Director of Research Analytics

Department: Research Analytics
Salary/Grade: EXS/13

Job Summary:

This Director of Research Analytics reports to the Assistant Vice President for Research, Finance and Business Operations and leads the Research Analytics unit. The Director works closely with the AVP to build and share analytics expertise, to promote a data-driven culture, and to help the Vice President for Research team to derive meaningful insight into research performance against internal goals and external benchmarks. The Director also partners with the Provost Office Information and Analytics unit and the University Libraries on strategic issues related to acquiring and interpreting research data.

The Director collaborates with leaders of OR administrative units to develop and implement projects that enhance the performance of their units and support the OR strategic plan. The Research Analytics office should provide metrics guidance, identify patterns to find risks and opportunities about performance and other outcomes for all OR and its subunits. The Director, in collaboration with Research IT and other campus partners, will develop requirements for data storage and downstream analysis and implement new solutions as necessary. This includes, but is not limited to, data for research, financial operations, HR, and facilities.

The Director maintains knowledge of the research enterprise at Northwestern, assesses research trends in higher education, and cultivates relationships with peer schools to identify best in industry practices that can be applied to or enhance the research analytics progress.

The Director of Research Analytics will support the OR mission and values of understanding empathy, modeling accountability, ensuring fairness, embracing community, and valuing creativity.

*Note: Not all aspects of the job are covered by this job description.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Work in collaboration with leadership across OR to understand needs, propose solutions, and prioritize projects. Manage projects by setting realistic deliverables and timelines, ensuring they are met, and transparently communicating progress. Stay abreast of current technologies and leverage campus resources to complete projects accurately and efficiently, seeking to benefit the broader community whenever feasible. Develop and maintain database of projects completed by the Research Analytics unit and make tools broadly available to those who might benefit.
• Manage the Research Analytics unit in a manner that serves the community and promotes individual growth. The team is responsible for developing effective analyses and visualizations to convey meaning inferred from various datasets. Ensure automated, repeatable, documented results. Empower team to identify novel opportunities for data-driven excellence within OR.
• Enhance OR and University-wide data sources, in collaboration with Research IT and other campus partners by developing modern mechanisms for data storage, retrieval and analysis. Infrastructure should draw from a wide range of OR, NU, and external systems (e.g. finance, HR, IRB, IACUC, CERES, HERD, Libraries, etc.) and connect separated sources into a common framework for reporting and analysis. The resulting system should be available and easily used by OR directors for their metric needs, ideally through a chat-based interface.
• Partner with the Provost Office Information and Analytics unit and Northwestern Libraries on strategic issues related to research data.
• Formulate and present findings in a clear and understandable format, appropriate to the audience, for a wide range of users at all levels of the organization. Write analytical reports, develop presentations, and create data visualization, including tables and charts, to be presented to University Officers, Deans, Directors, and project work groups
• Manage the process of coordinating and assembling information pertinent to the Office for Research annual strategic plan, impact report, and general presentations highlighting Northwestern research and its impact.
• Research and assess research trends in higher education and other areas; keep current with the knowledge through literature, best practices and techniques in data science, business intelligence, and management communities. Cultivate relationships with peer schools to identify best in industry practices that can be applied to or enhance the research data analytics progress.
• Serve on related university committees and task forces.

Miscellaneous

Performed other duties

Minimum Qualifications (Education, Experience, Certifications, Skills)

• Identify the minimum qualifications required to successfully perform the job. Qualifications include education, experience, specialized knowledge, professional certification.
• Master's degree from an accredited institution in a field such as statistics or educational research; or appropriate combination of education and data analytics experience.
• 6-8 years data management experience, preferably in higher education, or other major non-profit research and development organization.
• Demonstrated knowledge and familiarity with modern programming and analytical tools, such as Business Intelligence platforms, Tableau, Python, R, and SQL databases.
• Ability to use and understand data from a variety of sources with an emphasis on data accuracy and integrity.
• Experience with large data sets and data management systems
• Knowledge of statistics and inference
• Strong skills communicating with data, including visualization and storytelling for a diverse set of audiences
• Knowledge of using metrics to support and strengthen business operations
• Experience working with and building LLMs or similar tools for efficient data retrieval, analysis, and presentation.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Exceptional project management skills and the ability to balance competing priorities from multiple requesters.
• Ability to work with sensitive information, often of a confidential nature.

Preferred Qualifications (Education, Experience, Certifications, Skills)

• Work experience in a university research environment.
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative analysis of development of new tracking and reporting systems, and/or research design to support research administration in higher education.
• Experience preparing reports or other briefing materials for high-level decision makers.
• Familiarity with national datasets relating to the higher education research enterprise.
• Detailed knowledge of higher education practices, including methodologies for tracking performance in sponsored research and research administration.
• Detailed knowledge of research information management and benchmarking systems such as Elsevier Pure, Symplectic Elements, Academic Analytics, or similar.
• Detailed knowledge of state, national and international research datasets and platforms such as the NSF NCSES databases (including the HERD), NIH RePORTER, other federal research funding agency databases, etc.
• Experience with AI coding and development of robust, modular software systems

Target hiring range for this position will be between $140,000-$170,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Benefits:

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parental leave; tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.

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