Professional Services Manager

About the Department Globus ((Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).) is a mission-driven organization dedicated to enabling discovery by delivering advanced data management and computation capabilities to researchers worldwide. As a unit within The University of Chicago, Globus develops and operates commercial-quality, software-as-a-service used by thousands of institutions, including research universities, national laboratories, federal agencies, and commercial research organizations. Core features are free for non-profit researchers, and the Globus service is sustained through institutional subscriptions that unlock advanced features for organizations needing greater control, compliance support, and deeper integration with their research computing environment.

This model reflects the organization’s core commitment: making secure, reliable cyberinfrastructure services accessible to the broadest possible research community. The Globus team comprises professional software developers and business operations staff, as well Globus Labs, a dedicated research group pioneering novel methods and technologies. Team members are geographically distributed-a structure that reflects the global nature of the research communities we serve-while maintaining a collaborative culture focused on making an impact in disciplines ranging from the life sciences and astronomy, to materials science and public policy.

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.

We seek a Professional Services Manager to lead the successful planning, execution, and delivery of long-running, grant-funded solution development projects conducted in collaboration with partner institutions. As a senior individual contributor and team leader you will be the primary liaison between technical staff, institutional partners, principal investigators, funding agency program officers, and organizational leadership. This role operates at the intersection of software project management, technical leadership, and organizational diplomacy.

You will provide guidance and oversight to project team members and serve as the primary point of contact with faculty, sponsors, and leadership, overseeing all project 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 software projects 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 project 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. This position is wholly or partially funded by contractual grant funding which is renewed under provisions set by the grantor of the contract.

• Defines project scope, deliverables, and milestones in collaboration with principal investigators, partner institution leads, and organizational leadership.
• Develops and maintains comprehensive project plans, work breakdown structures, timelines, resource plans, and risk mitigation plans.
• Monitors progress across work streams and initiates corrective actions to mitigate schedule, scope, and budget risks.
• Acts as the primary point of contact for, coordinates the efforts of, and develops productive working relationships with staff at partner institutions.
• Facilitates team meetings and working groups, ensuring stakeholders are engaged.
• Navigates sensitive inter-institutional dynamics with professionalism and discretion, building…