Research Software Engineering Manager

Department

PSD Data Science: Tech Leadership

About the Department

The Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago was established to support the development of emerging efforts in data science across the University. The staff in the Data Science Institute support the University’s community of scholars, their shared ideals, and the core values that make the University a singular intellectual destination. Together with the University's deans and department chairs, the Data Science Institute provides the opportunities, infrastructure, and resources that encourage our faculty and other scholars to pursue their finest work. We are part of the Physical Sciences Division which includes departments and several interdisciplinary research institutes and centers.

Job Summary

The Research Software Engineering Manager will lead our internal engineering team across our research initiatives. The successful candidate will both understand how to establish and nurture software development best practices and is also excited by the opportunity to build and grow a team in a dynamic academic environment. They will have significant technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: cloud computing, database design, web-based applications or machine learning. The engineering manager will have significant decision making capability on both which projects are selected to be worked on and how those projects are executed.
Working closely with the Director of Data Science & Engineering and the Director of Data Science Clinic, this position will also evaluate external proposals on their technical merit, costs and value. This position’s responsibilities are also externally facing and will involve direct collaboration with researchers, students, post docs, and our industry and social impact partners.
This position will entail a mix of project management (including scoping, talking with our partners, planning and reporting), development activities (code review, working with our engineers and data scientists to improve their skills) and direct contribution.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team of engineers and students contributing to projects across the Data Science Institute’s activities of research, education, and partnerships driving the development of robust, scalable, core components.
• Provide mentorship to engineers and students and share your passion for staying on top of tech trends, experimenting with and learning new technologies.
• Establish processes to triage bugs, track software defects, and ensure their timely resolution. Define and steward technical standards and code quality.
• Oversee internal computing resources.
• Work closely with faculty, staff, and external organizations to develop novel research and act as the principal liaison to faculty research partners.
• Collaborate with external data science partner organizations on engineering projects.
• Develop, apply and communicate standards for evaluating project proposals based on technical merit and other institutional goals.
• Develop and communicate program priorities and performance standards and assess operations using these criteria.
• Participate and direct code review and code evaluation activities.
• Act a subject matter expert and technical lead on one or more areas of database design, cloud deployment, microservices, devops best practices.
• Monitors achievement of programmatic and operational goals. Directs the management of projects, as appropriate, including ensuring that all priorities are reasonably set and appropriately met.
• Manages relationships with faculty and researchers to address their needs, both to further develop existing services and to identify new opportunities.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications 

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, graduate degree in math, statistics, computer science, data science, or related field.

Work Experience:

• Professional software development management experience.
• Experience using and developing on one of the major cloud providers (AWS, GCP or Azure).
• Project management experience using agile methodologies (scrum, kanban, etc.).
• Strong foundation in data platform design, data science, machine learning, and AI.
• Experience with Cloud computing cost estimation and budgeting.
• Experience with research universities or research environments; experience working with faculty, students, and researchers.
• Experience in student mentoring. 

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Significant experience developing code in Python with knowledge of Node.js and/or a compiled language such as C/C++.

Preferred Competencies 

• Strong analytical skills and problem solving.
• Demonstrated communication skills and the ability to break down complex technical problems.

Application Documents 

• Resume (required)
• Cover letter (preferred)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Research

Role Impact

People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$135,000.00 - $160,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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