Dorothy Jones-Davis is a scientific project manager at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she helps companies, non-profit organizations and other institutions to collaborate on projects to understand Alzheimer's disease.

Credit: Dorothy Jones-Davis

Why did you decide to leave academia?

After completing my PhD, I moved on to a postdoc and was considering faculty positions because that's what I was surrounded with. What changed my path was that most of the work I found myself doing was considered to be service work — teaching, mentoring, school governance.

Why does service work interest you?

I seek to connect. I worked to increase diversity in science by exposing kids to science who had not experienced it firsthand. While at the University of California, San Francisco, I sat on high-level committees concerned with diversity in academia, child care and the on-campus culture. I was then awarded a policy fellowship with the aim of broadening participation in engineering. I discovered that I loved influencing the direction of science as well as making connections between folks who should meet. My current job merges those interests.

How did you prepare for your role?

I did my research before coming to the interview. I had noticed that the foundation lacked programmes in autism or epilepsy, so I pitched ideas to address this, such as bringing together companies that were investing in those fields. My interviewers recognized that I understood what the foundation did. Now I manage a partnership between 31 external organizations for a neuroscience-imaging initiative.

What advice do you have for job seekers?

There is no cookie-cutter way to achieve your career dreams. In the end, it's your road and your willingness to do new things. Everyone is searching for the perfect position, but the honest truth is that you make the position wonderful for you too.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. See go.nature.com/axdrci for more.