AI@HHMI Project Manager

Howard Hughes Medical Institute•Ashburn, VA

1d•$105,000 - $178,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Project Manager supports the Head of AI@HHMI in running HHMI’s $500 million initiative to integrate AI into every stage of biological research. AI@HHMI is one of Janelia Research Campus’s four scientific areas and hosts research projects led by scientists at Janelia and across HHMI, supported by AI scientists and engineers, a large GPU cluster, and industry partners. The role covers projects, budgets, staffing, recruiting, events, and outreach, working daily with leadership, scientists, engineers, and operational staff at Janelia and across HHMI. The Project Manager uses computational workflows and AI tools to work efficiently while maintaining the ability to deliver high-quality work independently. The role guides projects from approval through closure; tracks budgets, staffing, milestones, and end dates; and maintains complete, durable records. It supports leadership briefings and follow-through, recruiting and onboarding, events and outreach, and partnership paperwork. The successful candidate understands the science and computation sufficiently to support projects and communicate with computational and experimental scientists, but is not required to be an AI expert or conduct research. This is a full-time, on-site position at Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, reporting to the Head of AI@HHMI. The role requires a master’s degree or doctorate in any field and at least three years of project management experience, including scientific or industrial research and development programs with budgets, timelines, and staffing. The position may be filled at Project Manager I, II, or III, with level determined by the candidate’s qualifications and the needs and scope of the role. The posted annual hiring ranges are $105,000–$131,000 for Project Manager I, $122,635–$153,300 for Project Manager II, and $142,385–$178,000 for Project Manager III.

Requirements

Master’s degree or doctorate in any field.
At least three years of project management experience, including scientific or industrial research and development programs with budgets, timelines, and staffing.
Experience using agentic AI tools for practical work, such as screening applications, curating data, or drafting, and ability to identify tool failures and catch them.
Ability to manage a long list of open items, prioritize effectively, and raise problems early.
Sound judgment about what to escalate and what to handle independently.
Ability to simplify procedures that no longer serve their purpose.
Ability to review budget or staffing reports and identify discrepancies.
Discretion in handling confidential personnel, candidate, and budget information.
Ability to work on-site at Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.
Physical ability to remain seated or standing for extended periods; reach and grasp; manipulate objects with fingers, such as using a keyboard; communicate verbally; see and hear within normal parameters; move about the workspace; and move materials weighing up to several pounds.

Nice To Haves

A science or engineering background.
Experience in a research institute or university.
Experience with enterprise systems such as Workday or Microsoft 365.

Responsibilities

Guide projects from approval to closure by helping prepare proposals, organizing reviews and approval decisions, tracking milestones and end dates, and maintaining complete records.
Coordinate project closeout, including final reports, archiving data and code, offboarding staff and collaborators, and closing accounts and contracts.
Track project spending and staffing against budgets, work with Finance on the annual budget, and maintain awareness of open positions and staff assignments.
Prepare and schedule briefings, meetings, correspondence, and reports for the Head of AI@HHMI and HHMI leadership, and follow up on open action items.
Understand the science and computation behind the program and projects well enough to support them competently and communicate with computational and experimental scientists.
Organize searches for AI Scientists, engineers, and other staff in coordination with People & Culture, and conduct screening interviews.
Arrange appropriate resources for employees, collaborators, and contractors, and close out their accounts and access when they leave.
Organize reviews, meetings, seminars, workshops, and visits.
Work with HHMI’s Digital and Marketing Communication team on the AI@HHMI website and maintain a calendar of conferences, prizes, deadlines, and nominations.
Coordinate paperwork for collaborations, industry partnerships, and contracts with legal, technology transfer, and finance offices.
Document decisions and project records so they can be found and understood in the future.
Use AI tools to support work while ensuring tasks can still be completed to the same standard without those tools.
Track open items, identify priorities, raise problems early, determine what to escalate, simplify procedures when appropriate, and check budgets and staffing reports for discrepancies.
Handle confidential personnel, candidate, and budget information discreetly.