Director of Research IT Job Towson area,Maryland USA,IT/Tech

Job Description & How to Apply Below

Responsibilities and Duties Strategy and Governance

Assist in developing a comprehensive Research IT strategy aligned with institutional research priorities and enterprise technology roadmaps.
Assist in establishing governance structures, standards, and processes for research-related services and technologies, ensuring transparency, accountability, and alignment across units.
Partner with OTS leadership, the VP for Research, OSPR, Library, and other stakeholders to align policies, procedures, and investment decisions impacting research cyberinfrastructure.
Guide the evaluation and adoption of emerging technologies (e.g., advanced computing, AI/ML, secure research environments) in support of the research mission.
Promote shared solutions and reduced duplication of effort across colleges, labs, and distributed IT units.

Stakeholder Engagement, Partnerships and Communications

Serve as the primary liaison between researchers and OTS for research technology strategy, planning, and coordination.
Build and sustain strong relationships with researchers, faculty, research staff, department IT, building coordinators, and administrative partners.
Collaborate closely with OSPR and others to support grant proposal development, technology planning, budgeting, and compliance alignment.
Establish and lead a Research IT community of practice to foster collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated communications across the research ecosystem.
Represent Research IT in institutional committees, working groups, and external collaborations as appropriate.
Partner with college liaisons and IT leaders to build research technology awareness and readiness across distributed units, especially through the Research IT community of practice.
Maintain relationships and active involvement with external research IT organizations and communities like CaRCC, federally funded computational resources and programs (such as those supported by NSF and DOE), and peer organizations like the University System of Maryland and MDREN (Maryland Research and Education Network).
Assist in developing and sustaining a method for tracking and reporting on researcher engagement with Research IT.
Communicate research IT strategy, service updates, and outcomes through structured communications channels and engagement forums.

Research IT Consultations (Facilitation)

Build standards for research IT consultations (facilitation) to ensure effective and structured intake, requirements gathering, and solution alignment for research IT needs.
Lead and significantly participate in many, if not most, research IT consultations.
Provide guidance and assistance to other OTS staff handling research IT consultations.
Evaluate effectiveness of research IT consultations and recommend and implement adjustments.

Service and Operational Oversight

Partner closely with OTS service and process owners (e.g., information security and privacy, academic technology consultants, systems engineering, networking engineering, identity and access management, endpoint management) to inform the design of research-supporting services and operations within the OTS portfolio.
Oversee the alignment of research IT services with security, compliance, and regulatory requirements (e.g., federal sponsor requirements, data protection frameworks, NIST, CUI, CMMC).
Monitor and report on research-related service performance, risk posture, and operational health in collaboration with relevant IT teams.
Coordinate technology planning for research facilities and infrastructure in partnership with institutional stakeholders.
Align and coordinate the development of secure, scalable, and sustainable research technology environments across the institution.
Guide, seek approval and work with vendors in purchasing of research-related technology and services, under the guidance of the CTO and CIO.
Assist in budget monitoring and forecasting for research-related technology and services in the OTS portfolio, under the guidance of the CTO and CIO.

Capacity-Building, Professional Development, and Metrics

Coordinate development of research IT-related skills and capabilities among OTS staff, including this position.
Develop institutional capability in research IT through standards, training, documentation, and skill development initiatives.
Leverage and participate in external organizations and communities like CaRCC to support standards and skills development.
Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and outcome metrics for research IT services,…