Data and Engineering Manager

Department

PSD Data Science Staff

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 Data and Engineering Manager will lead our internal engineering team across our research initiatives. This position is a critical hire as we are expanding our engineering capacity and head count.

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 Executive Director of Data Science Institute, Chief of Staff of Data Science Institute, and the Director of Data Science Clinic, this position will also evaluate external proposals on their technical merit, costs and value.

The Data and Engineering Manager will provide critical feedback which informs the direction of the growth of the Data Science Institute.

Finally, this position’s responsibilities are also externally facing as they will collaborate directly with researchers, students, post docs, and our industry and social impact partners.

This position will entail approximately 30% on project management (including scoping, talking with our partners, planning and reporting), 30% on development activities (code review, working with our engineers and data scientists to improve their skills) and 40% direct contribution.

Responsibilities

Manage a team of engineers and students contributing to projects across the Data Science Institute’s activities of research, education, and outreach 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.

Manages employees by establishing annual performance goals, allocating resources, assessing annual performance, and determining individual merit, incentive and / or promotional increases.

Provides technical oversight and develops standards, guidelines, and processes for application systems.

Advises decisions on project and infrastructure needs, including the evaluation of server technologies, languages, platforms, and frameworks.

Develops timelines and project plans for the team.

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 :

Preferred Qualifications

Education :

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

Experience :

Over 3 years of professional software development management experience.

Project management experience using agile methodologies (scrum, Kanban, etc.)

Experience with research universities or research environments; experience working with faculty, students, and researchers.

Student mentoring experience.

Technical Skills or Knowledge :

Experience using and developing on one of the major cloud providers (AWS, GCP or Azure).

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

Strong foundation in data management and data science.

Cloud computing cost estimation and budgeting.

Strong analytical skills and problem solving.

Preferred Competencies

Demonstrated communication skills and the ability to break down complex technical problems.

Application Documents

Resume (required)

Cover letter (preferred)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Information Technology

Role Impact

People Manager

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Frequency

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Benefits Eligible

Drug Test Required

Health Screen Required

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Disabled / Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, 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.

Staff 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.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

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.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information.

The Report can be accessed online at : . Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E.

61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.