Senior Manager, Collaboration Capabilities

Primary Work Address: 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815

Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account.

HHMI is focused on supporting and moving science forward in a variety of different ways ranging from conducting basic biomedical research, empowering educators, inspiring students, developing the next generation of scientists – even stretching into film and media production. Our Headquarters is in the greater Washington, DC metro area and is home to over 300 employees with expertise in investments, communications, digital production, biomedical sciences, and everything in between. The work housed here supports and augments the groundbreaking research conducted in HHMI labs across the nation. As HHMI scientists continue to push boundaries in laboratories and classrooms, you can be sure that your contributions while working here are making a difference.

This is a role for someone who still writes code, still reads the pull request, and is just as comfortable sitting with a finance or HR lead to work out what they actually need.

This role will lead a team of developers and analysts who build the custom tools that sit between HHMI’s enterprise systems. Think workflow automations, departmental applications, and the platform behind the Institute’s internal communications. The work supports administrative teams at Headquarters and Janelia, and it fills the gaps no off-the-shelf product covers.

HHMI is moving its collaboration platform and custom applications to a new environment and cloud platform. At the same time, the team is making AI-assisted development its normal way of working. This role will lead both efforts, and keep the lights on while doing so.

This role will work closely with Operational Capabilities leadership, Enterprise Architecture, the Everyday AI team, IT Services, Science and Investments Capabilities teams, and partners across the Institute. This position sets the standards, serves as lead architect for the team’s solutions, and is accountable for what ships.

This position works on a hybrid schedule, reporting in-person three days a week to our headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

What this role will actually do

• Lead the technical work. This role will guide the design, build, testing, and deployment of secure, maintainable applications and automations. It sets the team’s standards for source control, code review, CI/CD, automated testing, and security review, and holds the line on them.

• Move the portfolio to its next home. This role will assess every custom application and decide whether to re-platform, replace, or retire it as HHMI leaves the Microsoft 365 tenant. The position keeps a current inventory of applications, integrations, and vendor products, and calls out where Workday, Google Workspace, or the data platform can do the job without custom code.

• Make AI-assisted development routine. This role will bring tools like Claude Code and GitHub Copilot into the team’s daily work and define how AI-generated code is reviewed, tested, and secured. It will also work with the Everyday AI team to find places where agents, retrieval, and automation can replace what used to need a custom app.

• Decide what gets built, and when. This role will work with Operational Capabilities leadership and delivery management to take in, size, prioritize, and forecast requests.
• Be the technical owner for partners and vendors. This role will build trusted relationships with business partners at HQ and Janelia, and bring technical judgment to requirements, evaluation, and implementation. It also owns the technical side of vendor products and renewals, such as e-signature, document management, and event management, alongside business owners and Procurement.

• Build the team. This role will hire people whose skills complement each other, set high expectations, and help them grow. The position assigns the work, measures how the team is doing, and leads the upskilling on Google’s platform, modern web development, and AI-assisted practices.

What we are looking for

• Still close to the code. The ideal candidate has eight or more years building web applications and workflow automation for business users, and can review a design or a pull request with real opinions.

• Leads through the weeds. This person has led a development team for three or more years. They have hired, coached, and handled the difficult performance conversations.

• Rebuilds while running. This person can move a team through a platform transition without letting service drop. They have worked on a migration or a large modernization, or can show how they would approach one.

• Judgment over reflex. This person can tell when to build, buy, or retire, and will say so when an AI capability or an enterprise platform should replace custom code.

• AI in the real workflow. This person has used AI-assisted development tools with a team, and has a point of view on how to review and test what they produce.

• Fluent in the stack. This person knows modern web development (React or similar, TypeScript or JavaScript, Python), relational and cloud data stores, GitHub workflows, CI/CD, and identity patterns like SSO, OAuth, and role-based access. AWS, Google Workspace (Apps Script, Workspace APIs) or Google Cloud serverless experience is what we need most.

• Translates both ways. The candidate can explain a technical trade-off to a senior leader and to a frontline colleague, and can turn a vague business need into a clear requirement.

• Customers come first. This person treats colleagues across HHMI as customers, answers the urgent request from a finance or HR lead before defending the design, follows up until the problem is actually fixed, and holds the team to the same standard.

• Calm with ambiguity. This person makes good calls when the plan is incomplete, handles competing priorities without drama, and acts when they spot a problem instead of waiting to be asked.

Nice to have

• Experience with Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform, SharePoint, or Dataverse. It will help during the migration period.

• Experience running agile development processes across several teams or partners.

• A degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.

What this role is not

• A role for someone who only manages. This role is hands-on with architecture, standards, and review.

• A maintenance job for a stable portfolio. Most of what the team runs today will be moved, replaced, or retired.

• A pure project management role. This role owns technical decisions, not just tracks them.

Practical details

This role is based at HHMI Headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and reports to the Director, Operational Capabilities. This position leads a team of developers and analysts, plus contractors and consultants as needed. We require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, eight or more years of professional software development experience, and three or more years leading a development team.

Physical Requirements

Remaining in a normal seated or standing position for extended periods of time; reaching and grasping by extending hand(s) or arm(s); dexterity to manipulate objects with fingers, for example using a keyboard; communication skills using the spoken word; ability to see and hear within normal parameters; ability to move about workspace. The position requires mobility, including the ability to move materials weighing up to several pounds (such as a laptop computer or tablet).

Persons with disabilities may be able to perform the essential duties of this position with reasonable accommodation. Requests for reasonable accommodation will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Please Note

This job description sets forth the job’s principal duties, responsibilities, and requirements; it should not be construed as an exhaustive statement, however. Unless they begin with the word “may,” the duties described above under “What this role will actually do” are “essential functions” of the job, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Compensation and Benefits

Our employees are compensated from a total rewards perspective in many ways for their contributions to our mission, including competitive pay, exceptional health benefits, retirement plans, time off, and a range of recognition and wellness programs. Visit our Benefits at HHMI site to learn more.

Hiring Pay Range

$171,694.40 - $214,618.00

Pay Type:

Annual

The posted range reflects HHMI’s good faith estimate of the anticipated hiring salary range for this role at the time of posting. Actual hiring compensation is determined by a candidate’s qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

HHMI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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About Us

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an independent, ever-evolving philanthropy that supports basic biomedical scientists and educators with the potential for transformative impact. We make long-term investments in people, not just projects, because we believe in the power of individuals to make breakthroughs over time.

Why HHMI

To move science forward we need a diverse collection of talents, expertise, and backgrounds in scientific research and science education, as well as communications, finance, human resources, information technology, investments, law, and operations.

At HHMI, we encourage collaborative and results-driven working styles and offer an adaptable environment where employees can do their best work.

What makes us strong is the diversity of our perspectives. We work to promote a culture of inclusion in our work environments and across the greater scientific community. To find more information about us and the steps we're taking to make HHMI a more inclusive organization, visit our About Us page.

A Note for Job Seekers

Your best option for consideration in our career opportunities is to apply directly via our HHMI Careers site. There, you will learn more about HHMI and can find information about our available roles.

Contact us at recruitingsupport@hhmi.orgif you require an accommodation related to completing the job application. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

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