About the Role
As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.
The Department of Global Health – ITECH has an outstanding opportunity for a Senior Technical Advisor – Informatics, Data Modernization and Software Development.
I-TECH is a center in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health. I-TECH has projects in more than 20 countries, and its worldwide staff work in partnership with local ministries of health, universities, non-governmental organizations, medical facilities, and other partners. I-TECH supports development of skilled work forces and overall health systems strengthening with a focus on sustainability and transition to local ownership. As reflected in the I-TECH Diversity Statement, I-TECH is committed to being anti-racist and promotes health and equity in health for all people worldwide.
The Senior Technical Advisor (STA) for Informatics will lead multiple complex public health informatics projects as part of a cooperative agreement between UIW and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) part of the INSIGHT program. The goal of the INSIGHT program is to strengthen global outbreak response, pandemic preparedness, and populations health functions through integrated surveillance systems development across human, animal and environmental health sectors.
The STA will oversee informatics and software projects including assessing health system architectures, development and implementation of technical recommendations for making systems interoperable, implementation of mobile apps to support program activities, web development and stand-alone systems. The STA will design, develop, and update new and existing applications used in projects; analyze, evaluate, and implement new and existing technologies in support of organizational needs including training new staff about the systems, software, and hardware used in project work; assist in developing support documentation for new and existing applications; define requirements, and propose technical solutions to integrate and improve existing workflows; provide assistance to all users of project computing resources; troubleshoot hardware & software issues; and assist in developing and administering informatics trainings.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Technical Leadership Management (40%)
• Serve as a project lead on assigned projects which includes communicating with the client and serving as a liaison between UW and the client.
• Coordinate with the software development team, external vendors or consultants, other stakeholders and client to meet project deliverables on time and within budget; provide oversight of the quality of work from external vendors or consultants.
• Assess informatics systems in different countries and define areas for data modernization.
• Design, develop, and test system-level software projects both from the ground up, and based on new and existing open-source solutions.
• Advise on data governance in particular countries and assist CDC INSIGHT project in adherence to local and international data standards.
• Collaborate with team members to identify appropriate functional, technical and operational standards for surveillance electronic data reporting systems, EMRs, LIMS, and other health informatics applications
• Develop and review detailed technical standards documents
• Develop and implement standardized individual and population level data exchange and aggregate data exchange protocols that are in line with international standards for privacy and data governance.
• Develop written communication about information system design, digital health solutions, and implementation strategies for audiences with limited background on these topics.
• Evaluate, select, acquire and integrate open-source software to create complex systems in support of informatics activities, including data integration and web architectures.
• Maintain project documentation in shared folders including but not limited to product road map, feature requirements, technical specifications, architecture documents, testing scripts, release notes, reports, and project agreements.
• Advise on technical solutions in LMICs related to health information systems.
Software Development, Testing, & Implementation (30%)
• Support documentation of technical work products, including release notes, technical architectures and models, data dictionaries, workflow specifications, and other technical documentation.
• Conduct work breakdown planning for software and technology development and provide accurate and timely estimates for completing programming of features, bug fixes, and requests for scheduling into the software development life cycle (SDLC).
• Evaluate, select, configure, augment, and integrate open-source software to support data collection, storage, integration, and use.
• Apply data and technology standards in software and engineering projects (HL7, FHIR, LOINC, ICD-10, etc).
• Develop, test, and deploy software, tools, and projects, in line with documented requirements, specifications, and designs.
• Assure quality of software products through rigorous testing at multiple levels.
• Lead software testing to ensure product conforms to specifications and program needs. Guide existing and potential users to participate in the testing process, as appropriate.
• Perform bug fixes and patch releases on software products and digital health tooling for projects.
Capacity Strengthening (30%)
• Gather requirements through in-person assessment and observation, as well as through remote communication with stakeholders by email, phone, and other virtual means.
• Interface with domain experts to assure appropriate functional specifications for software.
• Serve as technical content expert for trainings, curriculum development, presentations, and publications.
• Collaborate with, advise and mentor software development and public health informatics personnel based globally.
• Lead development of user guides, demonstration videos, and other user training materials relevant to products under development.
• Conduct demonstrations of information systems for internal and external clients to orient users on new features.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Public Health, Public Administration, Informatics or a related field
• Experience with public health informatics and/or data science.
• Six to eight years’ experience working with web/internet standards, hardware and software technologies (including Python, Java or related object-oriented technologies) and data store technologies such as relational database technologies (MYSQL, Postgres, MSSQL or equivalent) and NoSQL platforms, including at least two years’ experience with health information systems, electronic medical records (EMRs), and/or laboratory information management systems (LIMS)
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
• Experience deploying and maintaining software architectures on public cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.), with intermediate or advanced certifications a plus.
• Experience leading agile software development projects, product thinking implementation processes and user-centered design
• Experience in data science including data analysis.
• Experience in data visualization and automated data analysis.
• Experience in writing technical and user-oriented manuals, including system design and architectural specification, as well as white papers or research articles.
• Strong communication abilities, including ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences and cross culturally
• Demonstrated ability to resolve technical problems in an independent manner
• Ability to work in a team situation with both local and remote members
• Willingness to travel internationally
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
• PhD in computer science, engineering, information technology or related field.
• Certification in programming languages, database systems, software engineering, project management, cloud technologies or other related certification or training
• Experience working with relevant data platforms in target countries including “EIDSS” and/or “EIOS”, and the technological requirements related to those platforms
• Proven ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies
• Knowledge of Health Informatics standards, such as ICD10, HL7, etc.
• Language skills in Russian, Ukrainian or Spanish (in addition to English)
WORKING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
This full-time 100% position is based at the I-TECH offices at the UW in Seattle. The STA requires up to 20% travel to countries that often lack adequate public health and safety infrastructure. Travelers must be prepared to follow the UW and US government recommended precautions and prophylaxis for travel safety and disease prevention. The STA requires frequent participation in early morning and late evening telephone conference calls in order to accommodate time zone differences between Seattle and its country project sites. I-TECH operates within a grant-funded environment. Due to this, the total amount of this position’s FTE may fluctuate based on program funding and needs.
Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral. The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT
Employees of the University of Washington are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. Being fully vaccinated means that an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination. View the Final candidate guide to COVID-19 vaccination requirement webpage for information about the medical or religious exemption process for final candidates.