Penn State Job Catalog

The defined natural career progression within or between job profiles.

Research Computing Project Management

The Research Computing Project Manager plans, coordinates, and manages complex research computing projects and programs that enable computational, data-intensive, and interdisciplinary research; partners with principal investigators, research teams, information technology professionals, research administration, and external sponsors to define project objectives, develop implementation plans, coordinate technical resources, monitor budgets and schedules, and ensure successful delivery of research computing services and project outcomes; serves as the primary liaison among faculty, research sponsors, and technical teams to support high-performance computing (HPC), cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data science, and advanced cyberinfrastructure initiatives; promotes best practices in project management, research collaboration, and stakeholder engagement, while ensuring compliance with sponsor, institutional, and regulatory requirements.

• Lead multiple concurrent research computing projects throughout the project lifecycle, including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, reporting, and project closeout
• Collaborate with principal investigators, faculty, researchers, sponsors, and technical staff to define project scope, objectives, deliverables, schedules, budgets, risks, and resource requirements
• Develop project charters, work plans, statements of work, schedules, communication plans, risk assessments, and performance metrics using project management best practices
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams consisting of research faculty, research computing specialists, data scientists, and external collaborators
• Monitor project scope, milestones, budgets, resource utilization, deliverables, and overall performance; identify risks and implement corrective actions to ensure successful project execution
• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned projects by facilitating communication among investigators, research teams, sponsors, leadership, and other staff
• Coordinate research computing resources including high-performance computing clusters, cloud environments, storage, networking, visualization, and scientific software to support research objectives
• Partner with research administration and financial staff to establish project budgets, monitor expenditures, reconcile accounts, prepare financial reports, and ensure compliance with sponsor and institutional requirements
• Coordinate proposal development activities by assisting with project planning, resource estimates, computing requirements, budgets, schedules, technical documentation, and project management plans for sponsored research proposals
• Maintain compliance with federal, state, sponsor, and institutional regulations, including research administration requirements, data security, privacy, conflict of interest, export controls, and other applicable research compliance standards
• Prepare executive reports, project dashboards, presentations, technical documentation, sponsor reports, and project status updates for leadership, funding agencies, and research stakeholders
• Coordinate workshops, seminars, user forums, outreach events, advisory board meetings, and other engagement activities supporting research computing initiatives
• Develop and maintain relationships with faculty, researchers, industry partners, government agencies, and external organizations to expand research collaborations and identify new research computing opportunities
• Coordinate user engagement activities, training programs, and educational resources that promote effective utilization of research computing technologies, cyberinfrastructure, AI/ML, and data science capabilities
• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery processes, governance, workflows, documentation standards, and operational efficiency through continuous process improvement initiatives
• Monitor emerging technologies, project management methodologies, and research computing trends to recommend improvements that enhance research capabilities and organizational effectiveness
• May supervise staff members, including hiring, development, and performance management

Level:

– Senior Supervisor

Base Description:

– Supervises direct reports, but primarily completes activities, tasks, and/or projects of a functional nature.

Level Summary:

– Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge to perform own work; spends majority of time on tasks related to own job responsibilities. May demonstrate subject matter expertise. Demonstrates intermediate to advanced planning, organizing, directing, and facilitating skills. Demonstrates the ability to coach assigned employees. Assigns and reviews completed work to verify accuracy, quality, and adherence to professional standards. Trains, coaches, mentors, and motivates staff. Anticipates potential problems, issues, and opportunities; researches and recommends solutions within defined policies. May develop creative recommendations for solving problems.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

– Typically oversees at least 2 full–time direct reports or equivalent team of part–time and/or student workers (for Professional track, performs work at the Senior Professional level or higher)

Fiscal Responsibilities:

– May validate and pay invoices
– Monitors and tracks budgets for specific area and/or grant(s)
– May assist in planning and forecasting budgets

Problem Solving:

– Encounters moderately complex problems
– Applies general precedents and practices and specialized knowledge and skills to resolve problems
– Understands benefits, limitations and impact of potential solutions
– Anticipates potential problems and recommends possible solutions within general guidelines

Independence of Action:

– Works independently on moderately complex work assignments, reviews progress, and evaluates results
– Organizes work of direct reports and sets team priorities
– Reviews the work of others to verify accuracy, quality, and adherence to professional standards

Communication and Collaboration:

– Communicates internally within working unit and the University
– Communicates with external audiences for scheduling/coordination
– May communicate with external audiences for business purposes
– Collaborates closely with team members; may interact with other staff outside of area
– Utilizes a communication style that is appropriate for a given situation
– Interprets and communicates information, ideas and instructions clearly, accurately and persuasively both verbally and in written materials intended for distribution

• Comp Grade – 13
• Minimum – $91,488.00
• MidPoint – $114,384.00
• Maximum – $137,280.00

• Budget Management
• Change Management
• Cloud computing
• Collaboration
• Continuous Quality Improvement
• Machine learning
• Project Management
• Research administration
• Risk Management
• Stakeholder management
• Strategic Planning
• Technical Writing