Senior Director of IT Operations

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent, nonprofit organization providing adult cancer treatment and groundbreaking research focused on cancer and infectious diseases. Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington.

With a track record of global leadership in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS prevention, immunotherapy and COVID-19 vaccines, Fred Hutch has earned a reputation as one of the world's leading cancer, infectious disease and biomedical research centers. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services, and network affiliations with hospitals in five states. Together, our fully integrated research and clinical care teams seek to discover new cures to the world's deadliest diseases and make life beyond cancer a reality.

At Fred Hutch we value collaboration, compassion, determination, excellence, innovation, integrity and respect. Our mission is directly tied to the humanity, dignity and inherent value of each employee, patient, community member and supporter. Our commitment to learning across our differences and similarities make us stronger. We seek employees who bring different and innovative ways of seeing the world and solving problems.

The Senior Director of IT Operations is a strategic and operational leader responsible for ensuring the reliability, scalability, and security of enterprise technology systems that support both clinical care delivery and research innovation. This role oversees infrastructure, network operations, cloud services, service management, and end-user support across a complex, hybrid environment. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, healthcare domain awareness, and a proven ability to lead high-performing teams in regulated, mission-critical settings.

This role will have the opportunity to work partially at our campus and remotely. Evening and/or weekend work may occasionally be required.

Lead and evolve IT operations strategy to support clinical systems, research platforms, and administrative functions.
• Ensure high availability, performance, and security of infrastructure, including on-premise data centers and cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Oversee IT service management (ITSM), including incident, problem, change, and asset management aligned with ITIL best practices.
• Development and tracking key customer satisfaction metrics and improvement plans.
• Partner with clinical, research, and business stakeholders to align IT services with organizational priorities and compliance requirements (HIPAA, NIST, etc.).
• Drive operational excellence through automation, monitoring, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop and manage budgets, vendor relationships, metrics and service-level agreements (SLAs).
• Close alignment with UW and other affiliates to ensure IT plans and incidents are mutually tracked and managed.
• Lead technical disaster recovery and business continuity planning, ensuring resilience of critical systems.
• Build, mentor, and retain high-performing IT teams, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and service excellence.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity leadership to ensure proactive risk management and compliance.
• Support digital transformation initiatives, including data platforms, AI/ML infrastructure, and clinical technology integration.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Experience in healthcare, life sciences, or research environments strongly preferred.
• Deep knowledge of hybrid infrastructure, cloud platforms, networking, and enterprise systems.
• Strong understanding of healthcare regulations and data privacy standards (HIPAA, NIST, etc.).
• Proven track record of leading large-scale IT operations and transformation initiatives.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Deep platform knowledge with typical networking, compute and storage vendors.
• Experience supporting electronic health record (EHR) systems and integrations.
• Familiarity with research computing environments, IoT, high-performance computing (HPC), or bioinformatics platforms.
• Certifications such as ITIL, CISSP, PMP, or cloud certifications (AWS/Azure).

The annual base salary range for this position is from $190,632 to $317,678, and pay offered will be based on experience and qualifications. This position may be eligible for a sign-on bonus.

This role will have the opportunity to work partially at our campus and remotely. Evening and/or weekend work may occasionally be required.

Although Fred Hutch is not sponsoring most H-1B visas at this time, candidates who already hold an H-1B sponsored by another organization and are currently in the U.S. may be eligible for this position.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center offers employees a comprehensive benefits package designed to enhance health, well-being, and financial security. Benefits include medical/vision, dental, flexible spending accounts, life, disability, retirement, family life support, employee assistance program, onsite health clinic, tuition reimbursement, paid vacation (12-22 days per year), paid sick leave (12-25 days per year), paid holidays (13 days per year), and paid parental leave (up to 4 weeks).