Director, Health Technology Development - SOM Institute for Health Computing
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- United States
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- Hybrid
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The Director of Technology Development serves as a senior leader bringing together clinical medicine, data science, and health technology commercialization within the UM-IHC to generate marketable health tech products. This newly established role is critical to the Institute’s mission of translating emerging artificial intelligence and computational health research into real-world clinical tools and products.
The Director will partner with physician investigators, PhD scientists, and interdisciplinary research teams to surface unmet clinical needs, define technology solutions, and shepherd those solutions from concept through validation and into the marketplace. Working across highly matrixed academic & clinical environments, the Director leads by influence, coordinating the work of physician-scientists with that of engineers and data scientists to produce high-value clinical and research tools. The role requires equal comfort in a whiteboard session with clinicians, a sprint planning meeting with AI engineers, and a licensing discussion with the technology transfer office.
Clinical & Scientific Need Discovery
- Engage physicians, advanced practice providers, and PhD scientists through structured and informal discovery processes to identify high-priority unmet clinical, operational, and research needs.
- Evaluate identified needs for technical feasibility, strategic fit, and commercial potential in collaboration with Institute leadership.
- Maintain an active pipeline of problem statements and proposed technology concepts, updated through regular engagement with clinical and research stakeholders.
- Stay current with advances in clinical AI, digital health, and health informatics to inform both need identification and technical strategy.
Technology Development Oversight
- Translate clinical and scientific requirements into clear, actionable technical specifications for development teams.
- Direct the work of software engineers, data scientists, and AI/ML specialists by setting priorities, defining milestones, and maintaining accountability through influence and collaboration.
- Provide technical leadership and quality oversight for AI and machine learning model development, training, validation, and deployment, including familiarity with responsible AI practices and regulatory considerations for clinical AI tools.
- Coordinate across multiple projects simultaneously, balancing resource constraints and shifting institutional priorities.
- Identify and address technical risks, gaps in expertise, and dependencies before they become project blockers.
Validation & Clinical Testing Strategy
- In partnership with physician and scientist collaborators, design validation frameworks appropriate to each technology’s stage and intended use, including prospective clinical pilots, retrospective performance analyses, and usability studies.
- Ensure validation activities address relevant regulatory pathways (e.g., FDA Software as a Medical Device guidance, IRB requirements) and document evidence needed for commercialization.
- Interpret and communicate validation results to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership and potential licensees.
Market Analysis & Commercialization in collaboration with business development team:
- Assess the competitive landscape and potential customer base for Institute-developed technologies, drawing on knowledge of the healthcare industry, payer dynamics, and health system procurement processes.
- Identify and characterize target markets, including health systems, payers, digital health companies, and pharmaceutical or life sciences partners.
- Prepare market-facing materials, opportunity summaries, and technology briefs to support licensing and partnership discussions.
- Support the cultivation of relationships with industry partners, investors, and potential licensees as appropriate. Pitch to potential customers.
- Collaborate actively with the University’s technology transfer office to advance intellectual property disclosures, patent strategy, and licensing negotiations.
Stakeholder Engagement & Matrixed Leadership
- Build and sustain trusted relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders across clinical departments, research centers, administrative units, and external partners.
- Communicate complex technical concepts clearly and compellingly to non-technical audiences, including clinicians, executives, and potential commercial partners.
- Navigate institutional complexity, competing priorities, and ambiguous reporting structures with professionalism and efficiency.
- Represent the Institute in cross-functional working groups, grant applications, conference presentations, and external-facing activities as appropriate.
- Contribute to strategic planning for the Institute’s technology development portfolio and help establish best practices, workflows, and governance structures as the team grows.
Required
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, biomedical informatics, engineering, or a related technical field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Minimum of 8–10 years of progressive experience in technology development, with demonstrated expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning, including building and leading teams that design, train, evaluate, or deploy AI/ML models.
Substantive experience in clinical informatics, health IT, or digital health, including direct familiarity with electronic health record systems, clinical workflows, and/or healthcare data standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR, ICD/CPT coding, clinical NLP).
Demonstrated ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries and lead cross-functional teams without direct supervisory authority.
Proven track record of translating complex user needs into technical requirements and delivering working technology solutions.
Strong communication skills with the ability to engage credibly with both technical developers and clinical/scientific stakeholders.
Familiarity with healthcare market dynamics, health system operations, and the business of healthcare delivery.
Preferred
Master’s or doctoral degree (MBA, PhD, MD/PhD, or MD with substantial informatics or technology background) in a relevant field.
Experience in an academic medical center, academic research computing, or academic technology commercialization environment.
Experience with FDA regulatory frameworks for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), clinical decision support, or digital health products.
Familiarity with grant-funded research environments and experience contributing to sponsored research proposals.
Experience building or growing a technology development function within a new or evolving organizational context.
Leadership Profile
The ideal candidate is an intellectually curious, mission-driven leader who thrives at the intersection of technology and medicine. They are energized by the challenge of turning clinical insight into practical tools—and by the complexity of doing so within a large, matrixed academic health system. They bring genuine respect for both the scientific rigor of academic medicine and the pragmatism required to build and market products.
Success in this role requires exceptional interpersonal skills: the ability to earn trust quickly, listen well, communicate across disciplines, and move work forward without relying on formal authority. The Director should be comfortable with ambiguity, skilled at managing competing priorities, and motivated by long-term impact on patient care.
Work Environment
This position operates within a dynamic, matrixed academic health computing environment, reporting to the UM-IHC Executive Co-Director. The Director will interact regularly with faculty physicians, PhD-level researchers, administrative leaders, and technical staff across multiple institutional units. This is a staff, not faculty, position. Travel to partner sites, conferences, or off-campus meetings may be required periodically. Hybrid work environment.
