As seen in the 20 January issue of Science:

Stanford University invites nominations and applications for the position of Director of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. SLAC, one of the world's leading research laboratories, is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science multi-program national laboratory. Established in 1962 at Stanford University in Menlo Park, California, 34 miles south of San Francisco, the laboratory's mission is to explore the ultimate structure of matter and the properties of energy, space and time - at the smallest and largest scales, in the fastest processes and at the highest energies - through robust scientific programs, excellent accelerator-based user facilities and valuable partnerships. The Director of the Laboratory reports to the President and Provost of Stanford University. The Director is responsible to the President of the University for the effective, responsible and safe operation of the laboratory in support of the mission of the Department of Energy. The Director reports to the Provost for all academic matters involving SLAC and its faculty.

The Director leads the development and implementation of the Laboratory's scientific vision, goals and objectives. The position serves as the lab's highest-level liaison with the DOE and other government, public and private organizations. The Director exercises overall leadership and administration of the Laboratory's programs and operations. The Laboratory maintains an outstanding and growing workforce of approximately 1,600 highly trained and award-winning faculty, scientists, engineers, computer scientists and other professionals, with an annual operating budget of approximately $400 million. Six scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for work carried out at SLAC and the future of the laboratory promises to be just as extraordinary. The scientific environment is enriched by over 3,000 visiting scientists annually from universities, laboratories and industrial concerns from the U.S. and foreign countries.

Major existing facilities include the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world's most powerful X-ray free electron laser. LCLS creates unique light that can see details to the size of atoms and processes that occur on the femtosecond time scale. Initial LCLS results have met with such success that expansion plans for LCLS-II are already underway. Other facilities include the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource based on the 3 GeV SPEAR3 ring; the Instrument Science Operations Center for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope; the Photon Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering laboratory (PULSE); FACET, a high-energy beam test facility for accelerator, radiation and material science; and the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC). SLAC will lead the development of the camera for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and is an important component of the EXO program to develop increasingly sensitive double-beta decay experiments to elucidate the nature of neutrinos. The Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Research (SIMES) is a multi-disciplinary joint institute of SLAC Photon Science and Stanford University. The SUNCAT (SUstainable eNergy through CATalysis) Center for Interface Science and Catalysis is a partnership between SLAC and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. SLAC maintains a world-leading accelerator research program to ensure that the accelerator-based scientific programs remain at the forefront of the field. The laboratory also has the staff and facilities to advance the state of the art in particle theory, particle detector electronics, microwave power generation and control and scientific comutation. In addition, SLAC is in the midst of infrastructure renewal, including major building projects that will transform SLAC into an even more robust laboratory.

Candidates should be recognized scientific leaders with vision, commitment to excellence in research, proven management skills and the interpersonal skills to work effectively with all SLAC constituencies. In addition, candidates should demonstrate the following:

• Stong credentials in scientific research and research management
  
• Direct experience in developing, constructing and operating major research facilities
  
• Political acumen and competency in organizational dynamics
  
• A record of obtaining funding as well as knowledge of how funding decisions are made on the agency - particularly DOE - and Congressional level
  
• Strategic thinking and execution skills
  
• Excellent communications skills
  
• Proficiency in lab operations and community relations

Please submit applications by February 29, 2012 to Director_search@slac.stanford.edu in PDF format OR hardcopy to US Postal address: