Research Scientific Director

Job Description

At Houston Methodist, the Research/Scientific Director is responsible for advancing the research mission of the Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) through leadership in innovation, implementation science, digital health, and AI-enabled research. This role provides strategic scientific oversight for innovation and implementation research programs, including complex, multidisciplinary projects that leverage data science, analytics, clinical workflows, and health system transformation methodologies.

The Research/Scientific Director serves as a senior scientific leader and institutional representative, acting as a gatekeeper for research relationships with government agencies, industry partners, and academic collaborators. The role holds authority to pause or redirect research activities as needed to ensure compliance with institutional policies, regulatory requirements, and accreditation standards.

This position operates to ensure that the scientific, operational, and budgetary needs of the department’s research portfolio are met. The Director supports management and research staff by monitoring scientific rigor and performance, standardizing research and analytic practices, optimizing financial and data resources, maintaining productivity, and resolving scientific, technical, and operational challenges across projects.

Key Responsibilities

•Lead and define the scientific strategy for innovation, implementation, digital health, and AI-focused research programs aligned with institutional priorities.

•Provide senior leadership in research methods, study design, data science, analytics, and evaluation frameworks for health services and implementation research.

•Lead and oversee scientific writing, including manuscripts, abstracts, white papers, and institutional reports, ensuring high-quality scholarly output.

•Co-lead the scientific design and execution of clinical trials and pragmatic studies, particularly those involving digital tools, AI, and health system interventions.

•Co-lead grant development efforts, including conceptualization, methodological design, and scientific sections for federal, foundation, and industry-sponsored funding.

•Serve as a scientific mentor for postdoctoral fellows, MD research fellows, PhD students, and other trainees, fostering academic development and research independence.

•Collaborate with internal stakeholders to align research initiatives with operational goals, clinical priorities, and system-wide innovation efforts.

•Ensure responsible stewardship of research resources, including budgets, data assets, and external partnerships.

Scope Clarification

This role does not involve traditional wet-laboratory oversight or bench-based scientific research. Instead, it focuses on non-lab-based, translational, and applied research, emphasizing implementation science, digital healthcare, artificial intelligence, analytics, and real-world clinical impact. This role does not involve traditional wet-laboratory oversight or bench-based scientific research. Instead, it focuses on non-lab-based, translational, and applied research, emphasizing implementation science, digital healthcare, artificial intelligence, analytics, and real-world clinical impact.

Essential Functions (People/Percent) - 20

Provides expert scientific guidance to departmental scientists, data scientists, research staff, management, and executive leadership, and advises Principal Investigators on study design, methods, analytics, and scientific direction within areas of innovation, implementation science, digital health, and AI. Serves as a liaison between research teams, departmental leadership, institutional committees, and executives to ensure scientific alignment and effective communication, and ensures team members are appropriately trained in the responsible and effective use of analytic platforms, digital tools, and research systems.

•Collaborates with Communications and External Relations to develop internal and external communication materials that highlight the department’s research capabilities and impact, including web content, digital assets, presentations, seminars, Grand Rounds, posters, and other dissemination and outreach efforts.

•Provides scientific leadership to research and analytic teams, fostering productivity, accountability, and collaboration among data scientists, clinical research fellows, and research specialists, and contributes to initiatives that strengthen team engagement, peer accountability, and a high-performance research culture.

Essential Functions (Service/Percent) - 25

•Provides scientific leadership and oversight for departmental research programs, including in-house and vendor-sponsored projects, ensuring high-quality scientific execution, rigor, and accountability.

•Develops and implements a scientific strategy that supports sustainability and appropriate business models for existing research programs, while defining priorities for future methodological, analytic, and technological capabilities.

•Coordinates the preparation and submission of annual and project-level scientific reports summarizing program activities, milestones, and outcomes, and maintains accurate records of research expertise, outputs, and data assets.

•Leads and oversees complex research and field-based studies, designs and applies original methods and analytical approaches, interprets and synthesizes research findings, and drives continuous improvement of research methods, processes, and workflows to enhance scientific quality, efficiency, and impact.

Essential Functions (Quality/Safety/Percent) - 25

•Works closely with staff to ensure departmental research activities are prepared for internal and external reviews and audits, including Houston Methodist compliance mechanisms and Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight, and adhere to all applicable institutional, regulatory, and sponsor requirements. Serves as a regulatory and scientific gatekeeper for departmental studies, including device and survey-based clinical trials, ensuring staff compliance with protocol requirements, human subjects protections, data governance standards, and reporting obligations.

•Establishes, implements, and oversees departmental research processes for project intake, prioritization, scheduling, and tracking of in-house and vendor-sponsored studies, including coordination of project timelines, deliverables, through established systems. Reviews and maintains study documentation, protocols, and analytic plans to ensure visibility into all ongoing prospective and retrospective research activities and to support effective oversight of project teams.

•Ensures departmental policies and procedures related to research conduct, data security, privacy, and ethical standards are current and consistently applied, including coordinating required training for new hires and team members transitioning into new research roles, and reinforcing compliance with institutional policies governing human subjects research, digital tools, and clinical technologies.

