STEM OPT Research Director Jobs
Research Director roles sit at the intersection of advanced STEM expertise and institutional leadership, making them strong fits for the STEM OPT 24-month extension. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify, and your degree's CIP code must align with the research field you'll be directing.
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Get Access To All JobsPosition Summary
The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is seeking a full-time Bioinformatics and Data Scientist or Postdoctoral Researcher to join a collaborative research team focused on aging, multi-omics, computational biology, and translational data science. This position offers a unique opportunity to work in an academic research environment with a close-knit, interdisciplinary team while collaborating with leading experts in aging biology, bioinformatics, clinical research, and computational science. The successful candidate will contribute to a five-year government-funded project focused on advancing computational and multi-omics approaches to better understand human aging, biological resilience, and healthspan. This role will support broader nationwide efforts to develop data-driven approaches that may ultimately improve how aging and age-related disease risk are measured, modeled, and addressed. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, human omics data analysis, and scientific communication. The position is well suited for an independent, highly motivated scientist who enjoys working across disciplines and contributing to both discovery-driven and translational research.
Key Responsibilities
2. Analyze, curate, and manage research data
- Perform bioinformatics and data science analyses. The successful candidate will analyze diverse biological and clinical datasets, including but not limited to:
- Proteomics
- Metabolomics
- Methylomics
- Survey data
- Integrative multi-omics datasets
- Human biological aging and omics-clock data
- Drug repurposing analyses
- Enrichment and pathway analyses
- Dimensionality reduction and clustering
- Classification methods, including random forests and support vector machines
- Neural network-based approaches
- Simple and multiple linear regression
- Parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses
Responsibilities will include:
- Curating, organizing, and preparing data for analysis and upload to central repositories
- Supporting data harmonization across projects, cohorts, and collaborators in accordance with data use agreements
- Reviewing and improving standard operating procedures for data transfer, quality control, and management
- Coordinating with internal and external teams to ensure timely collection, transfer, and analysis of data
- Attending project meetings and contributing to improvements in data workflows, systems, and documentation
- Ensuring data quality, reproducibility, and compliance with project requirements
3. Collaborate with scientific and administrative teams
The candidate will work closely with staff members, research scientists, computational biologists, principal investigators, and external collaborators. Responsibilities may include:
- Contributing to grant applications, progress reports, and scientific proposals
- Supporting manuscript preparation and journal article writing
- Creating publication-quality figures, tables, and data visualizations
- Presenting analyses and findings to interdisciplinary research teams
- Helping translate complex computational results into clear biological and scientific interpretations
Qualifications
Required Education and Experience
- Strong background in both human biology and bioinformatics
- PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Data Science, Biostatistics, Systems Biology, Computer Science, or a related field
- Minimum of 2 years of professional experience in a biological, biomedical, or computational research environment
- Strong proficiency in R, Python, and Bash scripting
- Demonstrated experience analyzing biological or biomedical datasets
- Experience developing, implementing, and running bioinformatics workflows
Required Skills
- Strong analytical, mathematical, and creative problem-solving skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team-based research environment
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to prioritize and execute multiple tasks across concurrent projects
- Experience with reproducible data analysis practices and documentation
- Ability to communicate technical results to both computational and non-computational audiences
- Interest in applying large language models, agentic AI, or related computational tools to biomedical research workflows
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with FDA approval process
- Experience with building apps
Compensation And Benefits
- Salary range: $80,000–$85,000, commensurate with experience
- Full-time, onsite position
- Exciting, collaborative work environment at the forefront of aging research
- Opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technologies and interdisciplinary scientific teams
- Generous benefits package, including:
- Health insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Generous paid time off
- 401(k) with 5% employer match
- Work visa sponsorship available for qualified candidates
About The Buck Institute
Our success will ultimately change healthcare. At the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, we aim to end the threat of age-related diseases for this and future generations by bringing together the most capable and passionate scientists from a broad range of disciplines to identify and impede the ways in which we age. The Buck is an independent, nonprofit institution located in Marin County, California, with the goal of increasing human healthspan, or the healthy years of life. Globally recognized as a pioneer and leader in efforts to target aging — the number one risk factor for diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, macular degeneration, heart disease, and diabetes — the Buck seeks to help people live better longer. We are an equal opportunity employer and strive to create an atmosphere where diversity of identity, experience, and background are welcomed, valued, and supported. Candidates who contribute to this diversity are strongly encouraged to apply.
