Executive Director, Scientific Strategy and Operations

Overview

Executive Director, Scientific Strategy & Operations
The mission of the Allen Institute is to unlock the complexities of bioscience and advance our knowledge to improve human health. Using an open science, multi-scale, team-oriented approach, the Allen Institute focuses on accelerating foundational research, developing standards and models, and cultivating new ideas to make a broad, transformational impact on science.

The Allen Institute is launching a new moonshot initiative on human brain health and disease. This initiative aims to dramatically accelerate our understanding of human brain structure and function, identify the molecular, cellular and circuit basis of disease progression, and pioneer new therapeutic strategies targeting vulnerable and affected cell types. Our mission focuses on taking a human-centric approach to understanding and treating disease, combining a large-scale open science discovery approach across multiple diseases, AI-based disease modeling, and translational programs in specific diseases to move from discovery to clinical application.

We aim to make transformational change in understanding and treating brain disorders, the biggest health challenge of our time.

Executive Director, Scientific Operations
, helps to advance the mission of the initiative by driving short- and long-term strategic planning, leading the research and administrative operations, managing supporting functions, and practicing solid stewardship and governance to facilitate the Institute’s scientific discoveries and technological advancements. This position reports to the Initiative’s Executive Vice President, and will oversee a range of activities including budgetary, contracting, laboratory and core operations, regulatory compliance, administrative assistance and meeting planning.

This position will also manage relationships between the Initiative and shared resources and core facilities at the Institute and other science unit levels.

The Executive Director, Scientific Operations will be responsible for fiscal planning and oversight, overseeing new initiative core support functions, facilitating collaborations across science units within Allen Institute, partnering with Legal, Finance, Facilities, and People and Culture teams, and promoting education and outreach activities. They will partner with Program Management and Alliance Management to manage a complex multisite collaborative portfolio and ensure operational delivery on ambitious scientific goals.

The work will contribute to maximizing the Allen Institute’s impact to science and society by advancing knowledge and improving human health. The ideal candidate for the job will be visionary, highly motivated, team-oriented, agile, with excellent managerial and communication skills and a gift for creating operational excellence to balance growth and the long-term success of the Initiative’s major research endeavors.

At the Allen Institute, we believe that science is for everyone – and should be open to everyone. We are dedicated to combating biases and reducing barriers to STEM careers more broadly.

We also believe that science is better when it includes different perspectives and voices. We strive to make the Allen Institute a place where everyone feels like they belong and are empowered to do their best work in a supportive environment.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and strongly encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for our open positions.

• Partner with the Executive Vice President to establish, coordinate and maintain cross-functional alignment towards achieving short-, medium- and long-range goal
• Lead short- and long-term strategic planning and its implementation to align with long-term vision and mission
• Establish innovative operational systems that support initiative prioritization, are adaptable, scalable, and can be aligned to new partnerships requirements
• Evaluate new ideas, technologies, and partnerships with potential to expand impact, including translational and spinout opportunities
• Be responsible for annual planning, execution, and evaluation to ensure delivery on scientific goals from internal…