Your place, your space

Two colleagues, a man and a woman, sit at a table talking. The woman is smiling while listening to the man, whose back is to the camera. A portable white board with some colorful sticky notes on it is in the background.

Invest in people, not projects

People, not projects, are at our core. We make a lasting investment in our people, empowering them with the tools, training, and development to flourish and do meaningful work.

A scientist demonstrates a complex microscope covering a table-sized surface, to four colleagues, three men and a woman, who are leaning in to examine the multifarious components.

Learn continuously

Take a scientist’s approach to your work. Get curious and brave when solving problems – test, tweak, and iterate to find the best solution, even if that means a fail along the way.

A male employee shows off the tabletop Zen garden in his office. It is a long, shallow tray filled with white sand. Several stones and pieces of driftwood are set into the sand. He is reaching toward the camera, holding a small rock and smiling.

Be your authentic self

When you come to work, bring your uniqueness with you: in dress, experience, culture. What makes us strong is the diversity of our perspectives.

Six colleagues, four women and two men, sit and stand around a table in a conference room, holding papers and pens and typing on laptops while having a conversation. Science artwork hangs on the wall behind them.

Be mission-driven

We are led by scientists, not a CEO. We care about the long-term impact HHMI has on the world, not short-term problems or profits.

A cafeteria employee behind a steam table smiles as she hands a plate of food to a man who has a tray set with a drink and utensils.

Personalize your benefit options

We’re all about choice. Our options for medical insurance, retirement plans, and wellness programs set you up to make the best decisions for you and your family’s individual needs.

A naturally lit common area with large floor-to-ceiling windows is seen from a balcony above. People are mingling in small groups or sitting at round tables, while others are getting snacks at the coffee stand and kitchenette areas.

Work in beautiful spaces

At headquarters and Janelia, we provide space for collaboration and interaction beyond your office – sunlit rooms, artwork, beautiful grounds, gyms with classes, snacks, and, of course, smart people and innovative work all around.

Meet your colleagues

“Most of our grants and fellowship programs are designed to help those underrepresented groups in science as well as those that come from backgrounds that might prevent them from having access to the great resources HHMI provides. To me that’s a mission I can really get behind.”

Adrielle Darby
Program Assistant, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

“Individuals and teams are relaxed and healthy (even while they work hard) because of everyone’s competence and commitment to the mission. I’ve never worn a tie here in 8 years. Correction: I did once, realized my mistake, and had it off by lunch time.”

Andrew Burnett
Office Manager, Finance

“My job is to ensure that people who are doing the research have the things they need when they need them. I'm the jack-of-all-trades to make sure that everything comes together. HHMI's mission empowers scientists to be creative without fear of taking risks and gives people the freedom to go for it.”

Mallory Haggart
Lab Manager, UC Berkeley

“Working at HHMI/Janelia is such a privilege. What I enjoy the most about working at Janelia is that things get done quickly. An idea can be heard, the potential in it seen, it is approved and executed – the quick turnaround time is possible only at a place like Janelia.”

Ruchi Parekh
Connectome Annotation Team Manager, Janelia

“I love working with my scientist colleagues who are always thinking about the best ways to test and evaluate a new concept or campaign. I learn so much from them because we approach problem solving differently and bring complementary experiences to the challenges we face.”

Anna Irwin
Director, Educational Media Communications

“The best part of my job is really about the ability to do new and different things – the ability to explore and try things out, to make reasonable mistakes – and having the flexibility to work with many different stakeholders.”

Matthew Engeln
Senior Director, IT Services

“HHMI’s mission is to advance basic medical and biological science and tool development, with a focus on high-risk/high-reward work that other research institutes (government and industry) would be unlikely to pursue.”

John Bogovic
Bioinformatics Specialist, Janelia
Load More

Locations

HHMI Headquarters Campus
Chevy Chase, MD

HHMI headquarters houses administrative and operational teams that partner with our science and science education programs.

Janelia Research Campus
Ashburn, VA

Janelia Research Campus is our pioneering research center tackling some of science’s most challenging problems. It includes both research labs and operations teams.

Field Offices & Host Institutions
Nationwide

HHMI builds administrative, research, and technical teams in our field offices and in host institution laboratories throughout the United States.