Distinguished Scientist to fill position of Director position

Director of CNAF, the National Center of INFN for Research and Development into the field of Information Technologies applied to High-Energy physics experiments – Bologna, Italy

INFN seeks a distinguished scientist to fill the position of Director of the National Center of INFN for Research and Development into the field of Information Technologies applied to High-Energy physics experiments (CNAF).

The appointment is intended for four years (with the possibility for a renewal) and its starting date will be the 15th of July 2025.

CNAF (www.cnaf.infn.it) operates the main INFN computing center whose mission is to function as a regional Tier1 center for all the LHC experiments and as the primary provider of computing and data management services for many other INFN research groups and collaborations. CNAF is heavily involved in the management and development of the Worldwide LHC Computing GRID (WLCG) distributed computing infrastructure and participates in several national and international R&D projects. CNAF also manages a variety of key services used by the entire INFN research community, including the INFN Information System, the central INFN network services, the centralized software contract and distributed licensing service and a growing set of national collaboration and communication tools.

CNAF has recently launched a profound upgrade and modernization program of its facilities, including the relocation of the data center to a new site, in view of the challenges that next generation experiments, primarily those of HL-LHC at CERN, pose. The director will be called upon to manage this important phase which will allow CNAF to strengthen its leading position in the field of Italian and European scientific computing.

The successful candidate is expected to hold an outstanding experience in scientific computing, recognized leadership talent and demonstrated project management skills. Priority will be given to candidates with specific knowledge regarding the activities carried out at CNAF. Good knowledge of the Italian language is required.

In order to be considered for the job, the Italian candidates currently working in Italy should cover one of the following positions:

• “Dirigente di Ricerca” or “Dirigente Tecnologo” at INFN or other Italian research institutions;
• Full Professor (“Professore Ordinario”) at an Italian University.

Foreign candidates or Italian candidates currently living abroad should have a clear record of scientific or technological research activities in the fields of interest of INFN and hold at least one of the following qualifications:

• Full Professor at a foreign University;
• experience from high responsibility positions in qualified foreign or international research institutions;
• highest scientific awards internationally recognised.

Applications should be written in English and include a covering letter, a full CV, a list of publications, a short (no longer than 1 page) “statement of research interests”, the names of at least two referees to be contacted, if needed, and shall be submitted (merged to a single .pdf file) by clicking on the “Apply now” green button.

Closing date for receipt of applications is the 14th of February 2025.

For queries about the application, please contact Giovanni Dionisio (gianni.dionisio@presid.infn.it).