• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000

Position Summary

Columbia University’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research (OPIR) is located on Columbia’s Morningside campus in the City of New York. OPIR supports the strategic priorities of the Provost and President’s offices by providing timely and accurate information and analyses to campus decision-makers and responding to external requests for data, including compliance with federal and state regulations, rankings companies, membership organizations and guidebooks.

The Program Manager is responsible for collaborating with OPIR staff and stakeholders across the university to improve the preparation and submission of external requests for institutional data (e.g., Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), CDS, Rankings & Guidebook publications, Columbia Facts, etc.). The successful candidate must have an interest in higher education and the ability to understand the strengths and shortcomings of common metrics for tracking institutional performance. While quantitative skills are a must, much of the work will be collecting aggregated data for reporting. The incumbent must have the ability to review submissions for dependencies and standardized definitions across a wide range of data — this requires a keen interest in the underlying constructs and the ability to develop a sense of whether the magnitude and/or direction of quantities/changes is reasonable, and the ability to triangulate by using information from multiple sources. The Program Manager will work closely with administrators and other stakeholders to define project goals, deliverables and timelines, and to foster a collaborative environment to ensure successful project outcomes across Columbia’s decentralized reporting environment. Excellent communication skills are a must--relationship building is a key element to this role, which acts as the primary liaison to the community.

Responsibilities

Program/Project Management

• Coordinate and oversee OPIR staff on institutional research projects.
• Managing and prioritizing incoming requests to OPIR, completing general requests for data and analysis, and facilitating the completion of more complex requests.
• Communicating OPIR's productivity, progress and timelines to senior leaders and other stakeholders via customized reports, presentations and visualizations tailored to specific audiences.
• Helping design and guide implementation of quality assurance for OPIR deliverables; tracking and evaluating integrity of data and information for submission; developing the capacity to confirm accuracy by triangulating from multiple sources; mastering underlying reporting constructs and mapping across reporting obligations (enabling the OPIR team to judge whether magnitude and/or direction of quantities/changes are reasonable).
• Working with other units and schools who report data externally to track definitions used, ensure a consistent approach for deciding which efforts to participate in, and ensure high quality data and standardized, carefully considered definitions are used to represent Columbia across reporting obligations.
• Developing and implementing efficient, reliable, and maintainable strategies for collecting, organizing, and managing institutional data for fundamental reporting (e.g., IPEDS, Common Data Set (CDS), Rankings & Guidebook publications, Quick Facts, etc.).
• Working with analytical staff to engage in benchmark analyses using data from public sources and consortia.
• Developing productivity metrics to monitor OPIR’s performance, and advise on ways to improve timeliness, efficiency and quality.
• Providing project management for the department, including design and maintenance of OPIR’s project management software (Smartsheet); proactive monitoring of upcoming deadlines to ensure analytical staff is on track for on-time completion and submission.
• Advising on reporting methodologies and design standards for tools and reports.
• Working closely with the SAP on creating content for central planning activities, such as OPIR staff meetings and retreats.
• Providing formal feedback to the SAP on the performance of analytical staff relative to reporting.

Building Out and Communicating OPIR’s Data Governance & Documentation

• Representing OPIR in selected university data governance efforts and maintaining primary responsibility for governance and documentation of constructs used in OPIR’s internal data tools—ensuring the needs of the Offices of the President and Provost are met.
• Developing and maintaining data definitions in formats that translate technical specifications into accessible descriptions for Columbia administrators.
• Convening and staffing (e.g., setting the agenda) for an IR Community of Practice to foster a shared understanding of Columbia’s data.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Serving as OPIR's primary liaison to administrative staff, faculty, and external organizations.
• Representing OPIR on workgroups and taskforces as needed.
• Participating in institutional research consortia (e.g., AAUDE, COFHE, Ivy-IR, etc.).

Administrative & Operational Support

• Provide administrative support to OPIR, including managing calendars, handling procurement, and navigating institutional processes.

Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree required, 4-6 yrs of related work experience emphasizing quantitative skills/research methods and managing multi-stage analytical or business intelligence projects.
• Excellent analytical reasoning and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to produce descriptive, inferential, and predictive statistical analyses.
• Advanced proficiency in programmable statistical analysis software (Base SAS, R, SPSS syntax, STATA, etc.) SAS preferred.
• Experience with one or more data visualization software packages (e.g., Tableau, Microsoft BI, Qlik, etc.); Tableau preferred.
• Familiarity with relational databases, data management, and SQL.
• Demonstrated ability and desire to acquire new knowledge and skills independently.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills (ability to relay complex statistical results in an organized and easily understandable fashion).
• Excellent organizational skills, including a keen orientation to detail and deadlines, as well as the ability to prioritize work and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Ability to handle confidential materials professionally and to utilize discretion in releasing confidential information.
• Commitment to maintaining accurate and detailed records and documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in higher education or a quantitative discipline is strongly preferred.
• Experience working in a higher education setting is strongly preferred.
• Professional experience using the project management software, Smartsheet.

• Hybrid work possible.
• A resume and cover letter must be submitted to be considered for the position.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.