Chalmers recruits new President, CEO

Employment profile new President, CEO, for Chalmers 

Chalmers University of Technology conducts research and education in engineering sciences, architecture, technology-related mathematical sciences, natural and nautical sciences, working in close collaboration with industry and society. The strategy for scientific excellence focuses on our six Areas of Advance; Energy, Health Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Materials Science, Production and Transport. The aim is to make an active contribution to a sustainable future using the basic sciences as a foundation and innovation and entrepreneurship as the central driving forces. Chalmers has around 11,000 students and 3,000 employees. New knowledge and improved technology have characterised Chalmers since its foundation in 1829, completely in accordance with the will of William Chalmers and his motto: Avancez!

The CEO and President is the head of authority and spokesperson and has the overall responsibility for Chalmers, for Chalmers University of Technology AB and all its activities. The President is also part of the Board of Chalmers University of Technology AB as well as a board member of Chalmers University of Technology Foundation.

Chalmers is seeking a person who is highly motivated to drive and develop the university and to further support ongoing change processes and business development. As our President you have visions that support Chalmer´s continuous focus on quality development in accordance to the long term goal and will strengthen the Chalmers brand internationally as well as nationally within research, in business, the public sector and in society. You see the possibilities working within a larger Group, dividing responsibilities between the foundation and the university in order to realize the strategy.

The President has a legitimacy as a leader in both academia and with its collaborative partners. With scientific and pedagogical skill, you have the experience to manage complex knowledge organizations. We appreciate that you have international experience and a broad national and international network.

Experience and qualifications
These points depict an ideal situation. Our evaluation will have a holistic approach and will be based on the candidate’s collected competence and personality.

Professional experience
Qualifications:
- very knowledgable of the conditions and workings of academia
- the ability to work with a board in a Group structure
- understand the potential and use Chalmers unique condition as a university owned by a foundation where the university´s actual work is carried out in a shareholding company
- professor in a scientific subject within Chalmers area of expertise
- experience of managing large complex organizations, preferably within the higher education and university sectors
- experience of driving diversity, inclusion and equality work
- have been responsible for recruitments on top levels to larger organizations
- experience from assignments outside academia
- international experience of working in academia
- an extensive national and international network and visibility at the international universities
- financially competent to manage an AB
- good knowledge and the ability to navigate within the Swedish scientific finance system
- documented good leadership skills

Personal qualities
We value a combination of the following personal qualities:
- have good scientific and pedagogical skills
- strong ability to act on a decision after indepth analysis
- cooperative skills within and outside of the Group
- be perceptive and responsive with great integrity, coupled with the ability to anchor decisions and to engage the rest of the organization
- wanting to drive change of academia and to find the balance between innovation and tradition
- to have a passion for and the ability to communicate in speech and in writing emphatically express why a modern and eminent technical university is important to Sweden
- master English and be able to communicate in a Scandinavian language, alternatively, be highly motivated to learn and use the Swedish language unhindered
- to take a financial responsibility (P/L) and act business oriented
- have great work capacity and the ability to manage pressured work situations
- build networks within and outside of Chalmers
- have the ability to delegate, distribute and demand responsibility
- be involved in the work for diversity, inclusion and equality
- share Chalmers values in ethical issues

Expectations:
As President/CEO you shall:
- drive Chalmers vision, mission, goals and strategies according to the decisions that are made in the University´s and Foundations boards
- have a strong focus on developing quality in all of Chalmer´s different enterprises
- drive Chalmer´s work on diversity, inclusion and equality forward
- realize that autonomy is important in academia and have the ability to recognize what a group structure can offer
- drive the continuous internationalization of Chalmers and the development of the Chalmer´s brand.
- have the ability to attract new talent and at the same time offer the best opportunities for employees and students already at Chalmers.
- build on Chalmers relationships to business, organizations, government authorities and ministries
- embrace the existing as well as develop Chalmers organizational culture

Terms of Employment
The appointment as President and CEO is limited to six years. It can thereafter be extended for at the most two periods of three years each.

Applications and Nominations
During the 14th of November until the 7th of December, you are welcome to send your application or your nomination to consultants at Michaël Berglund AB:
Ewa Olszewski, 0733-688 477, ewa.olszewski@michaelberglund.se or
Jacob Severin, 073- 777 68 05, jacob.severin@michaelberglund.se 
Your application should consist of your personal letter and CV.

Decision
The board of Directors for Chalmers University of Technology AB appoints the President and CEO of Chalmers.

The Chalmers Group´s long term goal
Our strategic goal over the next 20 years is to become a world class technical university where Chalmers will reach 1) an academic level of quality by European top standards and 2) a highly efficient utilization to reach societies needs on different time frames.

