Senior Manager, Research

BMIC Senior Manager, Research – Research Services & Project Navigation Lead

The BMIC Senior Manager, Research leads the Research Services and Project Navigation team within the Biomedical Informatics Core (BMIC) at the University of Utah’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). Operating as the senior clinical and translational service lead, this position leverages deep domain expertise in clinical care and biomedical informatics to architect custom research solutions, guide advanced electronic data capture (EDC), integrate biospecimen and data engineering pipelines, and drive proposal budgeting for investigator-initiated projects.

About the role

This is a senior scientific, clinical informatics, and team-leadership role. It serves as the primary consultative authority for complex research design, solution architecture, grant proposal budgeting, and direct supervisor for the research navigation team. Administrative operations, financial billing workflows, and team supervision of operational staff reside separately with the BMIC Senior Operations Supervisor.

Organizational Context

Within the CTSI BMIC Strategy, the Research Services and Project Navigation Team acts as the focused front-door entry point of the Core’s Service Pyramid:

• Research Services & Project Navigation (Apex/Entry Point): Led by this position, serving as the front door for scientific evaluation, project architecture, consultation, and proposal scoping.
• Foundational Support Pillars:
  • Science Engineering: Exploratory software engineering, AI/ML pipelines, and dev/ops standards.
  • Engineering Development: Full-stack software engineering, data persistence, and application delivery.
  • Operations & Services: Centralized workflow standardization, capacity tracking, 21 CFR Part 11/NIST compliance, and Service Recharge Center (SRC) billing execution.

Responsibilities

• Clinical & Translational Solution Architecture
  • EDC & Research Data Design: Consult with clinical and translational research teams to architect advanced Electronic Data Capture (EDC) structures, data management strategies, and research database schemas.
  • Translational & Biospecimen Integration: Architect data pipelines connecting clinical EHR data sources with biospecimen repositories (e.g., OpenSpecimen) and downstream analytical workflows.
  • Meeting Research Teams “Where They Are”: Evaluate the technical maturity of incoming investigator teams and tailor informatics interactions and modular solutions to their scientific context and operational needs.
• Proposal Budgeting & Grant Navigation
  • Proposal Scoping & Budgeting: Partner with principal investigators during grant development to define informatics scopes of work, formulate accurate proposal budgets, and author budget justifications.
  • Funding Model Coordination: Manage project allocations across a hybrid funding structure involving the core’s recharge model, institutional support, and CTSI award funding.
  • Key Personnel Contribution: Serve as key personnel on major grant applications and institutional informatics proposals as needed.
• Team Leadership & Direct Supervision
  • Supervision of Navigators: Provide direct supervision, day-to-day work direction, mentorship, and performance evaluation for the research navigation team, including the BMIC Data Navigator and BMIC Biospecimen Navigator.
  • Talent & Workforce Development: Foster career development pathways and continuous skill building for technical business analysts and navigator staff.
  • Service Standards: Establish and enforce quality standards for clinical data management consultation, initial project intake, and scientific navigation.
• Cross-Domain Synergy & Operational Handoffs
  • Translational Domain Bridging: Act as the strategic liaison connecting scientific investigators with Scientific Computing, Software Engineering, and Health System research operations.
  • Seamless Operational Handoff: Collaborate closely with the BMIC Senior Operations Supervisor to transition scoped, budgeted research architectures into active operational pipelines with defined resource capacity and recharge models.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalency) plus 8 years of directly related work experience, or a master’s degree (or equivalency) plus 6 years of directly related work experience.
• Equivalency statement: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (e.g., bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).

Preferences

The ideal candidate is an informatics-fluent scientific lead with extensive experience in clinical research environments, electronic data capture systems, and translational research design. They possess the unique ability to bridge high-level scientific research goals with concrete engineering requirements while serving as an effective team leader and mentor.

• Domain Knowledge: Proven expertise in clinical research data management systems (REDCap, OpenSpecimen, EHR data extraction), grant proposal budgeting, and supervising multidisciplinary scientific support staff.

Benefits

The University of Utah offers generous benefits to employees, including:

• Generous retirement contributions
• Comprehensive medical coverage
• Tuition reduction

Pay

Pay rate range: $110,000 - $122,000 per year.

Schedule

• Full-time (40 hours per week)
• Day shift (business hours, arranged with supervisor)