Principal Research Software Engineer
Summary
Leads the design and delivery of secure, interoperable research platforms and AI tools for a multi-institutional health-policy program, ensuring compliance and reproducibility across universities, hospitals, and federal partners.
Principal Research Software Engineer
Location: United States
Job Summary:
We are seeking a Principal Research Software Engineer to serve as the primary technical expert supporting a nationally recognized health policy research program.
Our program's active research collaborations span Harvard University, Mass General Brigham, Yale University, Penn State, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and public universities both within California and in other states, including UCLA, UC Davis, the University of Washington, the University of Texas, and the University of Florida. This position is responsible for ensuring that our data and technical platforms are usable, interoperable, and compliant across this entire range of environments — private research universities, public universities in and outside California, a major academic health system, a nonprofit economic research organization, and a federal Department of Defense institution — each with its own data governance, security, and regulatory regime, including federal information-security requirements on the NPS side.
- Having wide-ranging experience, applies advanced software engineering, data engineering, informatics, and artificial intelligence technologies to projects, up to and including the most complex, with multi-institutional scope and little or no precedent. Serves as the primary technical expert for a nationally recognized health policy research program whose findings directly inform federal, state, and local health policy. Is considered a subject matter expert on research software engineering, data systems, and AI-enabled research across the program and its collaborating institutions. Directs the selection of tools, methods, techniques, technologies, and evaluation criteria to obtain results. Internal and external contacts regularly pertain to multi-institutional plans and objectives.
- Directs the program’s research technology portfolio, leading the development of research software, data platforms, and computational capabilities with multi-institutional impact that accelerate scientific discovery, enable innovative analyses, and generate publications and policy insights with impact beyond the University. Regularly leads projects of critical importance to the organization: federally funded, multi-site research initiatives in which the security, reliability, and reproducibility of software and data systems carry substantial consequences of success or failure, including regulatory compliance, continued federal funding, and the integrity of evidence used in national and state health policy decisions.
- Works closely with the Principal Investigator, research staff, and external collaborators to identify opportunities where technology can amplify research productivity, scientific discovery, and organizational impact. Establishes and evolves research technology strategy, technical standards, architecture principles, and foundational capabilities, formulating strategies and administering technical policies, processes, and resources that guide current and future research initiatives across the program and collaborating institutions. Has significant impact and influence on organizational policy and program development, including governance policies for the responsible use of artificial intelligence and regulated data.
- Exercises substantial independent judgment in determining technical strategy, architecture, tools, methodologies, partnerships, and implementation approaches. Serves as a trusted technical advisor on research software, data infrastructure, and artificial intelligence, helping researchers evaluate and responsibly adopt emerging technologies. Develops reusable software, data, and AI capabilities that support multiple research projects, collaborating institutions, and future scientific initiatives. The position requires a rare combination of expert-level software engineering, data architecture, artificial intelligence, and regulated health data expertise.
Department Summary:
The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (PRL-IHPS) is an organized research unit within the School of Medicine (SOM). The primary purposes of the Institute are to advance knowledge of health services and health policies through basic and applied research; to contribute to the solution of health and social problems through the application of research findings to health policy issues at the national, state, and local levels.