Why Work at BYU
As the flagship higher education institution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University (BYU) strives to be among the exceptional universities in the world. At BYU, we are devoted to our faith and to our students. We take an active role in the University's Mission: "To assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.”
Our unique mission, deeply rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, provides countless ways to serve and make an impact. This, along with our remarkable culture of belonging, weekly devotionals, and endless opportunities for learning and growth—all situated within a beautiful and historic campus—make it hard to imagine a more inspiring place to work.
Brigham Young University strongly prefers to hire faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) — Academic Solutions provides technology and consulting services that support the academic and research missions of the university. Faculty and student researchers across campus have varied technology needs, including storage, computation, databases, SaaS platforms, integrations, data workflows, and related technical services.
The Research IT Architect helps faculty and their student research assistants identify practical, supportable technology solutions for research and academic needs. The employee meets with users to understand goals and constraints, translates those needs into technical requirements, recommends appropriate existing enterprise offerings when possible, and works with OIT teams to design and document solutions.
The position also helps OIT understand emerging research technology needs across campus, including recurring requests, common pain points, service gaps, and opportunities to improve university technology services.
The ideal candidate has broad IT experience, strong communication skills, sound technical judgment, and the ability to work with faculty and student researchers with varied technical backgrounds. This person should enjoy learning new technologies, clarifying ambiguous needs, designing practical solutions, and helping research and academic work move forward at the university.
This position requires a dedicated individual who works well with faculty, student researchers, and technology teams. The employee must be proactive, organized, and able to move complex or ambiguous requests toward clear next steps. Responsibilities include the following:
Research and Academic Technology Architecture
Meet with faculty and student research assistants to understand research technology needs and related academic technology needs
Analyze business, technical, and workflow requirements
Identify appropriate solution approaches using existing enterprise offerings whenever possible
Design architectures for needs involving storage, computation, databases, SaaS platforms, integrations, and related services
Document architectures according to established standards, including architecture diagrams, requirements, constraints, assumptions, and relevant decision points
Define and communicate solution scope, dependencies, and implementation needs to appropriate OIT teams
Evaluate when a request can be satisfied with standard services and when a more specialized review or custom design effort may be necessary
Consultation, Coordination, and Customer Advocacy
Serve as a primary point of contact for faculty seeking guidance on research technology needs
Consult with users of varied technical abilities to clarify goals, constraints, and expectations
Direct users to appropriate existing services, support teams, and technical resources
Work with other OIT groups to communicate needs and facilitate progress toward implementation
Track solution progress sufficiently to remain an effective advocate for the user and to help remove misunderstandings or barriers
Follow up periodically with users to determine whether implemented solutions continue to meet their needs
Manage expectations for niche, highly specialized, or infeasible requests, including communicating when requests cannot reasonably be supported
Service Gap Identification and Organizational Awareness
Identify patterns and trends in faculty research technology needs across colleges and departments
Keep management informed of recurring requests, unmet needs, emerging technology patterns, and opportunities for service improvement
Help OIT maintain awareness of campus research needs by serving as a key source of information about user demand, common pain points, and evolving requirements
Technology Research and Solution Evaluation
Research existing and emerging technologies relevant to faculty research and related academic needs
Perform initial investigation of vendor and SaaS solutions as needed
Assist in evaluating whether requested technologies align with university standards, current offerings, and operational feasibility
Maintain awareness of enterprise technology capabilities and changes in available services
The employee is also expected to proactively learn new skills through available documentation, university resources, professional development, training opportunities, and collaboration with other technology professionals.
Required Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
Preferred Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field plus two years of relevant experience. Or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
Preferred experience includes:
Consulting with end users to gather and clarify technical requirements
Designing and documenting technology solutions
Broad IT experience such as systems administration, storage, databases, SaaS platforms, development, integrations, or related services
Communicating technical requirements to implementation teams
Writing clear technical documentation
Supporting research technology needs in a university or similar environment
Working with faculty, researchers, or other expert end users
Required Skills and Abilities:
Capability and desire to learn new skills
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Ability to gather requirements from users with varied technical backgrounds
Ability to translate user needs into clear technical requirements and architecture documentation
Ability to manage expectations and communicate limitations in a timely, professional manner
Ability to work effectively across multiple technical teams
Strong organizational skills and ability to follow through on user needs over time
Significant experience in at least a few areas of information technology
This position comes with fantastic benefits, including:
- 401k. BYU automatically contributes 8% at no cost to you. Additionally, if you contribute 5%, BYU adds an additional 4% (Rehires may qualify for different retirement plans)
- Excellent work-life balance: 13 paid holidays + 22 days paid vacation + 12 sick days, accrued annually
- Employee assistance program, available to the employee and all members of their household
- Tuition benefits for employees and eligible family members
- Access to athletic facilities
- Excellent medical/dental benefits
- Short/long-term disability benefits
- Paid parental and maternity leave
- Wellness Program
- Free on-campus parking
- Free UTA passes for employees, spouses, and qualified dependents
- Discounts at the BYU Store and for many events at BYU
Pay Grade: 55T
Typical Starting Pay: $102,000-$132,500
The actual compensation offered will take into consideration internal equity and may vary based on the candidate’s job-related experience, knowledge, skills, and other relevant factors. Candidates with very significant work-related experience may receive an offer higher than the posted typical range.
Required Documents:
All Staff positions require a resume.
Refer to the Job Posting for any additional required documents.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must hold and be worthy to hold a current temple recommend.
Brigham Young University is an equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veteran status.
Brigham Young University (BYU) is widely recognized not just for its world-class education, but for its deep commitment to inspired religious values. Gathered together in a Christ-centered atmosphere, BYU employees are a vital part of a community of belonging, where we value the experiences, perspectives, and talents of each individual. If you share in our devotion to faith and to excellence, we have a place for you here at BYU!
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Capability and desire to learn new skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to gather requirements from users with varied technical backgrounds
- Ability to translate user needs into clear technical requirements and architecture documentation
- Ability to manage expectations and communicate limitations professionally and timely
- Ability to work effectively across multiple technical teams
- Strong organizational skills and ability to follow through on user needs over time
- Significant experience in at least a few areas of information technology
- Preferred: Consulting with end users to gather and clarify technical requirements
- Preferred: Designing and documenting technology solutions and architecture diagrams
- Preferred: Broad IT experience such as systems administration, storage, databases, SaaS platforms, development, or integrations
- Preferred: Experience communicating technical requirements to implementation teams and writing clear technical documentation
- Preferred: Experience supporting research technology needs in a university or similar environment and working with faculty/researchers
What We Do
Brigham Young University is a private research university located in Provo, Utah. Owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it provides an intellectually and spiritually invigorating community where students pursue academic excellence and moral development. As a global institution of higher learning, BYU is dedicated to providing a world-class education rooted in faith and scholarship.
