The Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut (KHI) is seeking a Head of the Library (m/f/d) for a permanent position with a preferred start date of November 1st 2027.
Application deadline: 30 September 2026.
We are looking for a committed, forward-thinking person with a PhD in art history or a neighboring discipline, with strong management and communication skills, a collaborative working style and substantial leadership experience, for a position requiring high levels of responsibility and creativity in an internationally outstanding research institute for art history.
As a member of the Institute's leadership team, the Head of the Library contributes to the strategic development of the Institute and its research infrastructure, playing a fundamental role in further strengthening and shaping the KHI Library as a place where research and service for outstanding scholarship interact. The position comprises the management of an open-shelf library (of approximately 350,000 volumes), collection development, acquisitions, cataloging, conservation,



and scholarly inquiry; it combines the strategic directing of the KHI Library and data services with day-to-day operational responsibility. The Head of the Library works closely with the Institute's researchers, with its departments and research groups, as well as the Photothek and Digital Humanities Lab, serving as a key point of connection between scholars, guest researchers, the Institute's various units, and long-term research projects.
Founded in 1897 and part of the Max Planck Society since 2002, the KHI understands itself as a laboratory of fundamental research in the histories of art, architecture and photography. Its scholarship is shaped by a transcultural perspective and encompasses a wide historical, methodological, and geographical range, in dialogue with other disciplines. At the KHI historical research is intertwined with a critical engagement in contemporary debates and challenges, including e

📌 Head of the Library (Italia)
🏢 Scienza / Ricerca / Sviluppo
📍 Italia