Associate Director, Research and Computing Operations

AskBio Inc. a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular central nervous system cardiovascular and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for congestive heart failure limb-girdle muscular dystrophy multiple system atrophy Parkinsons disease and Pompe disease. AskBios gene therapy platform includes Pro10 an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process and an extensive array of capsids and promoters. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park North Carolina and European headquarters in Edinburgh Scotland the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing.

Our vision: Pioneering science to create transformative molecular medicines.

Our mission: Lead innovative science and drive clinical outcomes to transform peoples lives.

Our principles:

• Advance innovative science by pushing boundaries.

• Bring transformative therapeutics to patients in need.

• Provide an environment for employees to reach their fullest potential.

Our values:

• Be a Pioneer. We are not afraid of the impossible and to innovate to make gene therapies accessible to those in need.

• Cultivate Collaboration. Strive to be the best teammate actively listen openly communicate and embrace diverse points of view.

• Embrace Responsibility. We are humbled by the enormity of our hold a relentless commitment to advance science and clinical outcomes for our patients families and caregivers.

• Raise the Bar. Continuously drive improvements and efficiencies. Seek and provide constructive feedback. Have a bias for learning and action.

• Act with Uncompromising Integrity. Be honest transparent and committed to doing whats right in every situation. Make clear commitments and follow through.

Position Summary

Were seeking an Associate Director Research Computing Operations to lead and transform our scientific computing environment in support of our cutting-edge gene therapy research. This senior leadership position will drive the strategy and execution of research computing initiatives working in close partnership with our Bioinformatics AI/ML and Global IT Infrastructure teams. The role focuses specifically on advancing our scientific computing capabilities through operational excellence while ensuring our research teams can maximize the value of our high-performance computing investments.

As a key member of the technology leadership team this position will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and strategic evolution of our research computing environment. The successful candidate will combine deep technical expertise in scientific computing with strong business acumen to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate our research mission. While Global IT Infrastructure maintains our enterprise technology foundation this role focuses exclusively on the specialized computing needs of our scientific teams including high-performance computing GPU-accelerated workflows and research data management.

Job Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary local IT Infrastructure contact for Edinburghs Bioinformatics and AI/ML teams

• Manage and optimize scientific computing infrastructure including GPU clusters high-performance storage systems and virtualized environments

• Collaborate with global IT teams to ensure infrastructure alignment with scientific computing needs

• Lead technical planning and implementation of infrastructure improvements

• Provide technical guidance on architecture decisions affecting scientific workflows

• Manage and optimize WEKA storage systems and VSphere virtual environments

• Support Linux-based scientific computing environments leveraging managed services as appropriate

• Implement and maintain monitoring solutions for complex computing environments

• Participate in capacity planning and performance optimization initiatives

• Drive infrastructure automation and continuous improvement

• Manage relationships with vendors and technical partners

Vendor & Contract Management:

• Manage third-party Linux support contract and contractor relationships

• Define and monitor service level agreements

• Ensure contractor compliance with company security policies

• Review and approve contractor work

• Manage vendor performance and escalations

Security & Compliance:

• Act as primary point of contact for parent company security audits

• Develop and maintain security compliance documentation

• Coordinate and respond to penetration testing activities

• Implement security recommendations and remediation plans

• Ensure infrastructure meets corporate security standards

• Participate in security incident response planning

Business Continuity:

• Lead disaster recovery planning for scientific computing infrastructure

• Coordinate and execute DR testing

• Maintain DR documentation and procedures

• Develop and maintain business continuity plans

• Ensure RPO/RTO objectives are met

Financial Planning & Technical Debt:

• Develop long-term capital planning for infrastructure

• Manage infrastructure budget and forecasting for AskBio European locations

• Identify and track technical debt

• Create remediation plans for technical debt

• Provide cost-benefit analysis for infrastructure investments

• Manage infrastructure lifecycle planning

• Develop business cases for infrastructure improvements

Key Competencies:

Technical:

• Infrastructure architecture and design

• Performance optimization

• Problem-solving and troubleshooting

• Security best practices

• Technical documentation

Business & Management:

• Contract negotiation and management

• Budget planning and control

• Risk management

• Audit response and compliance

• Strategic planning

• Vendor management

• Cost-benefit analysis

Interpersonal:

• Strong communication skills

• Stakeholder management

• Team collaboration

• Conflict resolution

• Customer service orientation

• Ability to bridge technical and scientific domains

Leadership:

• Technical leadership

• Project management

• Mentoring and knowledge transfer

• Change management

• Strategic thinking

Impact Metrics: Success in this role will be measured by:

• Infrastructure stability and performance improvements

• Stakeholder satisfaction levels

• Project delivery effectiveness

• Technical problem resolution metrics

• Team collaboration effectiveness

• Innovation and process improvements

Note: This position requires occasional travel to other company locations and may require some out-of-hours support during critical maintenance windows or emergencies.

This role represents a critical position in our organization bridging technical expertise with scientific computing needs while fostering strong working relationships between global teams.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering or related field

• 8 years of experience in infrastructure engineering roles

• Experience with high-performance computing environments

• Proven experience supporting GPU-accelerated computing environments

• Strong understanding of storage systems and networking

• Experience with infrastructure monitoring and optimization tools

• Demonstrated ability to work with scientific computing workflows

• Experience managing vendor relationships and contracts

• Knowledge of IT security and compliance requirements

• Experience with disaster recovery planning and testing

• Understanding of IT financial planning and budgeting

• Experience with audit responses and compliance documentation

• Strong experience with Linux administration and engineering

• Extensive knowledge of virtualization technologies particularly VSphere

Preferred Education Experience and Skills

• Experience with WEKA storage systems

• Knowledge of AI/ML infrastructure requirements

• Experience supporting bioinformatics workflows

• Familiarity with container technologies (Docker Kubernetes)

• Experience with infrastructure automation tools

• Understanding of scientific computing software and frameworks

• Previous experience in biotech or pharmaceutical industries

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS Azure)

• ITIL certification

• Security certifications (CISSP CISM or similar)

• Experience with GxP compliance

• Experience with pharmaceutical industry regulations

• Previous experience managing technical debt in regulated environments

AskBio Inc. (AskBio) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race color religion gender sexual orientation gender identity national origin age disability veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal State or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid jobrelated requirements. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening by calling us at or sending us an email at .

Agencies: Please do not contact any employee at AskBio about this requisition. Any resume submitted by a recruitment agency to any employee at AskBio through any medium will be deemed the sole property of AskBio unless the agency was engaged by AskBio Talent Acquisition team to recruit for that position. All agencies must have a prior executed service agreement with AskBio prior to any search engagement. If a candidate who was submitted outside of the AskBio agency process is hired by AskBio no fee or payment of any kind will be paid to the agency.