Executive Director of the MIT Climate Grand Challenges
Executive Director of the MIT Climate Grand Challenges
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
The Executive Director of the MIT Climate Grand Challenges is a senior member of the Vice President for Research’s administrative leadership team and will support MIT’s mission by providing the expertise, leadership, and overall management of the Climate Grand Challenges, an Institute-wide initiative to deliver high-impact climate solutions for the world.
Launched in 2020, The Climate Grand Challenges (CGC) is mobilizing the MIT research community around some of the most difficult unsolved climate problems. Part of a suite of interlocking climate programs outlined in “Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade,” the CGC is designed to complement and enhance the work of existing MIT units in climate-related research. With this effort, MIT seeks to accelerate large, high-impact projects that offer ambitious, interdisciplinary solutions, including plans for rapid and large-scale implementation. To achieve the latter, CGC will develop new partnerships with companies, impact investors, social and technological entrepreneurs, governments, non-profits, and philanthropists.
In the winter of 2022, five Climate Grand Challenges flagship projects were selected after an MIT-wide process solicited more than 100 letters of interest from nearly 400 MIT faculty members and senior researchers throughout all five MIT schools and the college. These five projects, chosen from 27 teams of finalists who were invited to develop comprehensive white papers, will conduct their work with MIT support over the next five years, starting in July 2022.
The Executive Director plays a pivotal role in establishing this new initiative and ensuring the success of the five flagship projects, from initial project planning to translation and implementation for global impact. The Executive Director must possess a high degree of initiative, resourcefulness, and judgment. Success in the role requires demonstrated leadership and strategic thinking, the ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and exceptional commitment to serving the faculty. The Executive Director must possess effective project management skills, the ability to navigate a large organization, and the ability to foster an environment that promotes collaboration and teamwork to meet strategic and operational objectives.
MIT has retained Isaacson, Miller to assist in the search for Executive Director of the MIT Climate Grand Challenges. John Muckle is leading this search with Damla Williams. All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and resumes with cover letters should be sent electronically to the following via www.imsearch.com/8580
Isaacson, Miller
263 Summer Street, 7th Floor
Boston, MA 02210
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