This position offers the possibility of fully remote work. Candidates working remotely must be available to travel to the Radford campus as needed for required in-person activities such as orientation, team retreats, professional development, and other institutional events.
Radford University is investing in the modernization of its institutional data and analytics environment and seeks professionals who want to help build sustainable, scalable, and data-informed practices that will support the university's strategic goals.
The successful candidate will join a collaborative division dedicated to advancing institutional effectiveness, data-informed decision making, academic quality, and student success across the university. Under the leadership of the Assistant Provost for Curriculum and Academic Quality, the division includes offices responsible for institutional research and analytics, institutional effectiveness, curriculum and general education, accreditation, assessment, and external reporting. Team members work closely with university leadership, Information Technology, academic units, and administrative offices to develop sustainable processes, strengthen organizational effectiveness, and support evidence-based decision making.
Job Description
The Senior Institutional Analytics Specialist serves as the university's primary institutional data and reporting specialist, supporting institutional research, analytics, reporting, compliance, and data governance activities. Reporting to the Director of Institutional Research & Analytics, the position develops and maintains institutional reporting resources, analytical datasets, business rules, dashboards, and reporting methodologies that support data-informed decision-making across the university.
Working closely with Information Technology and campus stakeholders, the Specialist helps ensure that institutional data are accurate, accessible, well-documented, and effectively utilized in support of strategic planning, student success, accreditation, operational effectiveness, and regulatory reporting.
The position plays a key role in promoting data governance, reporting consistency, business continuity, and organizational resilience by maintaining documentation, supporting cross-training efforts, fostering shared ownership of institutional reporting knowledge, and reducing reliance on individual personnel for critical reporting functions.
Duties:
Institutional Data Governance & Quality
Lead efforts to promote the accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and effective use of institutional data across the university.
Collaborate with Information Technology and functional offices to establish and maintain institutional data definitions, business rules, and reporting methodologies.
Support the development, documentation, and maintenance of institutional business rules, metric definitions, and institutional data standards.
Promote shared ownership and consistent application of institutional reporting definitions across reporting environments.
Identify data quality issues and work with campus partners to resolve discrepancies.
Participate in university data governance initiatives and working groups.
Promote best practices related to data stewardship, data literacy, and reporting consistency.
Analytics & Reporting Solutions
Develop and maintain analytical resources that support institutional reporting, dashboards, compliance activities, and decision support.
Develop and maintain SQL queries, reporting views, analytical datasets, and reporting logic.
Create and maintain dashboards, visualizations, and reporting resources utilizing enterprise analytics and business intelligence platforms.
Collaborate with Information Technology to ensure institutional reporting requirements are reflected in enterprise data resources and reporting environments.
Translate reporting requirements into sustainable analytical solutions.
Support validation of enterprise data resources used for reporting and analytics.
Identify opportunities to improve automation, reporting efficiency, accessibility, and analytical capabilities.
Decision Support
Conduct analyses and provide actionable insights that support institutional planning and decision-making.
Analyze enrollment, retention, graduation, student success, academic performance, and operational data.
Conduct recurring and ad hoc analyses in support of university leadership and stakeholders.
Develop data visualizations, trend analyses, forecasts, projections, and institutional performance indicators.
Support strategic planning, accreditation, institutional effectiveness, and student success initiatives.
Communicate findings effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Assist with development and maintenance of institutional key performance indicators.
External Reporting Stewardship
Support institutional compliance and external reporting efforts.
Maintain expertise in IPEDS, SCHEV, Common Data Set, Gainful Employment/STATS and other external reporting requirements.
Coordinate data collection, validation, and quality assurance activities.
Establish and maintain reporting calendars, procedures, and documentation.
Review and validate institutional data prior to submission.
Monitor regulatory and reporting changes and evaluate institutional impact.
Organizational Continuity & Knowledge Management
Promote sustainable reporting practices and continuity of critical operations.
Maintain comprehensive documentation related to reporting processes, analytical datasets, calculations, business rules, and institutional metrics.
Ensure critical reporting processes are documented, transferable, and regularly reviewed.
Support cross-training initiatives within Institutional Research and in collaboration with Information Technology.
Assist in establishing backup coverage and documented procedures for critical reports, reporting cycles, and compliance activities.
Facilitate knowledge transfer activities related to data resources, reporting methodologies, and institutional business processes.
Promote shared ownership of institutional reporting knowledge and reduce dependency on individual personnel for mission-critical functions.
Consultation, Collaboration & University Service
Consult with stakeholders regarding reporting methodologies, institutional metrics, and available data resources.
Assist offices in defining reporting and analytical needs.
Foster collaborative relationships across divisions and functional areas.
Represent Institutional Research on committees, councils, and working groups.
Participate in professional development activities.
Perform other duties as assigned. |
Required Qualifications
•Master's degree in statistics, social sciences, business analytics, information systems, data analytics, or a closely related field; or a bachelor's degree combined with substantial directly related professional experience.
•Demonstrated experience analyzing, interpreting, and communicating complex data and analytical findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
•Experience developing reports, dashboards, analyses, data visualizations, or decision-support resources that inform organizational planning, operations, and decision-making.
•Advanced proficiency in SQL, including the ability to write, optimize, troubleshoot, and maintain complex queries for data extraction, transformation, and reporting.
•Demonstrated knowledge of data management principles, data quality practices, relational databases, reporting methodologies, and institutional metrics.
•Demonstrated ability to establish collaborative relationships across technical and functional units and effectively manage multiple priorities in a complex organizational environment.
•Experience translating business needs and stakeholder questions into analytical solutions, reports, dashboards, and actionable recommendations.
•Strong written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, including the ability to explain complex analytical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Experience supporting external reporting requirements and associated data validation processes, including federal, state, accreditation, or other accountability reporting.
• Experience working with enterprise administrative systems such as Ellucian Banner or comparable student, financial, or human resource information systems.
• Demonstrated commitment to data stewardship, documentation, knowledge sharing, and development of sustainable business processes that promote data quality, organizational continuity, and continuity of mission-critical functions. |
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience working in an office of institutional research or other higher education analytics office.
• Experience working with Ellucian Banner and higher education reporting requirements, including IPEDS, SCHEV, Common Data Set, accreditation or related accountability reporting.
• Experience collaborating with Information Technology and functional business units to develop reporting solutions, improve data quality, and support institutional decision-making.
• Experience supporting implementation, adoption, or utilization of enterprise analytics and reporting platforms such as Edify, K16 Solutions, Power BI, Tableau, or comparable technologies.
• Experience conducting advanced analytics including trend analyses, forecasting, benchmarking, predictive modeling or related methodologies.
• Experience developing data governance resources such as data dictionaries, business rule documentation, reporting standards, or other resources that promote consistency and shared understanding of institutional data. |