Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants should attach a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name - RICE - Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:

The Director of Software will lead a strategic change in how Rice University delivers technology products and platforms to its faculty and student communities. This role is critical to realizing Transformational Technology & Innovation's vision in service of the campus strategic plan, Momentous . This individual will serve as a senior transformation agent, responsible for embedding modern agile software engineering practices across internal teams, while evangelizing self-service platforms and user-centric design. They will partner with administrative units to ensure solutions are not only technically sound but widely adopted and continuously improved.

The Director of Software Development will spearhead a significant shift in how Rice University provides technology products and platforms to its faculty and student communities. This role is crucial for realizing the vision of Transformational Technology & Innovation in alignment with the campus strategic plan, Momentous.

This individual will act as a senior transformation agent, responsible for embedding modern agile software engineering practices within internal teams, while championing self-service platforms and user-centric design. They will collaborate with administrative units to ensure solutions are not only technically sound but also widely adopted and continuously improved. The Transformational Technology and Innovation (TTI) team at Rice University is responsible for driving technological advancements and innovation across the university, focusing on leveraging emerging technologies to improve processes, enhance research capabilities, and support strategic objectives. This role will be instrumental in building and maintaining the software and data systems that underpin these innovative initiatives.

Rice University seeks a highly motivated and skilled professional with a passion for both software development and data engineering, capable of integrating these domains to deliver innovative solutions. The ideal applicant will demonstrate a strong understanding of software engineering principles, including design patterns, software architecture, and agile development methodologies, coupled with expertise in data warehousing, ETL processes, and database management.

Ideal Candidate Statement:

We seek a Director of Software Development to lead a major technological transformation at Rice University, directly supporting our \"Momentous\" strategic plan. This role requires a senior transformation agent with deep expertise in modern agile software and data engineering, ready to build innovative, user-centric platforms and systems.

Workplace Requirements:

This position is offered as a hybrid role, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Annual Hiring Range: $130, 000 to $145, 000

*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Four or more (4+) years of software development experience

Skill:

• Proven experience in software development using languages such as Python, Java, or Scala.
• Strong understanding of database concepts and experience with relational and NoSQL databases.
• Experience with ETL tools and techniques for data integration and transformation.
• Familiarity with cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and their data services.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Preferences:

• 8 or more years of related experience
• Experience in environments undergoing significant digital transformation.
• Background in promoting user-centric design and self-service solutions.
• Demonstrated success in expanding the adoption and sustainability of mission-critical platforms.
• Prior work positioning an organization as a leader in technology transformation.
• Experience in an academic or research environment is a plus.

Essential Functions:

• Provide cross-functional leadership to ensure the successful delivery of technology platforms aligned with the Momentous vision.
• Champion agile software engineering practices, including continuous delivery of small, incremental business value, and cultivate a product mindset to reduce reliance on ticket-based service delivery in favor of scalable, self-service platforms.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable and reliable data pipelines to ingest, process, and store large datasets from diverse sources.
• Build and optimize data storage solutions, including relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB), and cloud-based data warehouses (e.g., Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery).
• Act as a cultural catalyst, advocating for widespread adoption of TTI's platforms and services across the university, ensuring positive returns on investment (ROI).
• Ensure adherence to AI governance policies that build trust in model-driven outcomes, focusing on ethical and equitable use of AI tools by reducing bias in both custom-built and off-the-shelf machine learning models.

Rice University HR | Benefits: https: //knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact Rice University's Disability Resource Center at 713-348-5841 or adarice@rice.edu for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at jobs@rice.edu . Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.