Conditions for and expectations of a new leader
The difficult challenges our planet is facing, demands new, bold and long-term answers. In all academic activities there are strong driving forces for knowledge development and change. To be able to take care of these driving forces among all employees, students and business partners is completely crucial for the new President to succeed in her or his assignment. Chalmers works in an international context where knowledge moves rapidly, influencing people all over the world. Globalization, the financial situation, quality demands and expectations from students, business and society challenge us, which means that you have to be able to continuously raise the level of ambition, adapt and to develop a successful university in relation to the possibilities that arise.

Chalmers new strategic focus responds to these challenges and as our President you will play an important part in reaching the set goals. There are high expectations from both the Foundation´s as well as the University´s board as well as from employees and students that you will drive the vision and develop the overall strategies in order to move Chalmers position forward. In order to do so, it will demand courage and an ability to identify creative solutions where Chalmer´s will use the freedom and division of responsibility of being a Foundation in order to make a forceful development of our assignments within education, research and usefulness.

Academic culture, merit and recruitment are all areas important to work with in this assignment and as our President you will lead and motivate the organization in the right direction within these areas. An important part is to work for increased diversity and inclusion on all levels, that is amongst students, teachers and the entire organization. Chalmers has identified increased equality as a necessity in order to reach continued scientific success and as our president you need to show endurance and be engaged and have experience in this matter in order to reach results. Chalmers has initiated investments in the area through Genie (Gender Initiative for Excellence).

Our current President will serve as Chair of the Board for Chalmers University of Technology AB and also be responsible for some identified fundraising activities. This will ease the workload for the new President.

Chalmers vision
Chalmers– a global and eminent technical university for a better world
Technical progress during the last two hundred years has contributed to a more equal and improved life for humanity. But, the same technical development has also caused the very serious situation our planet is currently facing. It is high time to focus on the changes that need to happen and deliver research and education to contribute with great impact to a sustainable change.

The historically difficult challenges for our planet demands new, bold and long term answers. In order to solve this monumental task, a great responsibility rests on highly qualitative autonomous universities that offers academic freedom. Chalmers has therefore the outspoken ambition to act forcefully in order to strengthen the freedom to act and develop into a world class technical university. Our education and research shall reach the highest international level at the same time that it will serve both humanity and the environment and thus contribute to a better world.

This ambitious development is made possible by using our exceptional position as a foundation university in a Group. Conditions that create great freedom, both regards to our organizational structure and finance foundation. But above all offer a scope for free research, creativity and through that, the highest scientific quality. A privilege that obligates and that we want to nurture by being one of the foremost technical universities in the world by the year 2041.
This is important for Sweden´s continued role as a competitive knowledge- and innovationoriented country. But even more important to the world. This is how we can continue to show that a university is founded on the freedom of thought, cooperation and democracy. The road ahead toward a better world is more important today than ever before. And we are ready.

Chalmers goals for 2041
• Establish Chalmers as one of Europes´s principal technical universities where our teachers and scientists regularly are noted for their high quality and level of ambition nationally as well as internationally and that the research keeps the highest international level.
• Chalmers has developed its culture to build leadership, employeeship and values as well as a support and environment that support and stimulates the development of academic activity.
• Increase quality as well as effectiveness in education through innovative and relevant content and formats, addressing current and future challenges in society.
• Increase impact, effectiveness and the speed of usefulness and implementing research results which will hasten the conversion to a sustainable society. Increased international attention for our way to develop entrepreneurial ability.

Chalmer´s strategy
In order to reach our goals we will foccus on developing and implementing:
• A recruitment-and employee development strategy which will ascertain that Chalmers can attract and develop an increasing number of world leading faculty members and that Chalmers can offer a developing and competence enhancing career for all employees which will enable science of the highest quality
• An educational strategy which will ascertain that all Chalmers students will be offered an education of highest quality, that with its content, format and goals is attractive to students, educators, and future employers alike as well as resource efficient to Chalmers.
• A support organization of the highest class, with an involved and responsible leader and employeeship that inspires to and drives quality. This support shall enable teachers, scientists and other employees to focus on their core assignments in a culture building teams in successful environments.
• A robust funding strategy which will enable increased base funding and increased latitude. The strategy describes the road towards greater latitude through a combination of fundraising, growth of foundation capital and a developed commercial and an efficient political influence in order to increase the state founded base foundation for research.
• A strategy to contribute to a sustainable change of society, defining how the foundation and the university can support the above initiatives actions and overall vision.