Assistant Director of Data Science

Assistant Director of Data Science & AI

Job Summary

Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah is seeking an Assistant Director of Data Science & AI to join its growing Office of Data Science & AI. This position will work in close partnership with the Senior Director of Data Science & AI, representing the office in institutional and cross-functional meetings, advancing key program initiatives, and helping to build the office’s capacity to deliver AI- and data-driven solutions across HCI’s research and clinical enterprise.

This is an excellent opportunity for a computational cancer biologist or data scientist with hands-on experience applying large language models (LLMs) and AI tools to real-world oncology and genomic data, who is ready to take on a leadership role helping to shape the strategic direction and growth of a new institutional data science function.

Huntsman Cancer Institute is committed to cancer prevention, care, and survivorship for all communities within the area we serve – which includes Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming – with impact worldwide.

In your cover letter or during your interview process, we invite you to share how your professional experiences have prepared you to serve as a member of our team as we work to reduce the cancer burden experienced by all people and communities. This may include description of your prior experiences related to research, prevention, clinical care, community engagement/outreach, training, administration, or other areas relevant to Huntsman Cancer Institute’s mission and this position.

Learn more about the great benefits of working for University of Utah: benefits.utah.edu

The department may choose to hire at any of the below job levels and associated pay rates based on their business need and budget.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a close partner to the Senior Director of Data Science & AI, representing the office and its initiatives at internal and external meetings, and reporting back on outcomes and action items.
• Assist in the day-to-day leadership and growth of the Office of Data Science & AI, including contributing to program strategy, staffing plans, and onboarding of future team members.
• Design, develop, and deploy LLM-driven and other AI-powered analytical systems that enable natural-language interaction with complex biomedical, genomic, and clinical datasets.
• Develop and apply evaluation frameworks to assess the reliability, safety, and performance of AI-generated outputs for research and clinical use.
• Lead and support analysis of real-world oncology data, including applications related to clinical safety monitoring and translational research.
• Translate research and clinical questions into working analytical pipelines, tools, and dashboards, using languages and platforms such as Python, R, and Streamlit.
• Partner with clinical, translational, and computational research teams across HCI to identify, scope, and deliver high-value data science and AI applications.
• Communicate technical findings and program updates clearly to cross-functional scientific, clinical, and executive audiences, including through presentations, reports, and manuscripts.
• Contribute to grant applications, publications, and conference presentations that showcase the Office of Data Science & AI’s work.
• Coordinate annual symposium, workshops, seminars for the Office of Data Science & AI.
• Mentor rotation students, trainees, and junior staff engaged in data science and AI projects within the office.

Minimum Qualifications

EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).

Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels:

Associate Director, Data Science Management: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 10 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 8 years of directly related work experience.

Preferences

• PhD in oncological sciences, computational biology, bioinformatics, genetics, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated experience integrating genomic, real-world, and/or clinical data using computational approaches.
• Hands-on experience developing and deploying LLM-based or other AI-driven analytical tools, including prompt engineering and/or evaluation of AI-generated outputs.
• Proficiency in Python, R, and/or Bash, with experience building reproducible computational pipelines.
• Experience with high-throughput genomic data types (e.g., RNA-seq, scRNA-seq, ChIP-seq, epigenomics).
• Strong record of first-author scientific publication and experience presenting research to varied scientific audiences, especially evidence of publication as first-author in implementing LLM/AI for cancer research.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to translate technical work for cross-functional and non-technical stakeholders.
• Postdoctoral research experience in an academic cancer center or comparable biomedical research setting.
• Experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI frameworks, or other applied LLM architectures.
• Familiarity with Docker, Streamlit, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments.
• Experience mentoring students or junior researchers, and/or prior teaching experience.
• Experience as a scientific writer or communicator (e.g., research summaries, science journalism, or public-facing scientific content).
• Recognition through fellowships, awards, or competitive funding reflecting leadership and excellence in computational or translational cancer research.

Additional Information

The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems (“URS”). Eligible new hires with prior URS service, may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS’ post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.

This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.

The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education.

Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.

Consistent with state and federal law, the University of Utah does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.

To request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX (OEO). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator’s office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number can be located at the University of Utah Non‑Discrimination page.

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As per University of Utah policy 5-108: Transfer of Benefits Eligible Staff Members, a new hire to the University of Utah who is still serving a 12 month probationary period will not be hired into another University of Utah job (a transfer) until the successful completion of the probationary period.