To Apply
Interested candidates should click the Apply button to complete the online application. Please upload both:
- Your CV
- A brief statement of research interests, including the names and contact information for three references
Position Summary
The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is seeking a full-time Bioinformatics and Data Scientist or Postdoctoral Researcher to join a collaborative research team focused on aging, multi-omics, computational biology, and translational data science. This position offers a unique opportunity to work in an academic research environment with a close-knit, interdisciplinary team while collaborating with leading experts in aging biology, bioinformatics, clinical research, and computational science. The successful candidate will contribute to a five-year government-funded project focused on advancing computational and multi-omics approaches to better understand human aging, biological resilience, and healthspan. This role will support broader nationwide efforts to develop data-driven approaches that may ultimately improve how aging and age-related disease risk are measured, modeled, and addressed. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in bioinformatics, statistics, computational biology, human omics data analysis, and scientific communication. The position is well suited for an independent, highly motivated scientist who enjoys working across disciplines and contributing to both discovery-driven and translational research.
Key Responsibilities
2. Analyze, curate, and manage research data
- Perform bioinformatics and data science analyses. The successful candidate will analyze diverse biological and clinical datasets, including but not limited to:
- Proteomics
- Metabolomics
- Methylomics
- Survey data
- Integrative multi-omics datasets
- Human biological aging and omics-clock data
- Drug repurposing analyses
- Enrichment and pathway analyses
- Dimensionality reduction and clustering
- Classification methods, including random forests and support vector machines
- Neural network-based approaches
- Simple and multiple linear regression
- Parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses
Responsibilities will include:
- Curating, organizing, and preparing data for analysis and upload to central repositories
- Supporting data harmonization across projects, cohorts, and collaborators in accordance with data use agreements
- Reviewing and improving standard operating procedures for data transfer, quality control, and management
- Coordinating with internal and external teams to ensure timely collection, transfer, and analysis of data
- Attending project meetings and contributing to improvements in data workflows, systems, and documentation
- Ensuring data quality, reproducibility, and compliance with project requirements
3. Collaborate with scientific and administrative teams
The candidate will work closely with staff members, research scientists, computational biologists, principal investigators, and external collaborators. Responsibilities may include:
- Contributing to grant applications, progress reports, and scientific proposals
- Supporting manuscript preparation and journal article writing
- Creating publication-quality figures, tables, and data visualizations
- Presenting analyses and findings to interdisciplinary research teams
- Helping translate complex computational results into clear biological and scientific interpretations
Qualifications
Required Education and Experience
- Strong background in both human biology and bioinformatics
- PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Data Science, Biostatistics, Systems Biology, Computer Science, or a related field
- Minimum of 2 years of professional experience in a biological, biomedical, or computational research environment
- Strong proficiency in R, Python, and Bash scripting
- Demonstrated experience analyzing biological or biomedical datasets
- Experience developing, implementing, and running bioinformatics workflows
Required Skills
- Strong analytical, mathematical, and creative problem-solving skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team-based research environment
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to prioritize and execute multiple tasks across concurrent projects
- Experience with reproducible data analysis practices and documentation
- Ability to communicate technical results to both computational and non-computational audiences
- Interest in applying large language models, agentic AI, or related computational tools to biomedical research workflows
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with FDA approval process
- Experience with building apps
Compensation And Benefits
- Salary range: $80,000–$85,000, commensurate with experience
- Full-time, onsite position
- Exciting, collaborative work environment at the forefront of aging research
- Opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technologies and interdisciplinary scientific teams
- Generous benefits package, including:
- Health insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Generous paid time off
- 401(k) with 5% employer match
- Work visa sponsorship available for qualified candidates
About The Buck Institute
Our success will ultimately change healthcare. At the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, we aim to end the threat of age-related diseases for this and future generations by bringing together the most capable and passionate scientists from a broad range of disciplines to identify and impede the ways in which we age. The Buck is an independent, nonprofit institution located in Marin County, California, with the goal of increasing human healthspan, or the healthy years of life. Globally recognized as a pioneer and leader in efforts to target aging — the number one risk factor for diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, macular degeneration, heart disease, and diabetes — the Buck seeks to help people live better longer. We are an equal opportunity employer and strive to create an atmosphere where diversity of identity, experience, and background are welcomed, valued, and supported. Candidates who contribute to this diversity are strongly encouraged to apply.
