UNIV - Senior Data Architect, Research Analytics - Department of SCTR

Job Description Summary

The Senior Data Architect, Research Analytics will lead the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Science (SCTR) Institute’s data and reporting strategy and will engage with enterprise IS data leadership and teams to strategize for the design, creation, refinement, and long-term sustainability of an enterprise research data repository that integrates and curates data from multiple disparate systems across the research lifecycle. This role serves as a critical technical and strategic partner to IS and research leadership and administration, finance, operations, compliance, and analytics teams.

The Senior Data Architect will lead the development of a trusted, scalable research data environment supporting SCTR’s metric tracking and reporting and continuous quality improvement data strategy and decision-making. The position will enable comprehensive reporting across financial performance, awards, earned revenue, operational efficiency, research performance, regulatory compliance, and study and participant-level metrics.

Entity

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC - Univ)

Worker Type

Employee

Worker Sub-Type​

Classified

Cost Center

CC001064 COM SCTR Operations CC

Pay Rate Type

Salary

Pay Grade

University-TEC07

Pay Range

81,192.00 - 113,730.00 - 146,166.000

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Work Shift

Job Description

Job Description:

The Senior Data Architect, Research Analytics will lead the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Science (SCTR) Institute’s data and reporting strategy and will engage with enterprise IS data leadership and teams to strategize for the design, creation, refinement, and long-term sustainability of an enterprise research data repository that integrates and curates' data from multiple disparate systems across the research lifecycle. This role serves as a critical technical and strategic partner to IS and research leadership and administration, finance, operations, compliance, and analytics teams.

The Senior Data Architect will lead the development of a trusted, scalable research data environment supporting SCTR’s metric tracking and reporting and continuous quality improvement data strategy and decision-making.  The position will enable comprehensive reporting across financial performance, awards, earned revenue, operational efficiency, research performance, regulatory compliance, and study and participant-level metrics.

Job Duties:

Research Data Repository Architecture & Design 20%

·         Engage with enterprise IS Data teams to design and maintain the logical and physical architecture of a centralized research repository integrating data from numerous source systems, including but not limited to:

·         Financial systems (awards, expenditures, revenue, effort)

·         Grants and contracts management systems

·         Clinical trial management systems (CTMS)

·         Research service request systems (SPARC)

·         Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Compliance Systems

·         Learning management and training systems

·         Human resources and faculty appointment systems

Define standards for data modeling, normalization, dimensional modeling, and metadata management to ensure data quality, scalability, and performance

Data Integration & Curation 20%

·         Lead the development of robust ETL/ELT pipelines to ingest, harmonize, and curate data from disparate systems with varying structures, definitions, and data quality.

·         Ensure alignment between System APIs, and Integrations looking at workflows of systems such as RIMD, SPARC, CTMS, IRB, Epic, and financial systems.

·         Establish and document authoritative data sources, business rules, and transformation logic for research metrics.

·         Ensure consistent representation of investigators, departments, academic medical center (AMC) affiliations, colleges, and organizational hierarchies across systems.

·         Implement processes to manage historical data, changes to organizational structures, and longitudinal reporting. (Essential)

Research Metrics & Analytics Enablement   15%

·         Translate business requirements into data models and visualizations across key research domains, including:

o    Financial performance (awards, expenditures, earned revenue, cost recovery)

o    Research portfolio and award activity

o    Operational performance and efficiency

o    Research study activation timelines and cycle times

o    Participant recruitment volumes, accrual rates, and demographic characteristics

o    IRB approvals, protocol status, and regulatory timelines

o    Required training and compliance approvals

·         Ensure the data mart supports reproducible, auditable research metrics used for internal and external reporting.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) 15%

·         Partner with research operations and quality teams to enable data-driven continuous quality improvement initiatives.

·         Develop metrics and dashboards that identify process bottlenecks, variability, and opportunities for improvement across the research lifecycle.

·         Support longitudinal trend analysis and benchmarking to assess the impact of operational changes.

Leadership Reporting & Workforce Planning 10%

·         Support SCTR and research leadership and grant reporting by delivering reliable, interpretable data for strategic decision-making.

·         Enable analyses used to justify workforce hires, capacity needs, and resource allocation based on research volume, complexity, and performance indicators.

·         Ensure visualizations and KPIs are suitable for board-level, sponsor-facing, and regulatory reporting.

Data Governance, Quality & Security 10%

·         Collaborate with data governance bodies to define data ownership, stewardship, access controls, and usage standards and support evaluation requests for integrating new vendor promoted tools and technologies into existing infrastructure.

·         Implement data quality monitoring, validation, and remediation processes.

Ensure compliance with institutional policies and applicable regulations related to data privacy, security, and research compliance.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Communication 10%

·         Act as a technical liaison between SCTR, IT, research administration, clinical research teams, finance, and institutional leadership.

·         Translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders.

·         Provide technical leadership and mentorship to analysts, data engineers, and reporting teams.

MUSC Minimum Training and Experience Requirements:

A bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems or a related field and four years’ experience in systems development and maintenance, technical support or the support of complex database management systems. Related experience may be substituted for the bachelor's degree on a year-for-year basis.

Additional Job Description

Minimum Requirements: A bachelor's degree and four years experience in automated information or communication system design, installation, operation, repair, sales or marketing. Related experience may be substituted for the bachelor's degree on a year-for-year basis. Physical Requirements: (Note: The following descriptions are applicable to this section: Continuous - 6-8 hours per shift; Frequent - 2-6 hours per shift; Infrequent - 0-2 hours per shift) Ability to perform job functions in an upright position. (Frequent) Ability to perform job functions in a seated position. (Frequent) Ability to perform job functions while walking/mobile. (Frequent) Ability to work indoors. (Continuous) Ability to work in confined/cramped spaces. (Infrequent) Ability to bend at the waist. (Frequent) Ability to fully use both hands/arms. (Continuous) Ability to perform repetitive motions with hands/wrists/elbows and shoulders. (Frequent) Ability to reach in all directions. (Frequent) Possess good finger dexterity. (Continuous) Ability to maintain tactile sensory functions. (Continuous) Ability to lift, lower, push or pull objects 15 lbs. or more, unassisted. (Infrequent) Ability to maintain 20/40 vision, corrected. (Continuous) Ability to see and recognize objects close at hand. (Continuous) Ability to see and recognize objects at a distance. (Continuous) Ability to match or discriminate between colors. (Continuous) Ability to determine distance/relationship between objects; depth perception. (Continuous) Good peripheral vision capabilities. (Continuous) Ability to hear and/or understand conversations. (Continuous) Ability to perform gross motor functions with frequent fine motor movements. (Continuous) Ability to work in dusty areas. (Infrequent)