, Flatiron in the Tar Heel State is where you’ll want to be.
The Hub
Let’s start with the basics. Our Life Sciences Hub is located in the City Center District of Durham. Flatiron occupies a dedicated wing on one floor of the co-working space, American Underground. Commuting is easy by car or bus, with multiple nearby parking options that offer hourly rates or monthly parking permits, and public transportation like GoTriangle, which has several major bus lines, just steps away from the office.
Our office space offers a comfortable environment with natural light, maintaining Durham’s old city feel with accent walls that bring in pops of color. Updated furnishings and work areas are conducive to a variety of work styles—whether you’re looking for a quiet space for dedicated focus time or a common area for collaborating in-person with colleagues. Multiple whiteboards are available to sketch out ideas and take a break from your computer screen.
Each desk in our four larger workrooms has an office chair, monitor, keyboard, and mouse that easily connects to your device. For meetings, use one of the three (soundproof!) conference rooms with built in video conferencing, or an individual phone booth with a full desk setup. To serve your personal needs, gender neutral restrooms, a filtered water bottle fountain, kitchen area with refrigerator and microwave, free coffee brewed daily, and private lactation rooms are available.
There are over a dozen restaurants within a short walk of the hub where employees like to grab lunch, dinner, and afternoon snacks, including The Parlour, which offers delicious handmade ice cream.
Flatiron wants you to feel comfortable and set up for success. I genuinely enjoy coming into this hub and know it will only get better as our Durham community continues to grow.
The Interview Process
As you interview at Flatiron, don’t be alarmed that your interview sessions will likely be virtual. Flatiron is global, so your hiring manager and interview team may not be located in North Carolina. Even if they are, we encourage our teams to lean into our flexible work philosophy to create a healthy work-life balance that works. It’s not uncommon, nor judged, to switch “typical” office hours to make work actually work for you.
The interview process is modeled to mimic your future work and collaborative interactions. While the hiring team assesses your skillset, don’t hesitate to ask questions; interviewers will encourage you to ask as many questions as needed, and are eager to help answer them. Be sure to ask about office expectations and how you’ll be expected to connect with your manager and team if they aren’t based in North Carolina.
If your remote interviewers or future team members aren’t sure how to answer your office-related questions, feel free to ask your recruiter or request to speak with someone from the Life Sciences Hub. While you may not sit on the same team, you’ll hear valuable tips and insights from someone with firsthand experience, not to mention a familiar face on your first day.
As much as you are interviewing the people, if you’re considering relocation, interview the area! Plan a weekend getaway to experience North Carolina first hand.
Culture & Community
The Life Sciences Hub is where we blend our company value of Be Kind with Southern Hospitality. Many in the office are new to Flatiron themselves, understand the steep learning curve that comes with a new role, and are eager to help you settle in. In addition to new in-office colleagues, you will meet a handful of more tenured Flatiron experts who can provide context on how Flatiron got to where we are today. This knowledge will help you deepen your understanding of why we do what we do, and where we’re going in the future.
You’ll share the office with a diverse spread of Flatiron teams: Clinical Research, Real-World Evidence, Research Sciences, Machine Learning, Customer Experience, Compliance & Privacy, and many more. You will interact with most everyone around you, either driven by your work or genuine curiosity. These brilliant colleagues bring diverse backgrounds and valuable experiences to the table, and are excited to share more about their work with you. In these conversations, don’t act surprised if they ask to learn about you, as well!
The office is open every day of the week, with Tuesday through Thursday typically being the more popular days, and you’ll see some natural variation based on colleagues’ needs to balance work and their well-being. Be sure to take advantage of the energy in the office during monthly Connection Days! Engaging with colleagues in the office is truly enriching–these interactions provide valuable business insights and deepen relationships within the office community. An appealing part of joining the Life Sciences Hub, specifically, is that it’s still evolving, allowing you to add your own unique touches to the office culture, which is encouraged!
Life in the Triangle
One of the best features of Triangle living is the opportunity to enjoy a city lifestyle and take advantage of open space when needed. Central North Carolina consistently has multiple cities and towns ranked highly in many best places to live lists. These great areas spread the population out and keep traffic flowing, and virtually non-existent when compared to other major US cities.
Wonder why we call this the “Life Sciences Hub?” The Research Triangle has representation from nearly all of the major pharmaceutical researchers (especially in oncology), and multiple large academic research centers. Living here, you’ll be presented with some of the most accessible quality healthcare options in the country.
The Triangle area has activities for everyone, and that list continues to grow with the population. There is so much more I haven’t covered, so I encourage you to visit for yourself to find out!
Offer Accepted–Now What?
If you’re a candidate who recently accepted an offer–congratulations! At this point, you’re probably excited to get into the office, meet your new colleagues, and dive into the work. We’re excited, too!
Day one as an employee will be a virtual orientation from home on a Wednesday. Pro tip: on your first day, submit a request to gain access to the office, this way your fob is ready as soon as possible. The next four to six weeks will be guided by new hire overview sessions and role specific onboarding plans. Among the many resources you’ll be introduced to, our Durham Office Slack channel is a great tool to get to know our in-office colleagues. Introduce yourself and plan to meet up with someone in the office to pick up your fob! These first weeks will help you build a strong foundation to understand the ins-and-outs of Flatiron.
Once your onboarding curriculum is complete, take your time getting to know the various teams people sit on and what they’re working on. You’ll quickly notice how happy everyone at Flatiron is that you’re here. They’ll want to get to know you and help you understand the business. These one-on-one interactions are a great way to build your Flatiron network and connections. To accelerate and deepen your learning even further, attend regular company-wide Everyone@ meetings in the common space to learn about global updates, socialize with colleagues, and be inspired by the work we do to improve and extend lives by learning from the experience of every person with cancer.
Regardless of whether you’ve recently accepted an offer or are in the early stages of the interview process, your Flatiron journey is just beginning! Your future interviewers and teammates, no matter their location, are sure to bring kindness, knowledge, and collaboration at every step. We are confident that the Flatiron Health Life Sciences Hub in North Carolina offers everything you need to be successful and to quickly feel at home. Best of luck as you navigate the early or final stages of your candidacy, or prepare for your first day with us in our newest space—we can’t wait to welcome you!
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