The Chair of the Department of Pediatrics serves as the department’s academic and administrative leader and holds the concurrent title of Pediatrician-in-Chief for Yale New Haven Children's Hospital (YNHCH) and Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS). Reporting to the Dean of Yale School of Medicine (YSM), the Chair works in close partnership with the President of YNHCH, Yale Medicine leadership, and senior health system executives to advance the department’s missions in clinical care, research, education, and advocacy, aligned with the strategic priorities of the School of Medicine and the health system.
As steward of a large and operationally complex enterprise, the Chair leads a department encompassing high-acuity inpatient services, a full range of pediatric subspecialties, and a growing regional ambulatory network. The Chair is responsible for strengthening clinical integration across YNHCH and affiliated YNHHS hospitals; supporting access, quality, and safety; and ensuring effective coordination across a distributed clinical footprint.
The Chair is also responsible for sustaining a vibrant academic environment. This includes advancing the department’s research enterprise; supporting early-career investigators and the physician-scientist pipeline; fostering collaborative, multidisciplinary science; and strengthening partnerships with Yale’s basic science departments and research institutes. The Chair oversees the effective development and stewardship of research infrastructure and shared resources that support scientific excellence.
In education, the Chair oversees a strong residency program and a broad portfolio of fellowship programs central to the department’s academic mission and national reputation. The Chair supports excellence and innovation in training, promotes faculty development across educational and scholarly tracks, and fosters a departmental culture grounded in mentorship, equity, accountability, and engagement.
As a senior institutional leader, the Chair represents Pediatrics across YSM and YNHHS and externally to academic, philanthropic, and community partners. The role includes faculty recruitment and retention, philanthropic engagement, and the articulation of a clear and compelling vision that aligns departmental priorities with institutional goals.
The next Chair of Pediatrics at Yale will join the department at a moment of real momentum, alongside a set of structural and strategic challenges that will shape the next decade. Rising clinical demand, a strengthening research enterprise, and new investments in infrastructure create significant opportunity, while capacity constraints, and system complexity require focused, experienced leadership. Key opportunities and challenges include:
The successful candidate will be an accomplished academic pediatric leader with the vision, judgment, and relational skill to guide a large, multifaceted department through its next phase of growth and impact. Candidates must hold an MD or equivalent degree, be board-certified in a pediatric specialty, and be eligible for appointment at the rank of professor at YSM. Key qualifications include:
Yale School of Medicine has retained Isaacson, Miller to assist with this important recruitment. To be considered, those interested must apply through the Yale University’s Academic Recruitment job board, which uses Interfolio to accept applications: https://apply.interfolio.com/178500 Applicants must upload a CV, including a letter of interest that highlights the applicant’s relevant leadership experience. Review of complete applications will continue until the top candidate(s) have been identified.
Applications must be submitted through Int erfolio for consideration, but inquiries, nominations, and referrals may be submitted electronically in confidence, to: https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/yale-school-medicine/chair-department-pediatrics
The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives.
Additionally, in accordance with this Policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex; sexual orientation; gender identity or expression; pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions; race; color; national or ethnic origin; religion; age; disability; protected veteran status, or other protected classes as set forth in federal and Connecticut law.
Professional Conduct Review for New Faculty Hires
The final candidate, upon acceptance of a contingent offer of employment/faculty appointment, may be required to disclose whether they are, or have been, the subject of any disciplinary proceeding (investigation, hearing, etc.) at previous institutions or employers, and may also be subject to a background screening. Candidates who materially misrepresent information on their resume or other application materials are ineligible for hire/appointment. Final candidates may also be required to sign a release to allow Yale to solicit information regarding any substantiated conduct violations from current and/or past employers.
