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Director Digital Research Operations

Mass General Brigham

Mass General Brigham

Operations
Somerville, MA, USA
USD 144,206.4-209,757.6 / year
Posted on Aug 21, 2025
Site: Mass General Brigham Incorporated


Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.



Job Summary

At Mass General Brigham Digital, we pride ourselves on our ability to create maximum strategic, clinical, and operational value from established and emergent technologies for our patients, care teams, researchers, and employees. Digital health will not only enhance the equity and efficiency of healthcare delivery, but will also help make medicine more personalized and precise.

We recognize that increasing value and continually improving quality while maintaining an inclusive focus are essential to organizational excellence, and we invite you to join us on this journey. The work we do in Digital is a strategic imperative, and there is a strong and growing understanding of how together we will transform Mass General Brigham in innovative and impactful ways.

Research-infused care sets Mass General Brigham apart

As a national leader in innovation, our patient-centered mentality and systemwide collaborative approach are the keys to research breakthroughs that drive medical innovation, gain new knowledge, and improve patient outcomes. Our physician-scientists—in the lab, in the clinic, and at the bedside—work tirelessly to understand the effects of debilitating diseases and our patient’s needs to help guide our studies and improve patient care.

Mass General Brigham has over 200 years of leading innovative science, with 13 Nobel Laureates for research achievements and medical firsts. As a world-recognized leader in research, we are home to one of the largest hospital system-based research medical centers in the U.S., with an annual research budget of over $2 billion. Our researchers and clinicians are conducting thousands of studies in every major medical therapeutic and technology discipline. We are currently enrolling our patients in over 2,700 ongoing clinical trials to accelerate bringing new treatments and therapies to our patients and the world.

Mass General Brigham is seeking an exceptional candidate to serve as Director, Research Operations
A new Digital Research Operations function was created in 2023 to enable and accelerate biomedical research and discovery through the provision of exceptional technology and data services to researchers and investigators. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Digital Research Operations, the Director, Research Operations will be a critical member of the Digital Research Operations leadership team.

The Director of Research Operations will manage the digital research experience portfolio at the direction of the VP. A priority for this role is to oversee the research portal project. The research portal will be a single entry point for the research community to get information, ask questions and find what they need in a user friendly and intelligent search capability. Other important responsibilities include intake / demand management, supporting the research experience advisory council and subsequent governance committees, project management and standardizing support, best practices and the budget for the entire Digital Research Ops team. The other Digital Research Ops pillars are Research Data, Research Applications, Research Computing & AI Solutions, Research Enterprise Architect, with this role coordinating across all functions.

Success in the role will be measured by portfolio and deliverable management, milestone metrics, research outcomes, service delivery and feedback from the Research community. This role is expected to design and implement processes to look across the entire Digital Research Ops portfolio and align with other digital experience teams.


Principal Duties and Responsibilities
• Build diverse and high performing team to deliver services across the following areas, adjusting skill mix and developing individuals as needed:
o Research Portal (including Digital Research Products & Services)
o Research Experience Portfolio and Project Management
o Intake / Demand Management & Product / Service Catalog
o Experience, Outreach & Education
o Budget and Vendor Management
• Accountable for research portal – this is a strategic priority for the research community and will be the single entry point, combining multiple websites and underpinned by intelligent search
• Responsible for developing process and maintaining the research experience portfolio / roadmap, includes staffing the research experience advisory committee quarterly meetings and other important governance committees
• Develop, implement and sustain a standard and scalable demand management process, product & services catalog and support experience framework
• Build partnerships with MGB research groups, understanding the diverse range of needs and working together to build short, medium and long term demand forecasts for technology services
• Understand the academic research landscape, grant process and develop a plan to engage with researcher before grants are submitted to define digital requirements (includes letters of support)
• Develop approach and execution model for education and outreach for research products and self-service options in collaboration with community, focus on keeping direct and indirect costs as low as possible
• Measure service excellence with stakeholder feedback and ensure transparent process
• Work in collaboration with Research support groups (e.g. Human Research Affairs, Research Management, etc.) to ensure proper coordination approvals throughout the grant lifecycle, continuously monitoring external and internal factors changing the research landscape, including the regulatory environment and advances in medical research
• Support vendor management and department budget tracking, goal is to have single source of truth with proactive approach to managing new contracts, renewals and regular reviews
• Manage all aspects of technology operations in alignment with ITIL best practice, including incident, problem & change management and maintaining performance, resilience and security
• Use the Mass General Brigham values to govern decisions, actions and behaviors. These values guide how we get our work done: Patients, Affordability, Accountability & Service Commitment, Decisiveness, Innovation & Thoughtful Risk; and how we treat each other: Diversity & Inclusion, Integrity & Respect, Learning, Continuous Improvement & Personal Growth, Teamwork & Collaboration


Qualifications

Education
Bachelor's Degree Information Technology required or Master's Degree Related Field of Study preferred

  • Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in Healthcare / Research or aligned field
  • Bachelors degree required, advanced degree preferred
  • A strong foundation and experience working in a combination of digital technology, research and a complex healthcare environment is critical
  • Deep consultative experience with demonstrated ability to translate business needs into technical programs which deliver real business value
  • Extensive experience with processes and tools to manage intake, support, triage requests, training and communication to close the loop with stakeholders
  • Experience in Workfront, ServiceNow and Web Applications preferred
  • Extensive experience leading large, complex projects, including strategic and tactical planning
  • Strong track record of operational excellence in budget, talent, and communication with demonstrated innovation in the field

Skills/Abilities/Competencies:

  • Excellent consultative skills, understanding business needs and translating those needs to technical requirements. Clear communication to business and technical leaders
  • Storytelling: ability to communicate complex ideas in a way that is digestible to a broad audience and leads to decision and action
  • Results driven: sets challenging goals, motivates colleagues and is accountable for continuously driving improved outcomes, leads change, and ensures high standards
  • Strong creative problem solving with ability to craft MGB-specific solutions to meet the wide range of business needs across Research
  • Demonstrated competence in leading matrixed people and large projects that cross functional areas and business priorities. Set, communicate, align on, and achieve common goals and objectives
  • Adept at establishing trusted relationships at all levels across the organization and collaborating across multi-functional teams to drive accountability
  • Strong project and program management skills
  • Excellent change management skills with proven track-record of leading enterprise-wide change initiatives
  • Will need to demonstrate Mass General Brigham’s Leadership Competencies for both Performance Focused Leadership and People-Focused Leadership
    • Performance Focused:
      • Customer/Patient Focus: Building strong customer/patient relationships and delivering customer/patient centric solutions
      • Manage Complexity: Make sense of complex, high quality, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems
      • Cultivate Innovation: Create new and better ways for the organization to be successful
      • Ensure Accountability: Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments
      • Learning Agility: Actively learn through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as a learning folder
    • People Focused:
      • Drive Equity and Inclusion: Recognizes the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization
      • Build Effective Teams: Build cohesive teams that apply their diverse skills and perspective to achieve common goals
      • Collaborate: Build partnerships and work collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives
      • Communicate Effectively: Develop and deliver multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences
      • Instill Trust: Gain the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity

Supervisory Responsibilities:

  • Create and manage new research ops team
  • Directly manage ~5 staff to start and scale function as roadmap is confirmed; indirectly manage ~20 people across Digital contributing to delivery of technology services to Researchers
  • Attract and retain qualified talent and provide leadership development, corrective action, etc.
  • Work collaboratively with MGB Digital PMO, Digital Finance and Human Resources to assure effective and efficient business practices

Can this role accept experience in lieu of a degree?
Yes

Licenses and Credentials

Experience
Information Technology Experience 8-10+ years required, and Management Experience 5-7 years required

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Expert knowledge in designated area of Information Technology.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong leadership and project management skills.
- Excellent financial and analytic abilities.


Additional Job Details (if applicable)

Physical Requirements

  • Standing Occasionally (3-33%)
  • Walking Occasionally (3-33%)
  • Sitting Constantly (67-100%)
  • Lifting Occasionally (3-33%) 20lbs - 35lbs
  • Carrying Occasionally (3-33%) 20lbs - 35lbs
  • Pushing Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Pulling Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Climbing Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Balancing Occasionally (3-33%)
  • Stooping Occasionally (3-33%)
  • Kneeling Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Crouching Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Crawling Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Reaching Occasionally (3-33%)
  • Gross Manipulation (Handling) Constantly (67-100%)
  • Fine Manipulation (Fingering) Frequently (34-66%)
  • Feeling Constantly (67-100%)
  • Foot Use Rarely (Less than 2%)
  • Vision - Far Constantly (67-100%)
  • Vision - Near Constantly (67-100%)
  • Talking Constantly (67-100%)
  • Hearing Constantly (67-100%)


Remote Type

Onsite


Work Location

399 Revolution Drive


Scheduled Weekly Hours

40


Employee Type

Regular


Work Shift

Day (United States of America)



Pay Range

$144,206.40 - $209,757.60/Annual


Grade

9


At Mass General Brigham, we believe in recognizing and rewarding the unique value each team member brings to our organization. Our approach to determining base pay is comprehensive, and any offer extended will take into account your skills, relevant experience if applicable, education, certifications and other essential factors. The base pay information provided offers an estimate based on the minimum job qualifications; however, it does not encompass all elements contributing to your total compensation package. In addition to competitive base pay, we offer comprehensive benefits, career advancement opportunities, differentials, premiums and bonuses as applicable and recognition programs designed to celebrate your contributions and support your professional growth. We invite you to apply, and our Talent Acquisition team will provide an overview of your potential compensation and benefits package.


EEO Statement:

Mass General Brigham Incorporated is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. To ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Veteran’s Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact Human Resources at (857)-282-7642.


Mass General Brigham Competency Framework

At Mass General Brigham, our competency framework defines what effective leadership “looks like” by specifying which behaviors are most critical for successful performance at each job level. The framework is comprised of ten competencies (half People-Focused, half Performance-Focused) and are defined by observable and measurable skills and behaviors that contribute to workplace effectiveness and career success. These competencies are used to evaluate performance, make hiring decisions, identify development needs, mobilize employees across our system, and establish a strong talent pipeline.