Career Center

Department Overview

The Informatics Development Operations Engineer works as part of a cross-functional agile team that creates innovative software solutions and provides research data services to support cutting-edge biomedical research. This position requires collaboration with a diverse set of OCTRI research informatics staff and both internal and external collaborators, to (i) identify and implement opportunities to achieve a robust, reliable and efficient software development platform; (ii) provide easy-to-use and reliable mechanisms for product release and deployment; (iii) translate abstract research processes into concrete software applications using informatics techniques; (iv) develop computer systems critical to clinical and translational research protocols; and (v) communicate and cross-train on system/application designs to technical and non-technical peers, both verbally and in writing.

The Oregon Clinical Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) at OHSU is a catalyst for scientific collaboration, translation of biomedical advances into the community, innovation and research growth in Oregon and beyond. OCTRI's mission is to enhance the efficiency and quality of rigorously translating research ideas into impact. To accomplish our mission, our 80-90 employees spread across 13 teams provide a broad expanse of clinical and translational services that include training, funding, research support, and community engagement. OCTRI is part of the National Center for Translational Sciences (NCATS)-funded CTSA consortium that encompasses 50+ hubs around the country. Visit our website to learn more: octri.org.

Function/Duties of Position

Under occasional supervision this position will design, develop, deploy, support, and integrate engineering products and services to ensure the smooth operation and optimization of research computing infrastructure, and research data warehouse applications. As a member of the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute's Informatics team, you will provide complex architecture design, infrastructure planning, installation and configuration, application development and integration, as well as maintenance and support for overall performance in the design of innovative, data-driven web applications and automation tools. You will provide critical research support in fulfillment of OCTRI's mission to improve human health by enhancing the efficiency and quality with which research ideas are translated into impact.

Candidates must have at least 3 years of experience and possess expert level knowledge of routine system administration tasks such as commercial and open-source software installation, configuration, and optimization, with products like Apache httpd, MySQL and Tomcat. Candidates must have at least 1 year of experience with a configuration management tool such as Puppet or Ansible. Ideal candidates will have experience designing secure and performant infrastructure utilizing virtualization and containerization with tools like Docker and Kubernetes. Candidates must have experience with data-driven web-based applications, working with databases and source control repositories. Candidates will have advanced skills with at least one interpreted or compiled language (e.g., Java, Python, Go, Groovy, Bash, etc.).

Experience in an open-source, and/or research-oriented informatics environment is preferred. Candidates must be able to demonstrate a history of self-motivated and detail-oriented work and/or research. Candidates must be comfortable working both independently and collaboratively with a software engineering team in an agile environment (e.g., Scrum) and must have strong oral and written communication, project management, and technical leadership skills, and a willingness to engage in team cross-training. Candidates must have the ability to learn unfamiliar technologies in support of legacy software as well as new initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree in relevant field AND 3 years of relevant experience; OR Bachelor's Degree in relevant field AND 5 years of relevant experience; OR 7 years of relevant experience; OR Equivalent combination of training and experience

• 3 years experience in system administration, specifically with Apache httpd and Tomcat servers in a Linux/Unix or similar environment. At least 1 year experience using a system configuration tool such as Puppet or Ansible

• 2 years supporting containerized workloads with Docker, Kubernetes or other container orchestration systems
• At least 1 year experience developing data-driven web applications or pipelines with Java or a similar object oriented language
• Demonstrated experience in an open-source environment
• Demonstrated experience in the gathering, assimilation, organization, categorization and analysis of data
• UNIX/Linux systems administration
• Experience developing tools to automate routine system management
• Working knowledge of SQL relational databases, including MySQL and/or Oracle
• Experience with an object-oriented programming language, development frameworks, and developing systems that interface with a variety of standard and/or proprietary data sources (e.g. SQL relational databases, Web Services, XML)
• Experience with a wide range of APIs, tools, and open-source libraries
• Self-motivated; able to learn additional languages and frameworks as required
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including ability to communicate professionally, clearly, positively and effectively is required
• Strong oral and written communication skills; ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience
• Ability to work independently, cooperatively, and productively in a multi-disciplinary team environment to achieve shared goals
• Ability to efficiently translate abstract designs into concrete software implementations
• Rare evening and weekend hours may exist for special projects
• This position is eligible for remote work with the understanding that the employee may be asked to come into the office for critical in-person meetings which are arranged in advance with their manager, and that they must be able to cover associated travel costs. Details regarding schedule, required technology, environment and other OHSU conditions are detailed in the remote work documentation filled out by the employee and manager and approved by the manager. The employee must be eligible for remote work by having satisfactory job performance and completed any hiring probation (if required)
• Must be able to sit and work on a computer for the majority of the workday
• Able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without accommodation

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Informatics, Computer Science, Mathematics, or related discipline
• Familiarity with complex http proxy and ajp configurations
• Experience in performance tuning application and database servers, such as Apache Tomcat or MySQL
• 1 year of Java development experience
• Experience defining and documenting data/business requirements
• Experience in providing informatics support in an academic or research environment
• Experience with R for statistical computing and graphics
• Managing Elastic stack tooling for monitoring and reporting purposes
• Experience with managing a CI/CD platform (Jenkins or similar) and developing release and deployment pipelines
• Interest in intersection of software development and systems operations
• Monitoring and reporting on systems capacity and developing plans infrastructure enhancements
• Practice continual improvement to refine and streamline operations

Additional Details

Apply online here. To be fully considered for this position, please upload both a cover letter and a resume or CV.

All are welcome