Element Iowa City has a current opening for an IT Manager to join our growing team. The IT Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for all information technology functions, with a focus on delivering software solutions that directly support laboratory work-flows and scientific data analysis in a regulated environment. This includes managing the continued development and validation of the organization’s custom Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and other software tools to support laboratory operations, bioinformatics work-flows, internal and client-facing data delivery, and instrument integration.

This hands-on position leads delivery of software development, data management, and technical infrastructure in a laboratory supporting testing services within the medical/pharma industry. The position can be remote, with some expectations for on-site requirements. The IT Manager also oversees the organization’s information security and electronic records management processes, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements and security standards frameworks. This includes managing risk, audit readiness, secure access, and data governance for all information assets.

This position will partner with our scientific leaders to assess laboratory informatics and business needs in a role that requires strong team management skills, cross-functional collaboration, and strategic technical insight. The IT Manager directly supervises a team of software developers, data engineers, and system administrators while serving as the lead IT liaison across departments.

• Provide leadership and strategic direction for IT operations for an evolving microbiology laboratory, including creation of IT roadmaps to build systems to align with corporate vision.
• Provide oversight for maintaining and developing internal and external reporting and data analysis tools using full-stack software developers and where necessary, software developer contractors.
• Oversee management of information assets and supporting infrastructure to ensure effective and efficient IT systems and data processes.
• Guide the full software development lifecycle and continuous enhancement of the custom Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and related software applications, ensuring those systems meet laboratory and regulatory requirements.
• Support IT operations compliance with relevant regulatory and information security standards (e.g., FDA 21 CFR Part 11, GLP, ISO/IEC 27001), including system validation, access controls, audit trails, data retention, and change management.
• Work closely with directors, scientists, and managers to align technology with strategic business objectives.
• Review and approve system documentation and standard operating procedures, including change control and validation documentation.
• Define and manage IT project timelines, scopes, budgets, and deliverables to ensure high-quality execution.
• Balance long-term roadmap execution with short-term internal support and user enhancement requests.
• Hire, manage, and mentor a cross-functional IT team, including developers, data engineers, system administrators, and contractors when required.
• Oversee IT contingency planning, business continuity, and disaster recovery efforts.
• Represent IT in strategic planning sessions, audits, and vendor/client engagements.
• Promote IT awareness, training, and support across departments to foster the adoption of secure and efficient technology solutions.

• Four-year degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Analytics, or related field.
• 3+ years of experience managing IT operations or delivering full-stack software or bioinformatics solutions in a regulated environment. Internal applicants with 3 or more years of service in a significant IT and or scientific role may have some of these requirements waived.
• Knowledge of the software development life cycle (SDLC), issue tracking, build and deployment pipelines, and software documentation standards preferably in a scientific, medical/clinical, or pharmaceutical organization.
• Understanding of IT infrastructure and operations (servers, networking, virtualization, data storage, and cloud computing).
• Proven project management skills, including planning, prioritization, and execution of concurrent initiatives.
• Hands-on team development, leadership, and management experience.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, strong presentation skills.
  Preferred
• Experience with Elixir/Phoenix, Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, or similar tech stacks.
• Experience with NGS data pipelines, bioinformatics tools, or molecular data management.
• Experience with Docker, virtualization, CI/CD pipelines, system monitoring tools, or cloud computing.
• Experience managing scientific data at scale and data warehousing.
• Experience with data visualization and analytics tools for laboratory or client reporting.
• Experience with Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS).
• Experience implementing APIs and ETL pipelines to support data workflows across systems.
• Familiarity with 21 CFR Part 11 and FDA guidance documents on principles of software validation (including 21 CFR §820.30).
• Knowledge of information security frameworks (e.g., ISO/IEC 27001, NIST 800-53) and implementation of organizational security controls.

#LI-TK1

Element is one of the fastest growing testing, inspection and certification businesses in the world. Globally we have more than 9,000 brilliant minds operating from 270 sites across 30 countries. Together we share an ambitious purpose to ‘Make tomorrow safer than today’.

When failure in use is not an option, we help customers make certain that their products, materials, processes and services are safe, compliant and fit for purpose. From early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals and into production, our global laboratory network of scientists, engineers, and technologists support customers to achieve assurance over product quality, sustainable outcomes, and market access.

While we are proud of our global reach, working at Element feels like being part of a smaller company. We empower you to take charge of your career, and reward excellence and integrity with growth and development.

Industries across the world depend on our care, attention to detail and the absolute accuracy of our work. The role we have to play in creating a safer world is much bigger than our organization.

At Element, we always take pride in putting our people first. We are an equal opportunity employer that recognizes diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our Vision of becoming “the world’s most trusted testing partner”.

All suitably qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective work related criteria and without regard for the following: age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, race, religion, responsibility of dependents, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws.

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c) 

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