Chief of Staff to the Executive Director

The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI in Berlin is one of the world’s leading research institutes for photonics, video coding, mobile and optical communications and applied artificial intelligence. Our researchers have co-authored the video coding standards that run on billions of devices, have repeatedly set world records in optical data transmission, and are shaping 6G, quantum communication and trustworthy AI. We work with the world’s leading technology companies, with governments and with research partners on every continent. Running an institute of this kind is a strategic task in its own right. The Executive Director is therefore creating an Executive Office and is looking for a Chief of Staff to lead it. In this role you are the Director’s closest strategic and operational partner: a key integrator who brings together complex initiatives across the institute, and equally a strategic thought partner and a detail-oriented executor. You help shape the institute’s research agenda, keep its leadership processes running, orchestrate its international relations and its presence at the world’s leading exhibitions and conferences, and make sure that the Director and the department heads have the information and the opportunities they need to act. You work across all departments with the authority of the Director’s office and represent the Director where required. Why this role matters • Shaping the research agenda: Where a world-class institute invests its talent and resources is decided in strategy processes, portfolio reviews and position papers. You prepare and drive these processes and translate complex, multi-domain research into strategic priorities. • Managing a world-class institute: Around 500 staff and 500 students in eight research departments, together with a large international project portfolio, need aligned leadership. You turn the Director’s priorities into coordinated action and make sure decisions are followed through. • International relations: Our partners, standardization bodies, customers and competitors are global. You are the hub for the institute’s international relationships, delegations and the Director’s international agenda. • Visibility on the world stage: The institute’s presence at leading international exhibitions and conferences is where research results turn into partnerships and contracts. You orchestrate this presence and the communication behind it.