Research Data Analyst

Position Summary

The Research Data Analyst will support the annual data cleaning, ingestion, and management workflows that underpin SC TEACHER’s longitudinal educator records and reporting infrastructure. Working closely with the Research Lead for Data Infrastructure and Analytics, this position plays a central role in preparing, structuring, and maintaining data assets that support workforce analytics, district-facing dashboards, and applied research.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field and at least 2 years of job‑related experience, substitutable with an equivalent combination of certification, training, education, or experience.

• Experience working in AWS environments (S3, Athena, Glue, Quick Sight, EC2)
• Familiarity with education or other administrative/government datasets
• Experience building data visualizations or dashboards for non‑technical audiences
• Master’s degree in a relevant field

• Proficiency in SQL for writing, optimizing, and maintaining queries in cloud‑based environments, particularly Amazon Athena.
• Working knowledge of R and/or Python for data cleaning, transformation, validation, and documentation of analytic workflows.
• Familiarity with AWS cloud services including S3, Athena, Glue, EC2, and Quick Sight.
• Ability to work with large, complex, restricted administrative datasets, including longitudinal educator workforce records and district‑level data.
• Knowledge of ETL (extract, transform, load) processes and best practices for data pipeline management.
• Skill in building and maintaining data tables, views, and derived variables to support applied research and reporting.
• Ability to conduct systematic data validation, including checks against prior‑year files, lookup tables, and external documentation.
• Experience developing data visualizations or dashboards for varied audiences.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate, version‑controlled scripts and data preparation logs.
• Knowledge of data governance practices, including metadata documentation, data classification, and confidentiality protocols.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, and ability to work independently and collaboratively within a research team.

• Clean, validate, and transform raw data files using R and/or Python; maintain data preparation logs and adhere to data quality standards.
• Build and maintain data tables, views, and queries in Amazon Athena to support analysis and reporting workflows.
• Support annual ingestion of data files from SCDE and other providers, following documented intake and validation procedures.
• Develop and contribute to dashboard reporting using Amazon Quick Sight.
• Conduct data validation checks against lookup tables, SCDE documentation, district‑submitted records, and prior‑year files; assist in developing and updating derived variables and suppression rules.
• Collaborate with research team members on analytic data preparation for annual reports, legislative deliverables, and district products.

The University of South Carolina offers a range of benefits, including health and life insurance, paid leave, and retirement programs. Research Grant or Time‑Limited positions may be eligible for all, some, or no benefits depending on funding.

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender (including transgender), gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDs status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status, or any other bases under federal, state, local law, or regulations.

Applications must be submitted by August 21 2026.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• List of References and Contact Information