• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $100,000 - $110,000

Position Summary

The Senior Associate Director, Survey Research and Data Analytics designs, develops, executes, and maintains various data-driven processes and applications for reporting and analysis related to academic and curricular reporting for Columbia College.

The Senior Associate Director, working closely with the Senior Director of Data Analytics, leads the College’s internal survey and analysis service. The incumbent plays a critical role in helping the College understand its students and other key stakeholders. It is responsible for designing, executing, and analyzing surveys based on research objectives and audience characteristics, and generating executive-level qualitative and quantitative analyses to inform the College’s data-driven decisions in support of the needs of College’s strategic and business goals.

They further serve as a key resource and Subject Matter Expert to the College in the development, administration, and analysis of surveys, regularly consulting with College members who are engaged in survey research. In all work, they combine strong technical skills in survey research methods, data analysis, reporting, and visualization with knowledge of the university context to gather and relay critical information and insights from survey data clearly and accurately.

The Senior Associate Director collaborates with the Senior Director to manage the question selection, distribution, and analysis of the COFHE annual surveys. This position then packages the resulting analysis for presentation to and consideration by the College’s executive team for use in decision-making and possible follow-up internal surveys.

This position works closely with the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, the Enrollment Group, and other College departments to manage the College’s submissions to surveys such College Board, Peterson’s, and Princeton Review. The incumbent will coordinate the Data Group’s activities to gather the data, perform quality assurance, gain approval from external parties, submit and report on the status of these surveys submitted on behalf of the College.

The Senior Associate Director supports data integrity and data security, while working with large data sets and performing various processes utilizing ETL. The incumbent will work with various data sources to perform executive-level analysis, assessment, and reporting. As an integral member of the team, the Senior Associate Director will assist the Senior Director, Data and Analytics in overseeing the Data Group’s project portfolio and task management.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Senior Director, Data and Analytics and the Executive Director of Information Technology and Strategic Analytics to lead all aspects of internal survey projects, from start to finish. Consult with College Executives to ascertain information desired, then design, develop, and implement surveys to collect data supporting the College’s strategic goals and business decisions.
  • Serve as Subject Matter Expert for survey design, execution, and analysis for the College.
  • Work with stakeholders to determine the best way to collect survey data; Develop sampling plans to ensure that surveys are representative of the population; Conduct focus groups or in-depth interviews to gather qualitative data as appropriate; choose the most appropriate method for administering surveys, based on the type of data being collected.
  • Provide quantitative and qualitative analyses and feedback for research, surveys, and assessments; Identify trends, correlations, and other significant information. Create frameworks for forecasting and modeling projects. Present findings from survey analysis in a clear and concise manner, both verbally and in writing.
  • Train and oversee other Data Group staff on how to administer and analyze surveys. Review surveys developed by others to ensure quality and accuracy; Identify issues or problems with survey methodology or implementation that may have affected results.
• Work with the Senior Director, Data and Analytics and the Executive Director of Information Technology and Strategic Analytics to deliver data analysis, data visualization, and business intelligence to the Office of the Dean, Senior Staff of the College, and other critical partners to provide insight and inform decision making. Produce dashboards and reports that visualize data, making them easily translatable and useful for business decisions. Facilitate processes that translate data into actionable insights in order to solve problems, provide insight, optimize operational processes, and improve efficiency. Identify, analyze, and interpret trends or patterns in complex data sets using statistical techniques. Participate in evaluating new technologies so as to ensure the advancement of best practices and business intelligence needs for the College.
• Work with the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, Enrollment Group, and other College departments to oversee data generation, review, and submission of surveys (College Board, Peterson’s, Princeton Review, etc.) and provide oversight for the Common Data Set generation.
• Create, maintain, and document innovative, user-friendly front-end reporting tools and platforms that provide point-and-click ability to produce reports for operational and analysis needs.  Build and maintain databases and automate data processes, including ETL, SQL, stored procedures, SSRS, SSIS, Tableau, etc., for in-house and third-party databases. Create and provide ad-hoc reports and datasets in response to requests from various departments.
• Assist the Senior Director, Data and Analytics with portfolio and task management, overseeing projects, requests, and workflows handled by the Data Group.
• Play an integral role in planning short and long-term projects with the Senior Director of Data and Analytics; the Executive Director of Information Technology and Strategic Analytics; and other team members, and participate in implementing strategic initiatives around research, forecasting, analysis, and reporting.
• With the Senior Director and Executive Director, lead the College’s Survey Governance Group to forecast the needs for information College-wide and coordinate survey execution across College departments.
• Research and evaluate available sources of data to extract, clean, and manipulate datasets for use. Facilitate processes that translate data into actionable insights in order to solve problems, provide insight, and optimize operational processes, and improve efficiency.
• Work on special projects as deemed relevant and be available as needed for technical and other support during critical periods.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.
• A minimum of four to six years of experience, or a combination of education and experience.
• The ability to work with a high degree of independence and accountability as a member of a cohesive team.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in SQL and query and reporting analysis tools including ETL, cubes, and reporting services.
• Familiarity with relational database design.
• Experience with both qualitative and quantitative statistical methods in survey design, research, or assessments.
• Experience with survey design and execution. Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks under short and changing deadlines, while ensuring timely and accurate execution.
• Proven ability to create project plans and successfully complete projects.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills required; ability to analyze and interpret complex data sets, make findings relevant, and explain data and technology to a general (non-technical) audience.
• Act as an analytical thinker with the ability to work collaboratively and independently.
• Must have the ability to exercise sound judgment, discretion, and tact in a highly confidential professional setting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Qualtrics, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Tableau, or other enterprise-level reporting tools is preferred.

• Knowledge of a programming language such as Python or R.

• Experience using student information systems (SIS) and/or high-level enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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