Director of Technology – Institut Pasteur, France

The Institut Pasteur is a global leader in scientific excellence, and drives its mission to tackle humanity’s most pressing health challenges. Founded in 1887 by Louis Pasteur, and led since January 2024 by Professor Yasmine Belkaid, the Institut Pasteur is home to over 3,000 members from more than 100 nationalities. From fundamental understanding of biological processes to pandemic preparedness, the Institut Pasteur is committed to protecting and improving human health on a global scale. As a private, non-profit foundation, the Institut Pasteur is dedicated to four core missions: research, public health, education, and innovation. As part of the international Pasteur Network, the Institut Pasteur fosters collaborations that enhance scientific excellence worldwide.

The Technology Department

The Technology Department (DT) aims to develop a cutting-edge technological environment to strengthen the scientific excellence of the Institut Pasteur. It provides access to exceptional shared resources, including a unique set of skills, facilities, key technologies and biological resources, and continuously invests in its development. The DT is organised into four centres:

• The Center for Technological Resources and Research (C2RT) is composed of 3 UTechS (Technology and Service Units) and 16 Technological Platforms. Fields as varied as omics; design and production of biomolecules and their structural analysis; imaging; cell sorting and phenotyping; phenotypic screening; microfluidics and 3D cell culture are covered.
• The Center for Animal Resources and Research (C2RA) allows animal experiments to be performed in the best ethical and regulatory conditions.
• The Center for Informatic Resources and Research (C2RI) offers support in computational biology, informatics and scientific computing, data analysis and management to Institut Pasteur’s research Units and platforms..
• The Biological Resource Centre (CRBIP) offers access to a large panel of biological resources and associated expertise.

These centers, as shared resources, aim to support all the research teams of the institute in a cost-effective manner and achieve higher usage and impact of cutting-edge technologies and tools requiring high-level expertise for their operation. They are also open to external users from national or international research organizations or private institutions.

Main Responsibilities of the Director of Technology are:

1. Develop and steer the Institut Pasteur’s technology strategy in line with its scientific priorities: identify emerging technologies and strategic opportunities (internal and external) to maintain international leadership, propose and coordinate large-scale structural projects (shared infrastructure, cross-disciplinary technology programmes, calls for projects).
2. Manage the C2RT: lead its strategic development and oversee the operations of all the centre’s platforms, by fostering interdisciplinary projects, ensuring quality in service delivery, and contributing to technology-driven initiatives across the Institut Pasteur.
3. Supervise the DT centres: ensure the consistency, performance and efficiency of operations within the various platforms, define harmonised policies in terms of governance, accessibility, training, quality and financial investments.
4. Manage and lead the platform managers: promote a culture of innovation, collaboration and scientific excellence, and encourage the professional development and skills enhancement of technical teams.
5. Support research: work closely with scientific departments to ensure that the DT’s development strategy is in line with the needs of the Institut Pasteur community, promote interdisciplinary collaboration and the sharing of equipment.
6. Suggest evolutions of the DT’s financial model, in close collaboration with the Department of Financial Affairs, in order to ensure effective management of technological investments: oversee the overall budget for technological infrastructure (operation, maintenance and human resources), identify and secure external funding (antional and international grants, public-private partnerships, services) and optimize the use of resources.
7. Assess the current organisation of the Technology Department and adapt it to the ambitions of the strategic plan.

The Technology Director reports directly to the Vice-President for Scientific Affairs. He/she is a member of the Executive Committee.

Required Profile

Education and experience

• Doctorate (PhD) in biology or a related discipline.
• Proven experience in strategic management of technological infrastructure in a cutting-edge academic or industrial environment.
• Expertise in several key technological fields.
• Successful leadership experience at the organisational or consortium level.

Technical and strategic skills

• Excellent understanding of technological trends and their scientific impacts.
• Ability to anticipate and guide strategic investments.
• Proficiency in standardisation, quality, regulatory and biosafety issues.

Cross-functional skills

• Visionary leadership, excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Ability to bring people together and build strong partnerships.
• Strong skills in managing multidisciplinary teams. Ability to bring people together, motivate them and develop their talents in a demanding scientific environment.
• Strong financial management and fundraising skills.
• Fluency in scientific English (written and spoken) is essential; fluency in French is an asset.

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

The Institut Pasteur is committed to building an inclusive research environment that fosters excellence through diversity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and identities, including those historically underrepresented in science. Career breaks (e.g. parental leave, caregiving, or health-related interruptions) will be fully taken into consideration during the evaluation process.

Starting date would be ideally Spring 2026.

Depending on the profile of the candidate, flexibility may apply.

Applications (CV + cover letter) should be sent to guillaume.frasca@pasteur.fr with the reference: 2025-16086 before January 7, 2026. Interviews will be conducted in February 2026.