💼 Program Director | Deadline: 19 September

[Population Europe]

The POPJUS program is one of six IIASA research programs, together with the Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA), Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE), Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR), Economic Frontiers (EF), and Strategic Initiatives (SI) programs. POPJUS has a research agenda that seeks to produce empirical knowledge relevant for transformations towards sustainable, resilient, equitable and just societies, explore people-centric systems solutions for global challenges, and explicitly integrate the concept of equity and justice into the empirical identification of inequality of opportunity, process, and distribution. The program focuses on strengthening the human-centered and population-based approach, taking into consideration equity and the just distribution of opportunities, outcomes, and processes. In doing so, the program builds on existing strengths and expertise in population and human capital modeling as well as expertise in understanding, managing, and equitably governing systemic and existential risks associated with global change.

The program delivers its research objectives through the following four well defined research groups: Equity and Justice (EQU), Multidimensional Demographic Modeling (MDM), Migration and Sustainable Development (MIG), and Social Cohesion, Health, and Wellbeing (SHAW).   

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The successful applicant will work closely with the IIASA Executive and other program directors to develop further the vision for the POPJUS program, broadening the current research portfolio to support institute-wide cross-cutting research activities.

IIASA Program Directors are expected to provide research vision, innovation, leadership and strategic positioning for their individual programs. Main responsibilities will include: 

• Guiding and developing a diverse and multidisciplinary team of researchers from within and outside of IIASA, and recruiting additional researchers as funding permits, to conduct scientific research at the highest level
• Coordinating allocation of the internal budget and external contracts for the program and attracting external research funding
• Contributing to the science-policy discourse, as well as participating in scientific assessment and advisory panels
• Developing international and in-house cooperation and networks on population and just societies research as it relates to IIASA research topics and programs
• Contributing to the coordination of capacity development and training activities at the institute
• Ensuring continued engagement of the 23 member countries through design of relevant projects/activities and developing initiatives to attract NMOs and donors through scientific excellence and innovative, trend-setting research
• Representing IIASA and interacting with institutions and research partners as well as governmental and funding bodies in member countries and other international organizations within the IIASA network
• Ensuring effective collaborations within their own program and across other IIASA programs/research groups
• Entrenching IIASA research principles into their programs, while ensuring that program objectives are met and are aligned with the IIASA Strategy and institute values.

Skills and Requirements

Scientific excellence, visionary thinking, and management skills in interdisciplinary research and policy applications within an international setting are prerequisites for this position.

In particular, candidates should

• Have extensive experience (preferably at least 20 years) in an international and multicultural research or academic environment, inclusive of PhD training, combined with a background in interdisciplinary research, preferably related to demographic research in the contexts of human well-being, equity and global change
• Be leading their research area/field internationally and have strong international reputation and recognition
• Be cognizant of research opportunities in their field and recognize opportunities for path-breaking solutions to research problems
• Have credible science and team management experience combined with at least five years’ experience in a research leadership position
• Lead the execution of collaborative research projects and be able to create a nurturing and creative environment in which to lead and inspire a team of researchers from different disciplines
• Have a strong publication and citation profile as lead author in prominent, peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as experience in policy-related analyses
• Have significant demonstrated experience and a proven track record in attracting international research funding
• Have strong networking skills and experience interacting with global, international, and national institutions as well as policy and decision makers
• Be familiar with systems analysis, in particular soft systems approaches
• Have excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal skills including full fluency in the English language

The successful candidate must be able to work in, and have respect for, an intercultural environment, and IIASA core values.

Appointment Terms

IIASA is offering an initial appointment term of five years as program director to the successful candidate. This may be renewable for a further term of five years subject to an evaluation by the IIASA Executive. 

At the end of the first term as a program director, the successful applicant can opt to join the science track at IIASA.

This appointment will be offered on a full-time basis only.

Duties will be carried out at the IIASA premises in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria. 

It is foreseen that the selected candidate will take up the position by January 1, 2022 (or as soon as possible thereafter). 

Their Offer

The successful candidate will be appointed in accordance with the IIASA profiles for research careers as a Senior Research Scholar (R3) with a minimum salary of EURO 58,000.00 per annum or as a Principal Research Scholar (R4) with a minimum salary of EURO 77,000.00 per annum.

The advertised minimum salary is:

• Exempt from income tax in Austria 
• Negotiable, based on the qualifications, skills and experience of the selected individual
• Subject to deductions for health insurance and/or social security
• Not directly comparable with other employers in Austria, due to the unique legal status and privileges granted to IIASA
• Subject to the principle of income aggregation (Progressionsvorbehalt in German).

More information here.