Program Director
University of Chicago · Chicago · $165,000–$195,000 (stated in the posting)
Department
Globus Labs
About the Department
The Globus professional services team develops solutions in support of external organizations’ data-intensive research, building on their ongoing investments in Globus. Projects are funded by the recipient organizations, typically supported by grants from federal agencies including NSF, NIH, DOE, and are carried out by distributed teams spanning multiple institutions. The work typically involves large-scale cyberinfrastructure: distributed computation, high-volume scientific data management, and software systems that must perform reliably at the scale demanded by modern research workflows. Professional services team members are committed to advancing the research mission of the scientific community by delivering reliable, high-quality software infrastructure accessible to the broadest possible set of researchers.
Job Summary
This role operates at the intersection of software project management, technical leadership, and organizational diplomacy. You will provide guidance and oversight to program teams and serve as the primary point of contact with faculty, sponsors, and leadership, overseeing all program operations including development methodology, deliverables and timelines, reporting and communications, and budget management. You will be successful if you are equally comfortable leading a sprint planning session with engineers, presenting milestone progress to a funding program officer, and navigating the institutional sensitivities that arise in multi-institutional research collaborations.
Multi-institutional, grant-funded programs sit at the frontier of research infrastructure, and the systems we develop directly enable scientific discovery across disciplines. You are a good fit for this role if you are a program leader who thrives on complexity: someone energized by the challenge of aligning distributed teams, building trust across institutional boundaries, and delivering technical results that serve the research mission. The work requires the rigor of professional project management, the knowledge to engage with technical staff, and the relationship intelligence to operate effectively in the academic and non-profit research ecosystem.
Do you currently lead development of custom solutions and applications in advanced computing environments? Do you love learning about leading edge research and creating innovative solutions to facilitate breakthrough discoveries? Do you enjoy engaging with the research community to make advanced capabilities available to all? If so, you will love the collaborative, mission-driven environment at Globus. This position is wholly or partially funded by contractual grant funding which is renewed under provisions set by the grantor of the contract.
Responsibilities
Program Planning and Execution:
- Ensures development of the program scope, work breakdown structures, deliverables, milestones, resource plans, and risk mitigation plans in collaboration with principal investigators, partner institution leads, and organizational leadership.
- Monitor progress across workstreams and initiate corrective actions to mitigate schedule, scope, and budget risks.
Stakeholder Coordination:
- Act as the primary point of contact for, coordinate the efforts of, and develop productive working relationships with staff at partner institutions.
- Facilitate team meetings and working groups, ensuring stakeholders are engaged.
- Navigate sensitive inter-institutional dynamics with professionalism and discretion, building consensus, preserving relationships and keeping programs on track.
Communication:
- Serve as the primary point of escalation and communication for stakeholders at all levels, including technical staff, principal investigators, leadership, and program officers.
- Prepare and deliver updates on program direction, scope, risk and schedule, tailored to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Support dissemination activities including preparation of reports and presentations, and represent the University of Chicago at meetings, workshops, conferences, and site visits.
Technical Oversight and Collaboration:
- Develop and maintain working knowledge of the Globus platform and the technical domains relevant to scientific applications.
- Coordinate with Globus product management, software development, and support teams to ensure program requirements and field learnings are reflected in product plans.
- Collaborate with software developers to translate research requirements into actionable program plans, considering staff and related system dependencies.
- Provides specialized professional expertise in program management. Implements plans for educational programs and initiatives and acts as a liaison between the program and program participants.
- Plans and develops program objectives and/or content. Researches and identifies trends and needs and establishes program directions accordingly.
- Serves as a key resource for program information. Resolves problems or questions referred by program staff, University administrators, or other contingencies.
- Develops and administers program budgets and recommends or makes budgetary recommendations.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Certifications:
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Preferred Qualifications
Experience:
- Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible experience in program management, with demonstrated leadership of complex, multi-stakeholder software development programs.
- Experience managing programs that span multiple organizations.
- Experience managing long-running software development projects with distributed teams, within variable funding, milestone and deliverable constraints.
- Demonstrated mastery of program management fundamentals: monitoring program progress, tracking effort and expenditure, and anticipating emerging risks to schedule, scope, budget, or stakeholder relationships.
- Experience with software development methodologies including Agile, Scrum, or hybrid approaches.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to synthesize complex technical and programmatic information into concise, actionable summaries for diverse audiences.
- Ability to prioritize multiple workstreams and independently follow through with detail on general, and sometimes ambiguous, direction for deliverables.
- Ability to facilitate productive technical discussions and working sessions across geographical and organizationally distributed teams.
- Demonstrated skill in building consensus, mediating disagreements, and bringing disparate factions together toward shared decisions and outcomes.
- Familiarity with the architecture and operational characteristics of research computing and cyberinfrastructure.
Working Conditions
- Primarily remote work, with occasional required attendance at in-person meetings.
- This job requires occasional evening or weekend hours.
- Occasional travel may be required to attend in-person program meetings and provide on-site support to program teams.
Application Documents
- Resume/CV (Required)
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
Role Impact
Scheduled Weekly Hours
Drug Test Required
Health Screen Required
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
Pay Rate Type
FLSA Status
Pay Range
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
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.
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