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Data Analyst
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Position Number: 1801061
Location: Boston, MA
Position Type: Laboratory and Research

Data Analyst

About Northeastern:

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and a world leader in experiential learning. The same commitment to connecting with the world drives our use-inspired research enterprise. The university offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Our campuses in Charlotte, N.C., San Francisco, Seattle, and Toronto are regional platforms for undergraduate and graduate learning and collaborative research. Northeastern pursues advanced research in security and materials at the Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts, and in coastal sustainability at the Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts.

About the Opportunity:

Overseen by the Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Research and Decision Support, the University Decision Support (UDS) unit provides timely information and analysis to the Northeastern University community to enable evidence-driven decision making and planning. Analysts within the unit provide research and data analysis to university decision-makers in support of planning, accreditation, and budgeting; produce and disseminate reports offering insight into the progress and performance of Northeastern; and assess and evaluate Northeastern's academic, administrative, and co-curricular initiatives. UDS is also responsible for the submission of voluntary or required data to external entities, including government agencies, accreditors, professional organizations, college rankings, guidebooks, and other media outlets. To accomplish these efforts and meet the internal and external data needs of the university, UDS analysts produce, refine, and maintain a variety of self-service data tools; respond to annual external data requests or requirements; respond to ad hoc internal data requests, and engage in any other data analysis and research, as needed. In addition, UDS is home to the university's data administration group, which manages and facilitates data governance to maximize the value extracted from the university's data assets. In summary, UDS is a source of information, expertise, and guidance for data consumers throughout the university, that seeks to promote, influence, and advance a culture of shared knowledge by making data accessible to faculty and staff in accordance with their role and purpose.

The UDS office regularly receives requests for various data and metrics from individuals across the university; external requests for data from entities such as IPEDS, US News & World Report, the Princeton Review, and many other guidebooks, rankings, and publications; and requests for support with data compilation and presentation in preparation for programmatic, college, or university accreditation and approval. Reporting to the Director of Institutional Research, the Data Analyst plays a lead role in executing a wide variety of data analyses that fulfill these various needs and requests. The Data Analyst supports government compliance reporting, regulatory reporting, accreditation support, external ranking and guidebook surveys, internal management requests, external data requests, and Northeastern University publications. In order to accomplish these tasks, the Data Analyst will query, compile, and analyze data from multiple sources, including student, course enrollment, admissions, and HR data housed within the university's operational data store (ODS), as well as query and analyze data from external sources (including but not limited to IPEDS, the National Student Clearinghouse, and the National Science Foundation). In order to meet internal and external information needs, the Data Analyst will collaborate with a wide variety of university stakeholders, partners, and decision-makers, and will need to identify and execute relevant data analysis methodology, and clearly communicate and present data to others.

Responsibilities:
Key Responsibilities of the Data Analyst include:

Build and refine queries to extract admissions, enrollment, HR, and other relevant institutional data;

Manage and clean large datasets for optimizing reporting and efficiency;

Analyze data using relevant statistical packages;

Prepare data and tabulate metrics to meet external reporting requirements from accreditors, state and federal governments, and other agencies and organizations;

Develop and standardize reporting procedures and streamline reporting activities and processes, in order to establish efficient methods of reporting;

Thoroughly document reporting efforts in UDS records for future reference;

Prepare informative, meaningful, and comprehensible reports and presentations to facilitate the interpretation of data;

Leverage data management, data analysis, and data visualization skills to develop user-friendly reports to communicate key trends related to business questions and strategic initiatives;

Identify, investigate, and work to resolve data quality issues with relevant functional units and data administration and governance colleagues.

Qualifications:

The role of Data Analyst will require strong technical expertise, in addition to strong written and verbal communication skills. A learning mentality is desirablean interest in expanding upon existing skill sets, learning new technical skills, and participating in informal and formal learning opportunities is strongly preferred. This position involves a significant amount of time working independently on a computer; however, it also involves interaction with others, and requires a customer service mentality in order to adequately respond to requests from both university offices and external agencies. The Data Analyst must have strong analytic skills, the capacity to work with large-scale datasets, be detail-oriented, and have a strong commitment to quality and accuracy. The Data Analyst must have the ability to think critically and analytically, work independently, problem solve, and handle multiple concurrent tasks and projects with a variety of internal and external deadlines. Advanced Excel, and experience with SPSS or R, Hyperion/BRIO, Toad, Cognos, Tableau or similar data analysis and visualization tools is strongly preferred.

Specific qualifications include:

Four to six years of professional work experience with demonstrated proficiency in data management, analysis, and reporting;

Experience preferred in institutional research, enrollment analysis, or other higher education data analysis and reporting settings;

Advanced practical experience with reporting, analysis, and data visualization software (Excel, Tableau, Hyperion/BRIO, Toad, Cognos, etc.)

Excellent data visualization and report preparation skills;

Strong orientation to detail;

Strong organization skills;

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including a strong customer service orientation;

Ability to manage concurrent projects and activities with a high degree of quality and data accuracy;

Ability to meet deadlines and deliver projects in a timely manner;

SQL experience a plus;

Bachelor's degree required, master's degree preferred.

Salary Grade:
10

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University's commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.

To apply, visit https://careers.pageuppeople.com/879/cw/en-us/job/502594