Director, Carnegie Observatories

Description

Carnegie Science (http://carnegiescience.edu/) is soliciting nominations and applications for the position of Director of the Carnegie Science Observatories, located in Pasadena, California, with telescopes at Las Campanas, Chile.

 

Candidates should have a record of distinguished scientific achievement, a commitment to research excellence, and demonstrated leadership, management, administration, and fundraising skills. They will demonstrate exceptional interpersonal skills, clarity in oral and written expression, a dedication to creating a supportive culture and environment enabling all their employees, and a deep commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration. They will bring an ability to think strategically about the future of global science, and about the ways in which Carnegie Science can expand its role as an innovative leader of the scientific enterprise. The Director also must be a strong and persuasive communicator who will work with Carnegie Science’s leadership to further build organizational reputation and secure resources to advance our strategic priorities, now and in the years to come.

 

Reporting to the President, the Director will be responsible for all aspects of operations, including research oversight, personnel management, federal awards, fundraising, budgeting and financial management. 

 

The Director will also be responsible for enabling scientific events and progress in Pasadena, as well as for hiring and organizing the scientific and administrative staff.  Frequent travel to Chile will facilitate work with the Director of the Las Campanas Observatory to ensure effective oversight of the operations in Chile. 

 

The new Director will follow in a rich tradition of supporting scholarly inquiry and facilitating instrumentation development, and will take the lead in maintaining the Las Campanas Observatory as a forefront facility in experimental optical and infrared astronomy. In these endeavors, the Director will be joined by a vigorous community of staff scientists, engineers, postdoctoral fellows, and support personnel located both in Pasadena and in Chile. The Director will also work with donors, scientists, and the development team to raise philanthropic funds that are essential for future success. 

 

The Director will continue to place considerable emphasis on mentoring the vibrant group of postdoctoral fellows, the active partnerships with several universities, the summer internship program for undergraduate students, and the significant education and outreach programs in the local Pasadena community.

 

For more than a century the Observatories headquarters on Santa Barbara Street in Pasadena has been one of the preeminent US centers for ground based optical and infrared astronomy.  The headquarters facility houses scientific staff offices, engineering and electronic shop offices, machine shops, and instrumentation laboratories, as well as an auditorium, conference room, and library. The headquarters also hosts the Carnegie Theoretical Astrophysics Center and an immersive virtual reality studio Visualization Laboratory.

 

In Chile, Carnegie Science owns and operates the Las Campanas Observatory, which includes the 1.0-meter Swope and the 2.5-meter du Pont telescopes, and the twin 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes, built in collaboration with the Magellan Consortium (University of Arizona, Harvard University, University of Michigan, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology).  Carnegie is a full institutional member of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V and is a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope, a 24.5-meter telescope currently being built at Las Campanas by an international consortium. The Director will have the responsibility of maintaining strong institutional bonds between the participants in these joint ventures, as well as between the Observatories and the astronomers at Carnegie’s Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C. 

Qualifications

Applicants must have a Ph.D., or equivalent, in a field related to astronomy or astrophysics.

Application Instructions

Interested persons are encouraged to submit a letter of interest outlining their vision for the above mentioned activities and responsibilities, along with a C.V., by April 1, 2025. 

 

Any questions or suggestions of names for Director candidates can be sent to: obs-directorsearch@carnegiescience.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Carnegie Institution for Science has a long-standing commitment to equal employment opportunity for all employee