Reporting to the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the Executive Director of Information Systems, Technology & Security Services provides strategic and operational leadership for the Institute’s enterprise technology organization. The Executive Director oversees information technology infrastructure, enterprise applications, cybersecurity, scientific computing, cloud services, data management, and technology planning in support of Salk’s scientific, administrative, and operational mission.
The Executive Director leads a department of approximately 17 staff. This position partners closely with Salk administration and faculty to develop technology strategies that strengthen research capabilities, improve institutional operations, mitigate risk, and align technology investments with Salk’s strategic priorities.
Who We Are
The Salk Institute is an internationally renowned research institution that values all (https://www.salk.edu/about/our-community/) members of our scientific community. We seek bold and interactive leaders passionate about exploring new frontiers in science. Our collaborative community embraces perspectives across discipline, professional acumen, and unique life experiences, fostering innovation, and a sense of belonging. Together, we strive to improve the wellbeing of humanity through groundbreaking research.
Founded by Jonas Salk, developer of the first safe and effective polio vaccine, the Institute is an independent, nonprofit research organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature, and fearless in the face of any challenge. Salk's vibrant community has many talented individuals from varied backgrounds, each playing a crucial role in driving our mission forward. From visionary leaders (https://www.salk.edu/about/management-team/) to dedicated administrators (https://www.salk.edu/administration/) and brilliant faculty members (https://www.salk.edu/science/directory/faculty/), the Institute is united by a shared passion for scientific exploration and innovation.
What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and execute the Institute's enterprise technology strategy in alignment with Salk's Strategic Plan.
- Provide visionary leadership for Information Technology, Information Systems, Scientific Computing, and Cybersecurity Services.
- Establish enterprise technology governance, ensuring technology priorities align with institutional goals and operational needs.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, including enterprise and administrative uses of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, to improve research capabilities and administrative operations.
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer service throughout the technology organization.
- Partners with stakeholders to develop and execute Salk’s artificial intelligence strategy for administrative operations, ensuring AI investments align with institutional priorities, improve organizational effectiveness, and are implemented with appropriate governance, security, and accountability.
Technology Operations & Risk
- Direct all enterprise technology operations, including infrastructure, networking, cloud services, storage, virtualization, endpoint computing, identity management, enterprise applications, and service management.
- Ensure the availability, reliability, scalability, and security of enterprise technology systems supporting research and administrative operations.
- Lead institutional cybersecurity strategy, incident response, business continuity, disaster recovery, and enterprise risk management.
- Oversee enterprise application platforms supporting Finance, Human Resources, Research Administration, identity management, reporting, analytics, and institutional operations.
- Ensure technology architecture, integrations, and data governance support long-term institutional objectives
Scientific Computing & Research
- Provide strategic oversight of research cloud services, high-performance computing resources, scientific data storage, research networking, and shared computational infrastructure.
- Partner with faculty and research leadership to advance scientific computing capabilities that support computational biology, genomics, imaging, AI, machine learning, and data-intensive research.
- Support technology initiatives that accelerate scientific discovery while balancing performance, cost, security, and sustainability.
Operational Management
- Develop and manage the department's operating and capital budgets.
- Oversee technology procurement, vendor relationships, software licensing, consulting engagements, and contract negotiations.
- Develop long-term technology roadmaps and investment strategies based on institutional priorities, lifecycle planning, and risk management.
- Monitor technology performance metrics and service delivery to ensure operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead, mentor, develop, and evaluate a high-performing technology organization.
- Build collaborative partnerships with faculty, executive leadership, administrative departments, and external partners.
- Present technology strategies, investment recommendations, project updates, and institutional risks to executive leadership and governance committees.
- Promote a service-oriented culture that values transparency, accountability, innovation, and operational excellence.
- Performs other related duties as assigned by management.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Directly and indirectly supervises approximately 17 employees across Information Technology, Information Systems, Scientific Computing, and related technology functions.
- Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with Institute policies and applicable laws.
- Responsibilities include organizational planning, hiring, developing and evaluating staff, assigning and directing work, addressing performance concerns, resolving issues, and building succession and workforce plans.
What we Require
Required Skills and Experience:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
- Minimum of twelve (12) years of progressive leadership experience in Information Technology.
- Minimum of seven (7) years leading enterprise technology organizations with responsibility for multiple technology disciplines.
- Demonstrated experience leading:
- Enterprise Information Technology Operations
- Information Systems and Enterprise Applications
- Cybersecurity and Risk Management
- Scientific Computing or Research Computing
- Cloud Computing Services
- Infrastructure Operations
- IT Governance
- Enterprise Architecture
- Vendor and Contract Management
- Budget Development and Financial Management
- Organizational Change Management
- Strategic Planning
Preferred Skills and Experience:
- Master’s degree in related discipline or Business Administration
- Experience working within one or more of the following environments:
- Research Institutions
- Higher Education
- Biomedical Research
- Healthcare Systems
- Biotechnology
- Life Sciences
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Computer and technical skills:
- Enterprise resource planning and financial information systems
- Human Resource Information Systems or Human Capital Management (HRIS/HCM)
- IT service management and workflow platforms
- Cloud platforms, with AWS experience preferred
- Business intelligence, reporting, and analytics tools
- Identity and access management technologies
- Cybersecurity and risk-management platforms
- Microsoft Office and project or portfolio management tools
- Experience leading enterprise or administrative adoption of artificial intelligence, with demonstrated knowledge of AI governance and organizational change management. Working knowledge of the ServiceNow AI platform and its AI capabilities is strongly preferred.
What We Can Offer
The expected pay range for this position is $240,000-$285,000 per annum. Salk Institute provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the institute reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.
Benefits
Salk Institute offers competitive benefits (https://www.salk.edu/about/careers/benefits/), including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, patient advocacy services, and transit/parking program.
Salk Values
The Salk Community, both scientists and administrators, worked together to define values that we believe support Salk’s pursuit of excellence. To be truly the best scientific institution requires not only incredible discoveries, but a common understanding of how we should work together to enable those discoveries.
The acronym “I CARE” (https://www.salk.edu/about/careers/values/) provides a simple way to remember each of the values and reminds each of us of the importance of what we do each day.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing equal access to opportunities for students, employees, applicants for employment and other visitors. Salk has also adopted and maintains a policy to encourage professional and respectful workplace behavior and prevent discriminatory and harassing conduct in our workplace.
Accordingly, the Institute prohibits harassment and discrimination in employment on the basis of, and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to, actual or perceived race (race is inclusive of traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles include, but not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, and twists), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), reproductive health decision making, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status (disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era, other covered veteran status), political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.
Discrimination is prohibited with any intersectionality of the above-mentioned characteristics, including:
- Any combination of characteristics.
- A perception that the person has any of the characteristics or any combination of those characteristics.
- A perception that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics or any combination of those characteristics.
Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
