SLEDS Director

• Who May Apply:
  Open to all qualified job seekers
• Date Posted: 08/20/2026
• Closing Date: 09/10/2026
• Hiring Agency/Seniority Unit:
  Office of Higher Education/OHE
• Division/Unit:
  Research
• Work Shift/
  
  Work Hours:
  
  Day Shift
• Days of Work:
  Monday - Friday
• Travel Required:
  
  Yes, 10%
• Salary Range: $47.91 - $66.89 / hourly; $100,036 - $139,666 / annually
• Classified Status:
  Unclassified
• Designated in Connect 700 Program for Applicants with Disabilities:
  No

Working Title: SLEDS Director

Job Class: OHE Director

Agency:
Office of Higher Education

The work you'll do is more than just a job.

At the State of Minnesota, employees play a critical role in developing policies, providing essential services, and working to improve the well-being and quality of life for all Minnesotans. The State of Minnesota is committed to equity and inclusion, and invests in employees by providing benefits, support resources, and training and development opportunities.

The SLEDS Director is responsible for ensuring the appropriate collection, management, and use of SLEDS and ECLDS data to support the State of Minnesota and partner agencies identify the most viable pathways for individuals in achieving successful outcomes in early care, education, and work; inform decisions to support and improve early care, education, and workforce policy and practice, and assist in creating a more seamless early care, education, and workforce system for all Minnesotans, especially for historically excluded populations.

Additional responsibilities include enforcing appropriate use of both public and private data in accordance with federal and state data privacy regulations and responding to requests for data from the Minnesota Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and other stakeholders in a timely, accurate, and secure manner as allowed by federal and state law.

This position requires developing and maintaining positive relationships with key stakeholders and work with a high degree of independence as they collaborate with the Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership, multiple state agencies, external organizations, and the P-20 education systems in the state and nationally. High level of professionalism is required, with the ability to manage a complex interagency team, and have an outcome-driven focus to lead a cohesive and committed team of professionals and stakeholders.

The incumbent must possess a broad familiarity with research and statistics relevant to higher education and/or workforce policy.

Occasional travel is required for out-of-state meetings.

This role is expected to demonstrate the following State of Minnesota leadership competencies:
Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading the Organization, Leading Outside the Organization, Leading with DEAI, and Getting Work Done.

To facilitate proper crediting, please ensure that your resume/application clearly describes your experience in the areas listed below and indicates the beginning and ending month and year for each job held. Only applicants whose resume clearly demonstrate fulfillment of each of these minimum qualifications will be considered.

• Five (5) years of experience working with database structures and large data sets, including SQL querying, data sourcing, cleaning, validation, analysis and interpretation.
• Understanding of longitudinal data and research pertaining to early care, education, and work.
• Knowledge of descriptive and inferential statistics.
• Experience with data visualization including use of R, Excel, Tableau, Power BI, or related software.
• Ability to deliver data-driven presentations to a variety of stakeholders and diverse audiences.
• Strategic leadership and cross-team facilitation, including management, team building and creating positive organizational culture.
• Demonstrated experience managing and monitoring budgets.

Bachelor's degree in Social Science, Data Science, Math, Computer Science, or related field will count towards 12 months experience, or Master's Degree or higher in Social Science, Data Science, Math, Computer Science, or related field will count towards 18 months of experience.

• Master's degree or higher with 5+ years of experience, or a…