Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides superior pediatric care in a setting that offers the latest benefits and innovations in medical technology, research and family-friendly design. As the largest pediatric provider in the region with a 140-year legacy of excellence, kids and their families are at the center of all we do. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is ranked in all 10 specialties by the U.S. News & World Report.

Location

Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center

Job Description

The Associate Director of Clinical Research Informatics leads Clinical Research Informatics Services (CRI) within the Quantitative Science Pillar (QSP). This role focuses on enabling and supporting the use of the Epic application to meet the research needs of our investigators. The Associate Director oversees, assigns, and prioritizes the work of a team of Epic Analysts who provide direct research support to the scientific community through consultations, grant development, and contributing to projects using a collaborative team science approach. The Associate Director will be familiar with the scientific and/or technical consultation process, developing scopes of work, triaging service requests, assigning projects to team members based on skillset and bandwidth, and maintaining clear and regular communication with researchers that is professional and customer oriented. The Associate Director is responsible for working with their team and the QSP Operations team to continuously refine and optimize service delivery to balance quality of work, timeliness of work, researcher experience, staff satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness. The Associate Director must have the technical and scientific skills to take on their own projects while also mentoring and advising team members on their assignments. The Associate Director serves as an Epic applications leader, educator, and advocate for the research community, and will have appointments to relevant committees and governing bodies, as well as opportunities to communicate more broadly across the institution. As a technical expert, the Associate Director will play a key role in advancing the organization’s research informatics strategy, contributing to the development of technical infrastructure, policies, and service offerings. The Associate Director will help foster a culture of innovation that can lead to meaningful contributions to the scientific and/or technical community, including through publications, open-source releases, public datasets, and commercialization opportunities. This position will work collaboratively with Information Management, the other scientific directors and operations within QSP under the direction of the Director of Operations for Quantitative Science and the CRIO of the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. 

Essential Job Functions:

Lead and oversee Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) Services: Direct a team of Epic application analysts and supporting staff, ensuring the delivery of high-quality CRI services, including consultations, data discovery requests, grant development, Epic Research module and associated build maintenance, etc. using a collaborative team approach. 

Manage and optimize service workflows: Coordinate the intake, triage, and assignment of research support requests, tailoring the allocation of projects, maintenance, optimization requests, and upgrade tasks to team members based on expertise and capacity while prioritizing timely and cost-effective delivery. 

Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships: Cultivate strong, customer-oriented communication with researchers, ensuring regular updates on project progress, fostering trust and satisfaction through responsive and professional service. 

Mentor and advise staff on technical and project-related matters: Provide hands-on support and guidance to team members, advising on complex Epic research projects while contributing to individual projects as a technical expert. 

Support professional development: Facilitate workshops, trainings, and continuing education activities to foster the growth and development of Epic analysts and support staff. 

Collaborate on strategic research informatics initiatives: Partner with institutional technology leaders, including the Chief Research Informatics Officer and Director of Research Operations and Conduct, and Information Management to design and implement infrastructure and policies that advance organizational research goals, and develop roadmaps to achieve those goals. 

Contribute to institutional research informatics leadership: Serve as a key research informatics advocate, educator, and thought leader, participating in committees, and representing the research informatics function across the institution. 

Promote a culture of innovation and scientific contribution: Support the generation of impactful research outputs, including publications, supporting institutional goals for scientific excellence.  Collaborate closely with the Clinical Research Informatics Faculty Lead for service center operations.

The authority to hire, separate, promote, demote, write, and administer performance evaluations for their direct reports, and partner with IM managers to execute the same responsibilities for Epic analysts that have a matrixed reporting relationship to the Associate Director. 

Other job functions as assigned. 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Bachelor’s degree in data science or analytics, healthcare administration, business, information management, or related field required.

Minimum of 10 years of experience working in Epic systems, with a strong preference for clinical, research, or healthcare industry experience. At least 2-3 of those years should have been in a research-role at an academic medical center, university, or research institute. 

Epic team leadership/management experience is strongly preferred. 

Strong preference for Epic certification in one of the following applications: Research, Ambulatory, Inpatient.

Significant track record of managing Epic initiatives involving design, creation and modifications of research orders, SmartForms, Epic Research module, and additional ancillary application or services in the Epic ecosystem. Significant track record of proposing, obtaining, and participating in grant-funded research. 

Expert written, oral and visual communication skills, with an ability to communicate effectively to a range of audiences. 

Working experience working with diverse data types including Epic structured and unstructured data through a clinical research informatics lens.

Working Knowledge of Epic EHR reporting systems (Clarity, Caboodle Data Warehouse, SlicerDicer, Cosmos, Cogito) and clinical data models strongly preferred. 

Education

Bachelor's Degree (Required)

Pay Range

$117,520.00-$193,918.40 Salary

At Lurie Children’s, we are committed to competitive and fair compensation aligned with market rates and internal equity, reflecting individual contributions, experience, and expertise. The pay range for this job indicates minimum and maximum targets for the position. Ranges are regularly reviewed to stay aligned with market conditions. In addition to base salary, Lurie Children’s offer a comprehensive rewards package that may include differentials for some hourly employees, leadership incentives for select roles, health and retirement benefits, and wellbeing programs. For more details on other compensation, consult your recruiter or click the following link to learn more about our benefits.

Benefit Statement

For full time and part time employees who work 20 or more hours per week we offer a generous benefits package that includes:

Medical, dental and vision insurance

Employer paid group term life and disability

Employer contribution toward Health Savings Account

Flexible Spending Accounts

Paid Time Off (PTO), Paid Holidays and Paid Parental Leave

403(b) with a 5% employer match

Various voluntary benefits:

Supplemental Life, AD&D and Disability

Critical Illness, Accident and Hospital Indemnity coverage

Tuition assistance

Student loan servicing and support

Adoption benefits

Backup Childcare and Eldercare

Employee Assistance Program, and other specialized behavioral health services and resources for employees and family members

Discount on services at Lurie Children’s facilities

Discount purchasing program

There’s a Place for You with Us

At Lurie Children’s, we embrace and celebrate building a team with a variety of backgrounds, skills, and viewpoints — recognizing that different life experiences strengthen our workplace and the care we provide to the Chicago community and beyond. We treat everyone fairly, appreciate differences, and make meaningful connections that foster belonging. This is a place where you can be your best, so we can give our best to the patients and families who trust us with their care.  

 

Lurie Children’s and its affiliates are equal employment opportunity employers.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, protected veteran status, order of protection status, protected genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Support email: candidatesupport@luriechildrens.org