Director of Data Analytics & Institutional Research

Boston Architectural College•Boston, MA

About The Position

The Boston Architectural College seeks a Director of Data Analytics & Institutional Research to establish and lead a comprehensive, institution-wide approach to data analytics, institutional research, assessment, and performance improvement. Reporting directly to the President, the Director will serve as the College’s principal institutional research and data analytics strategist, working across academic and administrative functions to strengthen how the institution collects, integrates, interprets, and uses data. This is a leadership role with substantial implementation responsibilities. The Director will build institutional capabilities, establish reliable systems and processes, develop meaningful analyses, and work with institutional leaders to translate evidence into decisions and measurable improvements. The BAC has invested in a data warehouse, student-success analytics, institutional performance reporting, and emerging data-governance practices. The Director will integrate these capabilities into a coherent institutional research and analytics function. The role encompasses institutional performance analytics; enterprise data strategy and governance; executive dashboards and decision support; academic assessment; student employment and graduate outcomes; faculty and organizational analytics; accreditation and regulatory reporting; and leadership and capacity building. The Director will also assess emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytical tools, for appropriate use in institutional research and performance improvement. The position is based in Boston, Massachusetts, reports to the President, is full-time, and offers compensation of $110,000–$125,000.

Requirements

Master’s degree in institutional research, higher education, statistics, data science, business analytics, educational research, public policy, or a closely related field.
At least five years of progressively responsible professional experience in institutional research, higher education analytics, institutional effectiveness, or a related leadership function.
Demonstrated experience conducting institutional research within a college or university.
Substantial experience with student-success analytics, longitudinal analysis, institutional assessment, and performance reporting.
Strong knowledge of higher education data sources, reporting conventions, and regulatory requirements, including IPEDS and federal student-outcomes reporting.
Experience developing or implementing institutional dashboards, performance measures, and analytical reporting systems.
Demonstrated ability to work with institutional databases, data warehouses, statistical or analytical tools, and business intelligence platforms.
Experience establishing data definitions, quality controls, governance procedures, and reporting standards.
Ability to conduct analyses independently, interpret complex findings, and communicate results to nontechnical audiences.
Experience working collaboratively with academic leaders, faculty, administrative departments, and senior executives.
Strong project-management skills and a demonstrated record of implementing organizational improvements.

Nice To Haves

Doctoral degree in a relevant field.
Senior institutional research or institutional effectiveness leadership experience.
Experience working directly with presidents, provosts, cabinets, or governing boards.
Familiarity with NECHE accreditation standards and institutional assessment expectations.
Experience with specialized or professionally oriented higher education institutions.
Familiarity with data warehouse platforms, including ZogoTech, and enterprise student information systems.
Advanced proficiency in SQL, statistical analysis, data visualization, or business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
Experience integrating academic, enrollment, financial, operational, and workforce datasets.
Experience with online education assessment, career-outcomes analysis, or competency-based learning assessment.
Familiarity with applied AI and automation in institutional analytics.
Experience establishing or transforming an institutional research function.

Responsibilities

Lead institutional research and analysis in support of the College’s mission, strategic priorities, academic programs, and organizational performance.
Develop a comprehensive framework of institutional performance indicators, benchmarks, and longitudinal measures.
Analyze enrollment, persistence, retention, academic progression, graduation, student learning, and post-graduation outcomes, including disaggregated analyses across student populations, programs, enrollment patterns, and instructional modalities.
Apply appropriate statistical methods to small cohorts, nontraditional student pathways, and complex longitudinal datasets; identify barriers to student success and evaluate institutional interventions.
Translate analytical findings into actionable recommendations for academic and administrative leadership.
Develop and implement an institution-wide data strategy connecting academic, financial, operational, enrollment, human resources, and other institutional data.
Assess data systems and improve integration, accuracy, accessibility, and reporting efficiency; provide analytical leadership for the ZogoTech data warehouse and its transition to the CoreCampus enterprise platform.
Establish and maintain a data dictionary, standardized definitions, calculation methods, and reporting conventions, along with policies and procedures for data quality, stewardship, validation, access, confidentiality, privacy, and ethical use.
Work with IT and departmental data stewards to establish dependable data integration and reporting processes and reduce fragmented reporting and reliance on individually maintained datasets.
Design and maintain performance dashboards and recurring reports for the President, Cabinet, academic leadership, administrative departments, and Board of Trustees.
Align performance measures with strategic planning, resource allocation, budgeting, and institutional priorities; establish baselines, targets, historical comparisons, and external benchmarks.
Develop tools and reporting systems for forecasting, scenario analysis, and institutional planning, and communicate findings through data visualization, analytical narratives, and executive reporting.
Work with institutional leaders to establish regular performance reviews, identify problems, assign responsibility, and evaluate improvement.
Collaborate with Academic Affairs and faculty leadership on student learning assessment, program assessment, and institutional research.
Establish measures of educational effectiveness across undergraduate, graduate, online, and practice-integrated programs, and evaluate learning and success against institutional and program learning outcomes.
Develop methods to assess online education, including student engagement, academic community, student support, and learning outcomes.
Evaluate curricular changes, academic interventions, and program performance, and connect the Practice Component and Student Learning Contracts with analyses of student learning and professional development.
Develop systematic approaches to understanding student employment, professional practice, career development, and graduate outcomes; integrate available internal and external data on employment, earnings, career progression, and return on education.
Use data from the National Student Clearinghouse, IPEDS, College Scorecard, NACE, and other relevant databases; develop peer-institution and competitive benchmarking frameworks.
Analyze institutional performance in relation to student characteristics, educational models, workforce needs, and higher education trends, and support evidence-based evaluation of the BAC’s educational value and professional outcomes.
Develop reporting on faculty composition, teaching assignments, instructional capacity, and length of service, including analysis of adjunct faculty engagement and contributions.
Collaborate with Finance, Human Resources, and other units on measures of organizational effectiveness, financial sustainability, operational performance, staffing, resource allocation, and institutional growth.
Coordinate institutional research and analytical support for NECHE accreditation, specialized accreditation, and external reviews.
Ensure reliable, consistent, and timely data for IPEDS, federal and state reporting, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, and other accountability requirements.
Maintain accessible repositories of institutional evidence and analyses, and establish reporting calendars, validation protocols, documentation standards, and clear responsibilities for recurring submissions.
Establish the operating structure and processes for a sustainable institutional research and analytics function, and lead and coordinate cross-functional teams responsible for institutional data and reporting.
Work with the President and Cabinet to embed data use in institutional management and decision-making; build analytical capacity through training, mentoring, documentation, and collaborative projects.
Encourage intellectual curiosity, critical inquiry, transparency, and continuous improvement; evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-enabled analytical tools, for appropriate application.
Oversee external consultants and technical partners as appropriate.
During the first year, assess the data environment and establish a prioritized roadmap; standardize core measures and reporting; develop integrated dashboards; strengthen accreditation and regulatory reporting; establish disaggregated and longitudinal analyses; and build a sustainable operating model for institutional research and analytics.