To Apply
Interested candidates should click the Apply button to complete the online application. Please upload both:
- Your CV
- A brief statement of research interests, including the names and contact information for three references
See all 469+ STEM OPT Research Director Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new STEM OPT Research Director Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization in Research Director
Verify your CIP code matches the role
Pull your degree's CIP code from your I-20 and cross-reference it against the research domain you'll be directing. A mismatch between your listed STEM field and your job duties is the most common reason DSOs reject STEM OPT extension requests before they reach USCIS.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment before accepting offers
Ask the hiring institution to provide their E-Verify Company ID or show you their E-Verify participation page. Research universities and federal contractors typically enroll, but private research institutes and foundations vary, confirm before signing, not after.
Build a training plan around research leadership duties
Your I-983 must map specific learning objectives to Research Director responsibilities like principal investigator oversight, grant portfolio management, and lab staff supervision. Generic descriptions get flagged; tie each objective to a concrete research outcome your employer can evaluate.
Target institutions with active federal research contracts
Federal contractors are required to use E-Verify, so research-intensive organizations holding NIH, NSF, or DOD grants are structurally more likely to be enrolled and practiced at onboarding international researchers. Use Migrate Mate to filter for employers with verified E-Verify status in research and life sciences.
Check prevailing wage for your research discipline
Research Director wages vary sharply by field and institution type. Run the OFLC Wage Search using the SOC code for your specific research discipline to understand what wage level your employer must certify before your extension can proceed.
Align your start date with your OPT end date precisely
USCIS requires your STEM OPT extension application to be filed while your initial OPT EAD is still valid. Research Director searches can run long given committee-based hiring cycles, so file no later than 90 days before your initial OPT expires to avoid a gap in authorization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Research Director role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on whether your STEM degree's CIP code aligns with the research field you'll be directing. Research Director is not a blanket STEM-qualifying title. Your DSO will evaluate whether your degree's listed field on your I-20 corresponds to the scientific or technical domain of the position. O*NET can help you confirm how the role is classified occupationally before you apply.
What must the I-983 training plan include for a Research Director position?
Your I-983 must detail specific goals, objectives, and methods of evaluation tied to the Research Director role. For this title, that means documenting how the position advances your STEM skills in areas like research design, data analysis, grant oversight, or laboratory management. Vague descriptions like 'will conduct research' are insufficient. USCIS expects a concrete plan your employer signs off on and updates every 12 months.
How do I confirm my prospective employer is enrolled in E-Verify?
Ask your hiring contact directly for the company's E-Verify Company ID or request confirmation of their participation status before you reach the offer stage. Research universities, hospitals, and federal contractors are frequently enrolled, but smaller private research organizations may not be. An employer that isn't enrolled in E-Verify cannot sponsor your STEM OPT extension regardless of how well the role fits your degree.
What happens to my STEM OPT authorization if my Research Director contract ends before my extension period is up?
You have a 60-day grace period after your employment ends to find a new qualifying employer, transfer to a different visa status, or prepare to depart. You can work for a new E-Verify-enrolled employer on the same STEM OPT EAD, but your DSO must update your SEVIS record with the new employer information. USCIS does not require a new EAD for employer changes during an active STEM OPT period.
Where can I find Research Director jobs that explicitly support STEM OPT students?
Migrate Mate filters Research Director listings by E-Verify enrollment status, so you can focus on employers already set up to support your extension. Standard job searches don't surface E-Verify data, which means you'd otherwise need to verify each employer manually. Searching on Migrate Mate removes that step and surfaces roles in research-intensive fields where STEM OPT candidates are routinely hired.