Overview

The Director, IT Business Partner - Research & Academics (often referred to as a Business Relationship Manager, or BRM) acts as a strategic partner and primary relationship manager between the Information Technology (IT) department and designated Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) business division (e.g. Research & Academics). Focused on leveraging technology to enhance divisional services and drive organizational goals, this role provides leadership and direction for the complete technology portfolio associated with their assigned domain, including core systems of record (e.g., Workday) and ancillary applications. Serves as the primary IT point of contact and 'trusted advisor' to business leadership, helping them surface needs, navigate IT processes, coordinate intake, and ensure that stakeholder needs are clearly understood and properly routed to the appropriate IT teams to create a seamless technology experience.

Responsibilities

A day in the life of a Director, IT Business Partner - Academics & Research at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Strategic Business Partnership: Collaborates with divisional executive leadership to define, develop, and execute a technology strategy and roadmap that supports the operational and strategic objectives of the assigned business domain.
• Service-Oriented Leadership & Relationship Management: Leads the application/technology team to deliver outstanding customer service; serves as the liaison between business leadership and IT leadership to support effective communication, planning, and prioritization of business needs against technology delivery capabilities.
• Portfolio & Bridge Solution Management: Manages the complete portfolio of specialized ancillary applications for the domain. Governs the selection, implementation, and support of these tools and develops robust bridge solutions to ensure data flows seamlessly and accurately between core platforms (e.g., Workday) and critical ancillary systems.
• Platform Stewardship & System Optimization: Oversees the administration, enhancement, and optimization of the domain's core platforms and integration points, ensuring they serve as a reliable, accurate source of truth and are leveraged to their full potential.
• User Empowerment & Process Improvement: Guides business partners and end-users in analyzing their processes and leveraging the full suite of available technology to drive efficiency, providing training and support to foster self-sufficiency.
• Reliability, Support & Escalation Management: Ensures the daily management, stability, and/or performance of all domain applications adhere to application-based Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and troubleshooting issues proactively to minimize disruption to critical operations. Manages escalations; identifies processes, priorities, risks, and issues, and surfaces them to the appropriate IT and business leaders.
• Team Development: Mentors the technology team, building their deep functional knowledge of the assigned business domain's processes in addition to their technical expertise in core and ancillary systems.
• Governance Participation: Acts as a key member of the Business Application Governance Committee (and/or other appropriate governing bodies), representing the needs of the business domain, facilitating the evaluation of proposed solutions, and advocating for priorities based on strategic value and impact.
• Vendor Management: Manages the complete lifecycle of all applications within the designated portfolio, including conducting regular health assessments, managing vendor performance, and providing strategic recommendations for enhancement, replacement, or decommissioning.
• Benefits Realization: Partners with business stakeholders to define, track, and report on the benefits realization of technology projects, ensuring that the expected value is measured and achieved post-implementation.
• Domain-Specific Awareness: Stays informed of industry trends, competitive landscapes, and regulatory/compliance conditions (e.g., Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA], specific accrediting guidelines, or financial regulations) relevant to the assigned business domain, and shares relevant information with IT and business leadership to inform strategic decisions.
• Other duties and/or projects as assigned.
• Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's Degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Information Technology, or related discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in a leadership role supporting business functions with technology management, preferably in a complex, integrated healthcare delivery system.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in academic and clinical research operations, including clinical data management, federal/non-federal grant administration, and translational research infrastructure
• Progressive experience managing enterprise system design (e.g., Workday or other core enterprise platforms) and support in a complex organization.
• Experience managing a portfolio of ancillary applications and the integrations between them.
• Deep understanding of the Clinical/Translational Research infrastructure; Academic Operations; Federal grant guidelines for the Research & Academics BRM
• Demonstrated experience working with executive leaders to understand needs, coordinate responses, and communicate effectively across business and technology teams.
• Strong customer service mindset, passion for service excellence, and a track record of delivering measurable outcomes.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and time management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate information to IT team members and customers, and appropriately escalate issues while maintaining a calm demeanor.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Google Suite and/or Microsoft Office platforms.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Preferred:

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, or a related field.

Licenses and Certifications Preferred:

• Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP) or Certified Business Relationship Manager (CBRM).
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation Certification.

If you feel that the above description speaks directly to your strengths and capabilities, then please apply today!   

Starting Minimum RateMinimum rate of $217,464.00 Annually Job Posting Disclosure

HMH is committed to pay equity and transparency for our team members. The posted rate of pay in this job posting is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting in accordance with the New Jersey Pay Transparency Act and does not reflect the full value of our market-competitive total rewards package. The starting rate of pay is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of a specific offer. Posted hourly rates may be stated as an annual salary in the offer and posted annual salaries may be stated as an hourly rate in the offer, depending on the level and nature of the job duties and credentials of the candidate. The base compensation determined at the time of the offer may be different than the posted rate of pay based on a number of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to: Labor Market Data: Compensation is benchmarked against market data to ensure competitiveness. Experience: Years of relevant work experience. Education and Certifications: Level of education attained, including specialized certifications, credentials, completed apprenticeship programs or advanced training. Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in relevant skills and competencies. Geographic Location: Cost of living and market rates for the specific location. Internal Equity: Compensation is determined in a manner consistent with compensation ranges for similar roles within the organization. Budget and Grant Funding: Departmental budgets and any grant funding associated with the job position may impact the pay that can be offered. Some jobs may also be eligible for performance-based incentives, bonuses, or commissions not reflected in the starting rate. Certain positions may also be eligible for shift differentials for work performed on evening, night, or weekend shifts. In addition to our compensation for full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) job positions, HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and retirement benefits.