Strategic Initiatives Analyst

Position: Strategic Initiatives Analyst (Fixed-Term)
To apply for this position, please include a resume and cover letter with your application.

This is a fixed-term position for a period of three years.

Unit

Description:

Institutional Research & Decision Support (IR&DS) is a team of data professionals who provide analysis and reporting to guide university decision-making. IR&DS's mission is to facilitate institutional decision making at Stanford University by:

* Providing integrated analysis and research needed by University decision makers

* Publishing reports that provide insight into the performance of the institution.

* Assessing and evaluating Stanford's academic and co-curricular support programs

* Building data collections and facilitating access to data, including providing training and tools

* Disseminating and facilitating best practices in the collection, use, and interpretation of data

* Advocating for data quality and integrity

Position Summary:

The Strategic Initiatives Analyst will conduct research, create documentation, and manage projects in support of Stanford's mission. The topics of research may include student financial aid, student outcomes, and institutional reporting. Major assignments for this role include project management of IR&DS initiatives, stakeholder communications, and the creation of documentation. This position will take on a diverse mix of tasks and assignments, requiring the ability to manage a complex portfolio.

This position reports to the Associate Vice Provost and Director of IR&DS with a dotted line relationship to the Director of Institutional Research.

We are looking for candidates with a strong foundation in data analysis, excellent written and oral communication skills and experience with project management. We're seeking a data-literate professional who wants to grow their career in strategic communications, documentation, and project management. You'll leverage your analytical background to accomplish a mix of assignments, including translating complex data into compelling narratives and managing cross-functional initiatives.

The Strategic Initiatives Analyst will lead IR&DS initiatives and will be responsible for communicating research findings through written reports and preparing presentations to faculty, staff, and administrators. The analyst will also create documentation of data sources, definitions, appropriate use policies, and research processes within IR&DS. The Strategic Initiatives Analyst will collect, monitor, and analyze information regarding financial aid, university policies, student data, and institutional outcomes, yielding actionable information to guide decisions across the University.

In this role, you will:

* Answer questions by developing research methodology, gathering data and/or using appropriate statistical techniques on available data.

* Communicate, convey, and visualize informed conclusions and recommendations across an organization's leadership structure in a manner that "tells the story" behind the data and influences how the organization approaches the challenge.

* Create written summaries and/or presentations on assigned research for senior leaders, faculty, and administrators, with opportunities to interact with a variety of university stakeholders.

* Collaborate with other organizations to gather data. Proactively seek and locate data, including outside benchmarks or comparative data.

* Perform the full range of project management cycle on IR&DS initiatives: planning, executing, monitoring, and closing. Communicate with project stakeholders and team members.

* Facilitate discussions and negotiations to drive recommendation consensus within scope of responsibility. Working across teams within IR&DS, you will forge agreements on timelines and approach for cross-team efforts.

* Develop and help execute comprehensive change management strategies and communication plans for IR&DS initiatives.

Note:

Not all unique aspects of the job are covered by this job description

To be successful in this role you will bring:

* Bachelor's degree in a relevant field and four years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and experience solving analytical problems using quantitative approaches.

* An advanced degree in the social sciences, education, statistics, or a related field is preferred.

* Extensive experience in and strong passion for empirical research and answering hard questions with data.

* Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience developing written reports and delivering presentations to non-technical and leadership audiences.

* Experience managing data, analyzing, and reporting on large data sets.

* Familiarity and experience with intermediate statistical methods; proficiency with statistical tools such as STATA, R, SPSS, or similar tools.

* Ability to tell stories with data using data visualization software such as Tableau, R, or similar software in conjunction with strong written and verbal ability.

* Familiarity and experience with using AI tools to improve data…