Essential Functions (Finance/Percent) - 25

•Actively engages in grant writing to federal agencies and private corporations. Participates in developing new research proposals and prepares all required materials for submission for external funding opportunities.

•Provides scientific and technical guidance within the area of expertise to strengthen proposal development, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and sponsor requirements.

•Leads and coordinates the preparation of grant application components, including narratives, supporting documents, compliance materials, and submission forms.

•Works collaboratively with the Operations Manager to ensure all grant preparation activities follow institutional policies, timelines, and procedural requirements.

•Collaborates with internal offices and stakeholders to ensure proposals meet federal, state, and institutional guidelines prior to submission.

•Serves as a liaison between investigators, administrative units, and external partners to facilitate timely and competitive grant submissions.

Essential Functions (Growth/Innovation/Percent) - 5

• Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs and takes appropriate action. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management. Attends annual national or international Leadership/Officer conferences. Completes and updates the My Development Plan on an on-going basis.

FLSA STATUS
Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• PhD, terminal degree in one of the natural sciences

EXPERIENCE

• Ten years of relevant research/academic experience
• Leadership or administrative track record, ideally with prior experience in developing or overseeing multi-faceted, interprofessional research enterprises within a lab environment

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Required

• Certification as applies to specific expertise. Licensed to provide clinical care/services as appropriate

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
• Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation and public speaking skills to work with others in a collegial atmosphere
• Experience developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships among stakeholders and partners on campus, in university, industry, government and/or the non-profit sector
• Expertise in a Core Facility/Laboratory specific scientific area
• Success in grant writing/proposal development and the acquisition of extramural funding
• Extensive understanding of scientific principles
• Aptitude to learn computer-based Core management/invoicing systems
• Expert level knowledge and skills in field of science related to research project

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides expert scientific guidance to HMAI scientists, staff, management and executives. Assists HMAI Principal Investigators with scientific advice surrounding Core area of expertise. Serves as liaison between scientists & staff and management, committees & executives related to area of expertise. Ensures all team members have been trained to use laboratory equipment, software, and supplies safely and efficiently
• Works with Communications and External Relations Office to establish Intra- and Inter-Net pages, marketing pamphlet, and other marketing tools (seminar, Grand Rounds, Posters, etc.)
• Assumes responsibility for the management, facilitation, and productivity of laboratory technologists. Initiates recommendations towards improvement of department scores for employee engagement, i.e. peer-to-peer accountability.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Manages the overall operation and administration of the laboratory, including the employment of competent personnel, equipment, safety, laboratory policies, quality assurance, all testing (including proficiency testing) and test reports.
• Develops a strategic plan that includes sustainability and business models for existing core services and priorities for future instrumentation and services.
• Coordinates the submission of an annual report summarizing the activities and progress of the program. Maintains accurate records of expertise related activities and data.
• Performs complex (lab and/or field) experiments and maintains detailed records of experiments and outcomes; analyzes and interprets research data resulting from original procedures and methods; oversees critical analyses of data and improves methods/procedures/processes related to expertise

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Works with Core staff to ensure Core is prepared for inspections by Houston Methodist internal mechanisms (HMH Environmental Health Services (EHS), HMAI Institutional Review Board (IRB), HMAI HSC/IBC, HMAI Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)) and adheres to safety standards, (HM, HMAI, Core Specific). Regulatory responsibilities include; gate keeper/interaction with agencies, ensuring staff are in compliance with all regulatory requirements; conducting laboratory inspections as necessary.
• Establishes, implements and manages Core processes for scheduling of services/equipment and invoicing via appropriate HMAI system. Writes, maintains and reviews laboratory protocols of all research groups (internal and external) so as to understand all projects occurring within the lab; overseeing staff as required.
• Updates the lab safety plan and safety data sheets (SDS) as necessary; scheduling safety training for new hires or team members entering new roles; enforces policies around personal protective equipment.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Actively engages in grant writing to federal agencies and private corporations. Participates in creating new research proposals and prepares for submission for funding and grants.
• Provides scientific advice in the area of expertise, financial comparisons for technology/equipment options and recommends direction for the Core’s capital equipment purchases for HMAI/Leadership/Strategic Plan. Assumes responsibility and oversight for goals and objectives related to “expertise”, to include preparing cost projections for department/office activities and maintains accurate records of expenditures.
• In coordination with the Office of Central Laboratory Operations and the Office of Budgets and Financial Reporting and in compliance with Federal regulations, establishes a schedule of charges (fee schedule) for services/resources provided by the Core.
• Monitors inventory and ordering supplies (chemicals, reagents, personal protective equipment, etc.) as necessary; scheduling laboratory and equipment time for staff; acting as a liaison between staff and key stakeholders.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs and takes appropriate action. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management. Attends annual national or international Leadership/Officer conferences. Completes and updates the My Development Plan on an on-going basis.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS
WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* No

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area No
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• PhD, terminal degree in one of the natural sciences

EXPERIENCE

• Ten years of relevant research/academic experience
• Leadership or administrative track record, ideally with prior experience in developing or overseeing multi-faceted, interprofessional research enterprises within a lab environment

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
Required

• Certification as applies to specific expertise. Licensed to provide clinical care/services as appropriate