Director and President

An invitation to apply for the position of
Director and President

Monell Chemical Senses Center

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Monell Chemical Senses Center (Monell or the Center) is the world’s only independent, non-profit scientific institute dedicated to conducting interdisciplinary research on taste and smell and related senses. With the prevalence of Covid-19 and its impact on those senses, Monell’s mission—to improve human health and well-being by better understanding these senses—has never been more relevant, nor more urgent. The Center now seeks in its next Director and President (Director) a highly collaborative leader who will facilitate and guide great science while ensuring that the Center thrives for decades to come.

Monell scientists are at the forefront of discovery, exploring the science of the chemosenses from multiple perspectives. The Center’s work answers pressing questions about health, behavior, and the environment, unlocking some of the most fundamental mysteries of taste and smell such as: How do humans use chemical senses to communicate? What are the cellular underpinnings of taste and smell that contribute to the difference between lifelong health and chronic disease? How do chemical senses shape human nutrition? Monell’s discoveries of fundamental chemosensory science have paved the way for a healthier, safer world.

Research at Monell is truly interdisciplinary and highly collaborative. The Center’s exceptional scientists—biophysicists, sensory psychologists, chemists, behavioral neuroscientists, biologists, and geneticists—each contribute to groundbreaking discoveries. To support this research, Monell has extensive academic, corporate, and industry partnerships, all playing a role in potential technology transfer and commercialization. Monell expertly disseminates this knowledge through a variety of symposia and conferences, as well as by engaging the next generation of scientists beginning at secondary education through to postdoctoral education.

Reporting directly to the Board of Directors, the Director is responsible for advancing the mission of the Center through the further development and implementation of its strategic vision. The Director achieves these strategic objectives by ensuring equitable and strategic oversight and application of all its resources—faculty and staff; academic and industry collaborations; facilities and research cores; and philanthropic and other revenue—in alignment with Monell’s mission. To that end, the Director will spend significant time growing and diversifying revenues through broad development activities, including fundraising, and ensuring the retention of and successful recruitment of faculty. As both the internal and external face of Monell, the Director represents the Center to its constituents articulating its accomplishments and enhancing its reputation. In all of these efforts, the Director will be a collaborative and generous servant leader who lives values-first, emphasizing a collegial culture that encourages and supports diversity, inclusion, equity, mentorship, and teamwork across every dimension of Monell’s work.

Monell has engaged Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the search. All nominations and applications should be sent in confidence to Patricia Hastie and Randi Herrick through: https://www.imsearch.com/search-detail/S8-264

The Monell Chemical Senses Center shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.