Director of the National Laboratory for Intense Magnetic Fields

Your job

The Unit Director leads the LNCMI in all scientific, technical, budgetary, financial, human, forward-looking and day-to-day management aspects required to achieve the unit's project and/or objectives.

Within this framework, he/she organizes and drives the unit's scientific and technological trajectory.

Your responsabilities

Your main responsibilities are as follows:

• Represent the installation in all its aspects vis-à-vis its stakeholders in the European and international scientific context;
• Coordinate the activities of the management team;
• Participate in the EMFL board of directors, then chair this board when it is his turn.
• Define the medium and long term strategy for the development of the laboratory and manage its implementation, in agreement with the council and in coordination with the laboratory staff, its laboratory and scientific councils and the community of users;
• Act proactively to attract funds and develop opportunities for the laboratory;
• Optimize the laboratory's organizational structures and processes;
• Be responsible for the implementation of the LNCMI users program, of the operation of the facility, of the development of its scientific and technical programs, and of the implementation of the annual budget;
• Ensure the safety, excellence, efficiency, reliability and proper functioning of the installation;
• Manage and act as an example for staff, and cooperate confidently with staff representatives;
• Promote internally the development of diversity and equal opportunity policies;
• Promote ethics, integrity and sustainable development;
• Be responsible for communicating with the public regarding scientific and technical matters involving LNCMI, and for internal communication of information to staff.

The LNCMI

The National Laboratory for Intense Magnetic Fields (LNCMI) is the French national center for intense magnetic fields, located on two very dynamic French sites, one in Grenoble on the CNRS campus, which also brings together the ILL, the ESRF and EMBL, and the other in Toulouse, on the site of the University of Toulouse 3, near the INSA of Toulouse.

Based on a 30 MW power supply and a cold source (the Drac River), the Grenoble site is a world-class installation offering 6 magnet sites of up to 37 T in continuous field, and soon 43 T with a hybrid magnet. Based on a set of 28 MJ capacitors, the Toulouse site offers pulsed magnetic fields of up to 200 T.

The LNCMI is a research infrastructure and a multidisciplinary research laboratory, whose missions consist on the one hand of carrying out cutting-edge research programs using intense magnetic fields and on the other hand of developing instrumentation and data management strategies in order to maintain the experiments carried out to the highest international standards. Recent major renovations of the two sites are now almost complete. The LNCMI enables scientists and engineers to undertake highly innovative research across a wide range of themes, particularly to address research challenges in the fields of energy, environment and health. The LNCMI is also a world-class tool for academic research and industrial applications; it is currently used by more than 1000 French and foreign researchers working in a wide range of disciplines, including biology, chemistry and mainly physics.

The LNCMI is a “unité propre” of the CNRS Institute of Physics, without legal personality. managed by a council, a strategic and scientific steering body, to which representatives of partner universities are invited (Grenoble-Alpes, Toulouse 3 and INSA of Toulouse). It is also a Research Infrastructure (RI) listed on the roadmap of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research

The LNCMI is part of EMFL (European Magnetic Field Laboratory), an association under Belgian law which coordinates the activities of the three European centers (with those of Dresden and Nijmegen) and which is recognized as a “Landmark” on the ESFRI list of major European research infrastructures. The director of the LNCMI co-manages the EMFL in a board of directors which is chaired alternately for two years by one of the three directors (the LNCMI ends its two-year presidency at the end of 2024 and should therefore resume it in 2029 for two years).

The LNCMI management team is currently made up of the unit director, two deputy directors as well as a scientific director from the Toulouse site. This team benefits from the support of two administrative teams (one per site).

Your profil

Candidates are expected to have:

• Records of distinguished performance and leadership in scientific research with a strong background in magnetic field science;
• Experience at senior level in laboratory management and/or large scientific projects, with the ability to evaluate, support and enhance the activity of teams, while supporting change.
• Understanding of the principles and of the legal framework of governance of a CNRS laboratory.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work in a complex, multidisciplinary environment, on two sites and internationally;
• Excellent communication skills with institutional stakeholders, the scientific community and the general public;
• Cooperative leadership style and the ability to inspire and engage staff, to assess and value team activity, and to support change

The working languages of the LNCMI being French and English, mastery of these two languages is considered a major asset. Availability to travel between Toulouse and Grenoble several times a month will also be a strong point for candidates.