Analyst, Data

Analyst, Data

OPPORTUNITY

Nationally recognized nonprofit venture philanthropy seeks to hire an analyst to provide strategic and operational capacity across teams to lead grantmaking.

ORGANIZATION

NewSchools is a venture philanthropy that builds a better education system by connecting people, resources, and ideas. We bridge the gap between those with capital and those with the courage to put that capital to work on the frontlines of K-12 education. We envision an education system that keeps its promise to all students. That’s why we invest in the ideas and energy of education leaders and entrepreneurs who are advancing innovative solutions that expand the definition of what works. There’s a better way to advance education through philanthropy—one that is more equitable, more collaborative, and more courageous–and we’re proving it every day.

RESPONSIBILITIES

We seek to hire a Data Analyst to own data stewardship, quality and analytics within the Operations function and assigned to a designated investment team. Reporting to Jessica Henry, Senior Director of Operations, with a dotted line to your assigned investment team (a program team responsible for identifying, funding and supporting education ventures). You will own execution within the data framework and standards designed centrally, while serving as the analytics partner your investment team turns to for reliable data and strategic insight. NewSchools is a fully remote organization, and you may live anywhere in the United States. This role requires up to 10% travel for in-person team meetings, retreats, and conferences.

In this role, you will:

Own the data and metrics that demonstrate impact for a designated investment team (30%)

In partnership with the Data Manager, investment team leads, and the Research & Learning team, translate learning agendas into documented metric definitions, data structures, and processes and translate these into clear stakeholder communications

In partnership with the Data Manager, develop and maintain processes that ensure the investment team collects cohesive quantitative and qualitative data specific to key metrics of success — logic model, learning agenda, and funder-facing impact

Partner with the Research & Learning team to elevate metrics that support the broader research strategy

Identify where business questions can't be answered with existing data or tools; develop well-reasoned recommendations for warehouse additions, public data infrastructure, self-service tool improvements, and research agenda priorities

Maintain active working knowledge of NewSchools' full data stack — warehouse, BI tools, and public data infrastructure — to credibly advise the investment team(s) and inform infrastructure decisions

Ensure the data feeding into our systems is accurate, complete, and trustworthy from the point of intake (30%)

Project manage annual data collection cycles; partner with the Data Manager and investment team leads on clean rostering, survey development, and administration

Manage all data intake for the designated investment team(s) — applications, diligence, grantee surveys, internally generated data — including validation processes that catch errors at the source

Partner with the data engineer and fellow analysts to validate and clean incoming data and execute automated quality control checkpoints

Review and update databases within the designated investment team's scope, ensuring accuracy and integrity across all data sources

Apply and reinforce best practices for capturing data updates regularly and accurately within the investment team

Spot and report data anomalies from the stakeholder lens — quality issues automated back-end processing may miss — investigate root cause, report to relevant teammates, and manage stakeholder communications when a resolution isn't immediately possible

Turn data into the insights and recommendations that shape investment decisions (30%)

Own the analytics relationship for your designated investment team(s), developing deep knowledge of its goals, workflows, and data needs to serve as a trusted, actively sought-out resource

Lead ad hoc analyses to support data-driven decision-making and synthesize findings into written investment recommendations

Own and respond to data reporting and analysis requests supporting grant and funder reporting

Manage and execute ad hoc analysis and rapid prototyping using SQL, BI tools, and AI-assisted analytics to answer business questions

Collaborate with Research & Learning and investment teams on custom queries and datasets supporting the learning agenda, team strategy, Board requests, and funder reporting and prospecting

Develop planning tools, analysis frameworks, and visualizations that drive insight generation and identify portfolio bright spots, accounting for historical, contextual, and comparative data and perspectives

Help colleagues across NewSchools find, trust, and use data themselves (10%)

Serve as the go-to resource for data questions across the organization, helping non-technical colleagues navigate systems and dashboards

Support implementation and adoption of self-service analytics tools across the assigned investment team(s), including onboarding, coaching, and ongoing support

Support ad hoc data needs across the organization

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum 2 years of experience in roles working with complex data sets and owning end-to-end data processes (collection, auditing, analysis, meaning-making)

Proficiency in SQL and experience with cloud data warehouse platforms (BigQuery preferred)

Experience with BI/analytics tools (Omni Analytics preferred) and building self-service artifacts and reporting for non-technical users

Experience with data validation, quality control processes, and data cleaning

Project management experience, particularly running recurring data collection cycles that involve coordinating multiple internal and external stakeholders

Comfort using AI-assisted analytics tools for ad hoc analysis and rapid prototyping

Knowledge of the K-12 education sector with experience working with teacher, leader, and edtech data -or- Knowledge of the K-12 education sector with experience working with charter and district school and student data strongly preferred

Travel up to 10% for in-person team meetings, retreats and conferences

EXPERIENCE YOU BRING

Building and maintaining knowledge management structures that make portfolio data and findings reusable across teams

Supporting progress monitoring and research partnerships, including what gets collected and how data quality is protected

Translating analysis into clear insights and recommendations for various stakeholders and audiences

Implementing continuous improvement initiatives that increase efficiency

Planning, prioritizing and managing multiple workstreams

YOUR WAYS OF WORKING

Ground decisions, priorities, and actions in NewSchools’ mission and commitment to equity

Communicate clearly and proactively, share information before being asked, and raise questions and concerns directly

Adapt how you communicate to the audience, make a clear case for your recommendations, and give and receive feedback directly

Collaborate across teams, build relationships, and share ideas and insights

Set clear priorities, manage competing demands, and keep systems that make prioritization possible

Proactively name when an approach isn’t working and propose what to do instead, including reworking or stopping your own workstreams

Operate comfortably with imperfect or incomplete data, using sound judgment to deliver useful analysis despite gaps or inconsistencies

Apply sound judgment about when to make independent decisions and when to involve someone else

Maintain an active view of the field and market through regular scanning of research, data and public sources, and use it to surface patterns and gaps the team sh