Founded in 1891, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is one of the world's oldest biomedical research institutions.

Today, the RKI is Germany's national public health institute. It employs more than 1,300 people, provides excellent research infrastructure and pursues a modern approach to its scientific work.

We are looking for a scientific director as head of the newly-established Centre for Artificial Intelligence - Public Health Research (ZKI-PH) at the Robert Koch Institute in Wildau near Ber-lin. The ZKI-PH aims to provide cutting-edge, evidence-based public health research and relies on state-of-the-art, data-based technologies in its work. It is Germany’s only and thus prime federal centre for AI-based public health research. As scientific director you will build the new centre in a future-oriented way, combine existing competencies in the field of digitalisation and interlink public health research with topics such as bioinformatics, computational epidemiology, modern data visualisation and big-data and systems analysis. The ZKI-PH will comprise various departments with 40 permanent scientific staff positions. With the expected acquisition of third-party funds, the centre is expected to have a staff of approximately 100 persons.

Tasks and responsibilities:

developing, managing, implementing and organising the prime high-level AI centre of national and international relevance, including operational and strategic planning
development and strategic support of progress in the field of public health research using data science at the RKI (e.g. machine learning, deep learning, image analysis, natural language processing, cognitive and mathematical modeling, visualisation, simulation)
executive management, including HR responsibility for an approximately 100-strong staff
recruitment, retention and support of highly qualified staff for the establishment of the new up-and-coming AI centre
steering and coordination of inter- and transdisciplinary public health research at the centre by developing, acquiring and implementing new research and development projects
planning and further development of research cooperation with strategic partners at national, European and global level
responsibility for strategic, institute-wide scientific networking and professional exchange and acquisition of relevant collaborations and competitive funding opportunities
capacity building, including the promotion of young researchers, especially doctoral students and early to mid-career researchers
responsibility for scientific quality assurance and a high-ranking publication strategy at the centre

Requirements and qualifications:

university degree (master's or university diploma) with a PhD or equivalent in a relevant technical or scientific subject with proven qualifications in the technical field
proven management and leadership experience in connection with complex inter- and transdisciplinary projects as well as additional research experience through publications and third-party funding, ideally acquired in the context of managing scientific departments and/or institutions
several years of proven research expertise in the STEM field, especially in the development of computer-aided procedures, data analysis or software solutions using big data and AI
experience in data-based public health or biomedical research
knowledge of the regulatory framework for health data use, including applicable cyberse-curity and data protection rules
proven experience in the strategy-led development and/or establishment of research units and/or institutions, including the acquisition of high-level third-party funding on national (e.g. DFG) or international level (e.g. ERC, Horizon 2020, NIH)
several years of experience on scientific or governmental committees as well as in collaboration with external research institutions
several years of experience in the training of young professionals
required language skills (CEFR level): English C1 at minimum (expert knowledge); knowledge of German is desired, but not a prerequisite
willingness to undergo an extended safety inspection in accordance with Section 9 of the Safety Inspection Act (SÜG)

Your decisions are clear and based on facts. You are flexible and adjust easily to new situations. You approach complex problems from various angles.
You make an effort to find solutions and to take steps which are suitable for the objectives and the parties involved. To accomplish goals, you use your strong influencing skills or strategic arguments. Starting out from objectives, you design workflows and activities and plan resources and concepts for their implementation. You create work processes that are conducive to teamwork.

Robert Koch-Institut