Data Governance Program Manager

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Employment Type:

Job Profile:

Job Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Data Governance Program Manager to support investigators by advancing the discoverability, accessibility, integration, stewardship, and responsible sharing of biomedical research data across the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH). As a member of the Office of Informatics, the successful candidate will lead institutional efforts to establish and operationalize data governance strategies that enhance the value, quality, interoperability, and reuse of research data assets spanning clinical, translational, population health, genomic, imaging, and other biomedical domains.

The ideal candidate will work closely with investigators, data custodians, informatics teams, and other institutional partners to develop scalable approaches for research governance including data linkage, metadata management, data quality assessment, and data sharing. This role will be instrumental in building a sustainable data ecosystem that supports high-quality biomedical research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and data-driven discovery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive biomedical research data governance program across SMPH, including best practices for research data stewardship and lifecycle management.
• Partner with investigators to develop and implement data management and sharing plans for grant applications, ensuring alignment with funding agency requirements and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles.
• Facilitate the discoverability, documentation, and dissemination of research datasets, including support for assigning persistent identifiers (e.g., DOIs), developing metadata standards, and depositing datasets into institutional and national repositories.
• Establish and oversee data quality, data curation, and data stewardship frameworks that promote the accuracy, consistency, completeness, and usability of research data assets.
• Lead the design and implementation of data integration, linkage and secure release methodologies spanning structured, semi-structured, textual, imaging, and other heterogeneous biomedical data sources.
• Develop processes, standards, and tools that improve interoperability and enable the secure integration of research, clinical, public health, and other data domains to support advanced research initiatives while protecting privacy of patients and participants in research studies.
• Guide the development and use of de-identified, limited, and synthetic datasets that support research access while maintaining appropriate safeguards for PHI and compliance with institutional policies.
• Develop and implement methodologies for creating research-ready data products that enable reproducible, secure, scalable, and efficient research workflows.
• Conduct and oversee data quality assessments, validation activities, and data fitness-for-use evaluations to ensure that research datasets meet established governance and scientific standards.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in biomedical data governance, advising investigators, departmental leaders, and research teams on data stewardship, data sharing, metadata standards, and responsible data use.
• Develop and deliver training, educational resources, and consultation services that promote best practices in research data management and governance across SMPH.
• Monitor emerging trends, technologies, and policies related to biomedical data governance, FAIR data practices, research data ecosystems, interoperability standards, and advanced data management methodologies.
• Directly and indirectly supervise staff supporting research data operations, data stewardship programs, data curation activities, and institutional data governance initiatives across SMPH.

It is anticipated that this position will be remote and requires work be performed at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Organizes and automates project steps for data preparation and analysis

• Documents approaches to address research questions and contributes to the establishment of reproducible research methodologies and analysis workflows

• Prepares data sets for analysis including cleaning/quality assurance, transformations, restructuring, and integration of multiple data sources

• Serves as an institutional subject matter expert and liaison to key internal and external stakeholders regarding data science best practices and methodologies and represents the interests of data science

• Identifies and implements or guides others in implementing appropriate data science techniques to find data patterns and answer research questions chosen by the lead researcher including data visualization, statistical analysis, machine learning, and data mining

• May supervise the data-to-day activities of staff and resolves routine personnel issues

• Contributes to education and training initiatives

• Composes and assembles reproducible workflows and reports to clearly articulate patterns to researchers and/or administrators

Department:

School of Medicine and Public Health, Office of Informatics, Data Governance.

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) is a leader in research and innovation, dedicated to improving patient outcomes through advanced data science and analytics.

This position is within the School of Medicine and Public Health’s Office of Informatics. SMPH Informatics is a multidisciplinary team of data scientists, engineers, developers and support staff. We offer a variety of Informatics to departments and research staff within the School of Medicine and Public Health and beyond to support the conduct of high-quality clinical and translational research. In this capacity, provide innovative solutions and training for a broad spectrum of clinical and translational research utilizing real-world data to facilitate rapid translation of research findings into clinical practice, with an emphasis on precision medicine, healthcare delivery, and population health.

Compensation:

The starting salary for the position is $120,000 but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications. 

Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and sick leave; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. For more information, refer to the campus benefits webpage and the SMPH Academic Staff Benefits Flyer

Required Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

Education:

PhD preferred; focus in computer science, data science, public health, bioethics or related discipline preferred.

How to Apply:

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 • Cover letter (required)
 • Resume (required)
 

Your cover letter should address how your training and experience aligns with the required and preferred qualifications listed above. Application reviewers will rely on these written materials to determine which applicants move forward in the process. References will be requested from final candidates. All applicants will be notified once the search concludes and a candidate is selected

University sponsorship is not available for this position, including transfers of sponsorship and TN visas. The selected applicant will be responsible for ensuring their continuous eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. This position is an ongoing position that will require continuous work eligibility. If you are selected for this position you must provide proof of work authorization and eligibility to work. 

Contact Information:

Cody Roekle, croekle@wisc.edu 608-263-7676

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. 
 
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