• Lead statewide strategic planning to increase educational attainment.
• Administer programs that help people access and pay for college.
• Advocate for the economic, social, and civic benefits of higher education.

Please see the WSAC website http://www.wsac.wa.gov/ for more information about the Council’s roles and responsibilities.

About the Division
The Research Division provides information and analyses that guide the Washington Student Achievement Council’s efforts to represent the public interest and advance higher education attainment in the state.

In support of the mission and goals of the Washington Student Achievement Council, the Research Division endeavors to conduct innovative research and analysis of higher education issues and play a key role in formulating, implementing, and assessing progress toward State’s 10-Year Roadmap and corresponding Strategic Action Plan.

About the Position
Under the direction of the Director of Research, the data analyst is responsible for analyzing and reporting information related to student financial aid and postsecondary student success and attainment. The analyst provides expertise, consultation, and support to Council staff in the areas of student financial aid records and survey design. The analyst designs standard and custom reports and develops solutions for managing and summarizing information related to student financial aid programs and other postsecondary topics.

The analyst, in consultation with other members of the research staff, determines project requirements and designs and performs various summary and statistical analyses using internal and external data sources. The analyst may conduct specialized, complex research involving mathematical and statistical analyses. The analyst coordinates with other agency staff, institutional stakeholders, and other education agencies working on related issues.

• Analyze and report on all aspects of electronic student records, including, but not limited to financial aid awards, postsecondary enrollment, student demographics, and institutional characteristics.
• Conduct analytic studies in response to internal and external data requests, which includes legislative requests.
• Prepare statistical and other written reports and analyze changes/trends in higher education data.
• Integrate data from a variety of sources, both internal and external, to develop meaningful and accurate reports for a variety of audiences and to support the work of the agency.
• Develop, write, and maintain the agency’s data dictionary.
• Assist with state-level planning accountability measure tracking and reporting.
• Provide expertise, consultation, and guidance on the development of surveys and other research projects. Respond to external surveys.
• Participate in professional development activities to maintain/enhance technical and other skills.

Work Activities

• Data collection, research & reporting
  • Independently identify, collect and organize data.
  • Conduct various statistical analyses.
  • Determine and implement project requirements, which may require computer programming, data processing, survey design, and presentations.
  • Create and maintain historical and current computer databases; gather data from existing files or collect data from a variety of sources.
  • Analyze and review data for completeness and accuracy; code, compute, and summarize via personal computer systems that include relational database management tools.
  • Respond to external requests for data and analyses.
  • Perform quality checks of datasets
•  Related duties as required.

• Experience with statistical analysis package (strong preference for SAS)
• Bachelor’s degree (e.g. Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Social Science or related fields).
• Minimum 3+ years’ of full-time professional experience with SQL queries, data analysis and reporting.
• Experience with data includes, but is not limited to querying data from multiple data sources, working with large datasets and joining data appropriately to produce datasets and summary tables.
• Knowledge and experience working with data definitions, data dictionaries, data standards and data security.
• Experience with data cleaning, quality checks and manipulation using a variety of software packages
• Demonstrated knowledge of data collection, analysis and management techniques.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills for collaborating with multiple units within the agency.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Organizational skills to plan and prioritize work efficiently and productively to meet competing deadlines.
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite (particularly Word and Excel).
• Demonstrated desire and ability to acquire new software skills as needed to assume new responsibilities.

Preferred 

• Advanced degree (e.g. Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Social Science or related fields).
• Background in higher education institutional research.
• Knowledge/experience with qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and statistics.
• Familiarity with survey software, survey analysis, and survey reporting.
• Experience working with data visualization and dashboards (e.g. Tableau).
• Experience with building custom reports and summaries (e.g. SQL Server Reporting Services).
• Familiarity with issues of higher education.
• High level programming proficiency in SQL

1. Letter of Application.  A letter of application that addresses how you meet the required education and experience described in this announcement.  Applications with generic cover letters will be considered nonresponsive and may eliminate the application from further consideration.
2. Resume.  Detailed resume including all educational and professional experience.
3. References.  A list of names, titles, and current telephone numbers of three (3) employment references.
4. Authorization to Release Information form.*
5. Affirmative Action Form (optional).*

* These forms can be found on our website at:  http://wsac.wa.gov/employment

Electronic application packages are encouraged and should be sent in MS Word format or as a .pdf only with “Data Analyst” in the subject line.  If your submission is in a PDF file format, please put the optional affirmative action form in a separate file.

Fax: (360) 704-6202 | Email: HumanResources@wsac.wa.gov

Karen Moton–Tate
Washington Student Achievement Council
917 Lakeridge Way
Olympia, WA 98504-3430

Please Note:

• The quality and completeness of the required application materials will be considered in determining whether candidates will move to the next phase of the screening process.
• Prior to a new hire, a background check including criminal record history will be conducted.  Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment but will be considered in determining the applicant’s suitability and competence to perform in the position.

For questions about this recruitment contact:  Karenm@wsac.wa.gov or you may call (360) 753-7802.

The Washington Student Achievement Council is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and is strongly committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce. We will provide assistance in the recruitment, application and selection process to applicants with disabilities who request such assistance. Please call (360)753-7802 as early as possible regarding any assistance you may require.