NovaGen Research Fund · 1 day ago
Director of Research Technologies
Rockville, MD
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$175K/yr - $200K/yr
10+ years expNGRF (NovaGen Research Fund) is a new data science collaboration hub focused on advancing biomedical research through artificial intelligence and novel technologies. The Director of Research Technologies will provide strategic oversight and technical leadership to build and manage a collaboration hub that supports multidisciplinary researchers, ensuring the sustainability and interoperability of critical research tools and platforms.
Non-profit Organization Management
Responsibilities
Define and execute the long-term vision for NGRF, aligned with the evolving needs of translational research
Own the NGRF mission, scope, and success boundaries
Publish a Center Charter for PCDR, multi-year roadmap, and sustainability plan that balances new capability with preservation mandates
Decide when to build, partner, or adopt
Prioritize FAIR, CARE, and MOST principles for data, models, analyses, and workflows
Lead technology modernization initiatives including cloud adoption, AI/ML infrastructure, and platform resilience
Run a learning plan with explicit hypotheses for user needs, value, adoption, and impact
Establish advisory councils and design-partner cohorts across academia, industry, and public agencies with clear success criteria
Use public requests for comment, usability testing, and field pilots to validate direction and reduce risk
Design and manage a scalable, secure research computing environment including cloud platforms, high-performance computing (HPC), and data pipelines
Guide delivery of interoperable tools and reproducible pipelines using modern environments such as Jupyter, RStudio, and Visual Studio Code
Maintain a dual-track backlog, versioning policy, documentation standards, and observability across repos and services
Embed provenance, lineage, and reproducibility safeguards in every release
Drive continuous improvement in infrastructure performance, cost optimization, and service delivery metrics
Catalog PCDR at-risk tools and pipelines from sunsetting government efforts
Lead stabilization, containerization, emulation, or refactoring as needed
Stand up a code custody program with mirrors, archival artifacts, automated builds, dependency vulnerability monitoring, and migration playbooks
Operate a stage-gated investment model from Explore to Validate to Build to Scale
Develop a diversified funding portfolio that can include federal and philanthropic grants, sponsored maintenance, service agreements, and community contribution programs
Manage total cost to sustain, staffing plans, and partner budgets with transparent reporting
Lead strategic planning, vendor management, and capital/operational budgeting
Establish open governance with clear maintenance ownership, contribution guidelines, and community codes of conduct
Set licensing, IP, and data-use policies aligned to open science
Maintain a consolidated risk register with owners and mitigations, including security, privacy, and operational continuity
Oversee core operations across compute, storage, networking, identity and access management (IAM), cybersecurity, and disaster recovery (BC/DR)
Establish governance frameworks, track KPIs and SLAs, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards (e.g., HIPAA, FISMA, NIST, CLIA)
Lead and mentor a high-performing team of engineers, architects, data managers, and IT professionals
Build and lead this multidisciplinary team spanning engineering, data science, product, UX, training, and community management
Run a reliable operating cadence for planning, reviews, risk checkpoints, and metrics
Publish a team charter, RACI, OKRs, hiring plan, and role scorecards
Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and technical excellence
Grow a vibrant community through workshops, documentation, tutorials, and office hours that support diverse backgrounds and career stages
Promote interoperable formats, open standards, and portable workflows
Develop partnerships with institutes, consortia, and standards bodies to amplify impact
Provide implementation blueprints that minimize time to first result
Operate support channels, service level targets, and health scoring for adoption depth and breadth
Convene a Community Advisory Board and publish adoption dashboards and annual impact reports
Define North Star Metrics oriented around sustained reuse and reproducibility
Establish and track KPIs such as maintainers’ responsiveness, release cadence, security posture, dependency freshness, cross-platform interoperability, downloads, citations, training reach, and diversity of contributors
Use evidence to refine priorities each quarter
Qualification
Required
Advanced degree in computer science, systems engineering, bioinformatics, or a related technical discipline or equivalent professional experience
Track record securing and managing grants or multi-sponsor programs, with transparent budgeting and reporting
Ten or more years in relevant leadership roles with at least five years stewarding platforms, pipelines, or developer tools in data-intensive science
Proven leadership building or maintaining modern cloud or high-performance data platforms in scientific domains
Demonstrated success sustaining open-source tools or research software used in production settings
Deep appreciation for reproducible research and FAIR, CARE, and MOST principles
Strong collaboration with engineering, design, data science, and research communities. Clear, concise writing and roadmap storytelling
Hands-on experience with discovery practices, field pilots, and experiment-driven validation for research software
Competence in code and data observability, versioning, documentation standards, and software quality practices for long-term maintenance
Demonstrated expertise in cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure), DevSecOps, Kubernetes, data security frameworks, and automation
Experience designing and implementing research computing platforms, supporting large-scale data systems, and enabling AI/ML workflows
Deep familiarity with compliance in regulated environments (e.g., HIPAA, FISMA, CLIA, NIST)
An entrepreneurial mindset
Preferred
Experience working in, or in partnership with, and building partner ecosystems with, nonprofit research institutions, academic medical centers, or federally funded research programs
Demonstrated success in organizational transformation, digital modernization, and talent development
Strong background in portfolio management, vendor negotiation, and technology roadmap development
Experience with interactive notebooks, developer environments, and pipeline orchestration that support containerized or remote development
Background designing training programs, community contribution models, and governance for open projects
Exposure to AI-assisted scientific workflows such as code generation, analysis review, or model documentation
Familiarity with standards and formats that improve interoperability across data, models, and workflows
Certifications such as AWS Cloud Practitioner, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals, or ITIL are a plus
Benefits
100% Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage for Employees
Educational Benefits for Career Growth
Paid Time Off (Including Holidays)
Employee Referral Bonus
401K Matching
Flexible Spending Accounts:
Healthcare (FSA)
Parking Reimbursement Account (PRK)
Dependent Care Assistant Program (DCAP)
Transportation Reimbursement Account (TRN)
Company
NovaGen Research Fund
NovaGen fuels the next era of biomedical breakthroughs.
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase