Sequence Read Archive (SRA) Product Owner

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health. NLM is a global leader in biomedical informatics and computational health data science and the world’s largest biomedical library. NLM’s legislative mandate is to support the essential work of acquiring, organizing, preserving, and disseminating biomedical information. NLM provides public access to this information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

NLM Division: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Information Engineering Branch (IEB)

NLM Program/Office: Sequence Read Archive (SRA)

Application Period: 08/21/2023 to 09/21/2023

Overview:
The NIH National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Information Engineering Branch (IEB) is looking for a seasoned professional to serve as the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) Product Owner (PO) with primary responsibility to maximize the value of the SRA for its customers, its stakeholders, and the NCBI scientists. The SRA PO is a key decision-maker and ensures that the development team is working on the highest value items and that the product meets the needs of stakeholders. The SRA PO works to support the SRA Program Head who is the product’s key stakeholder that establishes overall strategy, priorities, and budget.  The SRA PO is responsible for delivering user facing features, responding to data calls, and maintaining the effectiveness of submission operations. The SRA PO ensures that the largest sequence archive in the world can meet long-term program and stakeholder needs with respect to preserving and disseminating research data for scientific reuse.

Position Description/Responsibilities:

This position requires:  1.  Experience in implementing or performing large-scale bioinformatics analyses, developing novel computational methodologies, or advancing data science efforts in support of the life sciences product development.  2. Familiarity with genomic and biological data and the complexity of integrating biological and scientific literature information resources, and the importance of these data to biology and medicine. 3.  Expertise using Agile methods for customer focused product development; 4. Experience in developing product and initiative roadmaps, plans and schedules; 5. Ability to integrate computational activities with ongoing trans-NIH computational and data science efforts across the research spectrum;  6.  Familiarity with modern sequencing technologies, data formats and tools, as well as staying abreast with emerging developments in science and technology for applicability and adoption within the NCBI and NLM; 7. Experience in advising senior level staff on program and policy issues, including experience in Agile project management principles and methods to plan and execute extremely complex projects, including critical, international projects (for example, sequence data resources), as well as experience in the principles and methods of quality assurance and quality control to ensure that IT deliverables fulfill requirements and standards; 8. Experience leading and coordinating intra- and interagency projects. 

Candidates will be well versed in multiple disciplines, including the broad application of information technology; bioinformatics, and interpretation of information from a wide variety of sources.

The SRA Product Owner will be in a Senior Biomedical Research and Biomedical Product Assessment Service (SBRBPAS) position. The duties/functions of this position include:  1.) Guiding several teams in development of software archive and related applications designed for accepting and processing submissions, as well as disseminating research data for scientific reuse, 2.) Managing genomic and biological data focused on the connection of data to biology and medicine and the integration of biological and scientific literature information resources. 3.) Advising senior level scientific staff on information storage technologies infrastructure and storage policy issues, including project management to plan and execute extremely complex scientific projects, including critical, international projects such as INSDC, and 4.) Emphasizing data science and management of large and complex biomedical big data. 

The SRA PO manages the expectations of stakeholders and ensures that their requirements are effectively communicated to the development teams; defines and communicate the product vision to the development teams and other stakeholders; manages the product backlog, ensuring that it is up to date, prioritized, and contains clear and concise requirements; and analyzes requirements and defines user stories and acceptance criteria. Furthermore, the SRA PO collaborates with other product owners and the development teams during sprint planning to determine the scope of the sprint and the user stories that will be worked on; reviews the work completed during sprints and ensures that it meets the acceptance criteria defined for each user story; determines when to release the product and what features should be included in each release; serves as the SRA’s product ambassador internally and externally by monitoring the SRA’s performance and keeping customers and stakeholders informed of product status, sharing knowledge, and answering questions related to the product; and supports NCBI operational goals by collaborating with members of other program product teams including managers, subject matter experts, product owners, project managers, developers, and others.  The Product Owner is a second level below the program head and establishes epics and sprint feature priorities that are aligned with the overall program strategy and overall program priorities that the program head establishes.

Position Requirements:

Candidates for this position must have a strong background in computational biology, computer science, engineering or technology/information technology and be able to participate with highly technical, multidisciplinary teams that support enterprise-level, large scale computational infrastructures and services. Candidates must be familiar with high-throughput sequencing technologies and the data and metadata generated by those technologies that needs to be managed to maximize the value of data reuse by customers. Candidates should be customer-focused, service oriented, and have experience in working in a biomedical research environment. Experience in directing, implementing, or performing large-scale bioinformatics analyses, developing novel computational methodologies, or advancing data science efforts in support of the research performed in a scientific setting. Outstanding communication skills and a collaborative work style are critical.  This is a full-time position managing sophisticated computational services without time or resources to support any incumbent research activities. The position is located at NIH facilities of the Bethesda, Maryland area campus and cannot be performed as a remote location duty station. 

To be eligible for this position, candidates must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National. Foreign nationals or legal permanent residents are not eligible for consideration. Candidates must indicate their U.S. citizenship status on their CV or within their email application submission.

Education Requirements:

In order to qualify for this position, candidates must possess a Master's level or higher degree in:

• engineering
• bioinformatics
• or an emerging or related scientific field.

In addition, candidates must have at least one year of experience related to the position, including achievements in one or more of the following areas to demonstrate the individual has received recognition as an expert in the field:

• conducted original biomedical research published in peer-reviewed journals of high stature;
• received major prizes and awards (such as visiting professorships and named lectureships) in recognition of original contributions to biomedical research;
• received invitations to speak at or chair major national or international meetings or symposia;
• elected to membership in professional societies of high stature; or
• meets other criteria demonstrating sufficient rigor or accomplishment in a relevant or closely related field that is necessary to the accomplishment of NIH's mission.

If you are a current Federal Title 5 employee, you must have one year of equivalent experience at the GS-14 level or above.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary will be in proportion with education and experience. A career with the U.S. Government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

How to Apply:

Interested individuals should send a copy of their CV with the names of three references along with a cover letter detailing relevant experience and interests to ncbijobs@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Please include the announcement number, NLM2753-2022 in the subject line and cover letter. Do not include your birth date, social security number (SSN), or personal photograph on application materials. Review of applications will begin on August 21, 2023.

Contact Information: ncbijobs@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

HHS, NIH, and NLM are equal opportunity employers.