Scientific Programming & Innovation Manager

University of Michigan; Michigan; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Michigan seeks a dynamic manager for the Scientific Programming & Innovation team within AcadIT. This role shapes strategic direction for scientific development services and data integration to support Michigan Medicine's education, research, and clinical missions.

The incumbent will provide leadership across programming, data workflows, and AI-enabled development, promoting sustainable practices, code quality, and collaboration with researchers and educators.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience, including at least two (2) years of IT related experience.
• Minimum of three (3) years in a managerial/supervisory role overseeing 5+ direct reports.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for the management, development, and supervision of staff, including recruitment, performance management, mentoring, training, workload management, and other administrative activities.
• Ensure the team stays current with advances in relevant technologies and maintain knowledge of policies, procedures, hardware, software, and technical services.
• Lead and manage staff fostering specialization in scripting and coding languages (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB, C/C++/CUDA, SQL) for researchers across analysis and data integrations.
• Establish and institutionalize best practices for AI and LLM assisted development, including agentic workflows and prompt driven coding, ensuring responsible use of automation while maintaining code quality and compliance.
• Define and execute team strategy and capacity planning, aligning with organizational direction and creating a roadmap.
• Prioritize intake and balance short proofs of concept with longer-term research commitments.

Skills

Python

R

MATLAB

C/C++/CUDA

SQL

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Information Systems or related field

Job description

Scientific Programming & Innovation Manager

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.

Department Overview

Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) plays an integral role in the success of Michigan Medicine (MM) by providing clinicians, educators, researchers, students, and staff with exceptional technology-related information, products, services, and support. HITS also provides institutional expertise related to IT strategy, security, infrastructure, and resource management.

Division Overview

The HITS Academic IT division (AcadIT) serves the education and research communities at the University of Michigan Medical School. We engage faculty, students, and staff to provide a holistic portfolio of software, applications, infrastructure, device support, and custom projects to enable innovation and excellence.

Job Summary

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced manager for our Scientific Programming & Innovation team within the AcadIT division. This role is an exceptional opportunity for a people-focused leader to shape and drive the strategic direction of scientific development services and data integration needs in support of MM's world-class education, research, and clinical missions. The purpose of the Scientific Programming & Innovation team is to provide Michigan Medicine researchers with greater consistency, continuity, and expertise with the explicit goal of enhancing research activities through our programming and data integration services. Our services offer researchers help with identifying new solutions or development pipelines, designing and writing code for new projects, refactoring and optimizing existing code, and promoting sustainable development workflows and best practices.

Responsibilities*

Supervision/Management

• Be responsible for the management, development, and supervision of staff, which includes recruitment, performance management, mentoring, training, workload management, and other administrative activities.
• Ensure the team stays current with advances in relevant technologies. Responsible for maintaining and sharing knowledge of policies, procedures, hardware, software, and technical services.
• Lead and manage staff fostering specialization in a wide range of scripting and coding languages (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB, C/C++/CUDA, SQL), providing a wide range of scientific services to researchers spanning analysis, experimental control, instrument automation, custom research development, parallel programming, research and academic data integrations, and workflow optimizations.
• Establish and institutionalize best practices for AI and LLM assisted development, including agentic workflows and prompt driven "vibe" coding, ensuring responsible, secure, and effective use of automation while maintaining code quality, compliance, and organizational standards.
• Define and execute team strategy and capacity planning, ensuring alignment with the broader organizational direction, and creating a roadmap for successful implementation.
• Prioritize and govern intake, balancing short proof of concept assignments and longer-term research and operational commitments.

Relationship Building/Communications

• Deliver clear, evidence based recommendations to divisional and Medical School leadership for new initiatives, services, and strategic investments.
• Develop a professional knowledge network with other facilitators, both on- and off-campus.
• Champion a culture of collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Service Improvement/Reporting Analysis

• Partner with leadership (e.g. HITS, Data Office, Research Leadership Group) to align investments and priorities.
• Partner with subject matter experts to develop continual service improvement frameworks and recommendations for services, products, and processes within the organization.
• Provide recommendations for new and expanded IT services based on analysis and understanding of customer requirements, and advocate for the services on behalf of researchers and educators.
• Proactively identify and lead initiatives to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of services.
• Identify and leverage cross-campus collaborations to advance academic and research activities.

Operational/Production Support

• Provide faculty with one-on-one facilitative project support, recommending sustainable solutions that meet the level of computational expertise needed for each project.
• Oversee the development and delivery of appropriate training for Michigan Medicine faculty in cooperation with peers.
• Build a culture of sustainable development, reproducibility, peer review, and documentation.
• In the performance of all job duties, at all times, be responsible for delivering optimal customer service and providing clear, concise communications.
• Protect institutional data and privacy, and ensure the excellent delivery of solutions and services by following divisional, Michigan Medicine and University policies, procedures, and processes.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
• Minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience, including at least two (2) years of IT related experience.
• Minimum of three (3) years in a managerial/supervisory or team lead role overseeing 5 or more direct reports.

Desired Qualifications*

• Experience in an academic, research, or clinical setting.
• Strong leadership and team management skills, including demonstrated ability to develop and mentor others, and provide performance management and career planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to make decisions and solve complex problems effectively and proactively.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Proven strategic thinking and planning abilities.
• Proven adaptability and conflict resolution skills.
• Continuous improvement mindset and experience in leading organizational change initiatives.
• Customer-focused mindset - ability to analyze customer feedback and refine IT services accordingly.
• Financial acumen and experience with budgeting and resource allocation.
• Experience in designing, implementing, and managing IT services aligned with business needs.
• Full-stack development experience, including modern frontend frameworks and backend APIs.
• Experience with AI and LLM assisted software development practices, including agentic workflows and prompt driven development, with an emphasis on code quality, security, compliance, and responsible use of automation.
• Familiar with enterprise data governance frameworks and terminology standards.
• Knowledge of cloud platforms or infrastructure-as-code concepts.
• Experience with IT service management frameworks such as ITIL.
• Demonstrated experience with Agile techniques and practices.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Work Locations

This position is being made available with the ability for you to negotiate alternative work schedules and remote/on-site options to suit your work-life balance.

Non-Michigan residents should inquire about potential employment while working remotely in a state other than Michigan. Apply to be part of a strong team that partners with our institution, community, and each other.

Additional Information

We offer a benefits package that includes comprehensive training and career development opportunities, generous retirement savings plans, ample paid time off, and a wealth of family care support: https://careers.umich.edu/benefits .

Michigan Medicine conducts background screening and pre-employment drug testing on job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent job offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background screenings. Background screenings are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Report Act. Pre-employment drug testing applies to all selected candidates, including new or additional faculty and staff appointments, as well as transfers from other U-M campuses.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

U-M EEO Statement

The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Working Title