Senior Operational Data Analyst

Strada Education Foundation • Washington, DC

29d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Operational Data Analyst will support the Education Analytics and Technical Services team in developing a portfolio of data-driven advisory services and toolkits to help state clients leverage their data to analyze graduate-to-employment pathways. This work will support the establishment and operation of formal Education Economics offices, focusing on supply-demand analytics for occupations and skills, employment outcomes, and workforce trends. The role emphasizes applying data analysis to generate actionable insights and related products that enhance workforce competitiveness and strengthen pathways to opportunity for individuals. Key audiences include employers, policymakers, and state agency leaders including labor market information, research, and higher education data system leaders. This role follows a hybrid schedule, working on-site two days per week from either our Washington, DC or Indianapolis office. Context Strada Education Foundation supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between education and employment in the U.S., with a special focus on helping those who have faced the greatest challenges securing economic opportunity through postsecondary education and training. Strada’s strategic plan defines five focal areas by which to improve pathways to opportunity through post-high school education: clear outcomes, quality coaching, affordability, work-based learning, and employer alignment. Strada leverages research, strategic philanthropy, investments, communications, advocacy, and collaborating organizations in the pursuit of this mission. Key Responsibilities The Senior Operational Data Analyst balances advanced data analysis with hands-on secure operational management of the cloud data infrastructure, focusing on ELT pipelines, data catalogs, and integration of diverse education and workforce datasets. They further support Strada’s Education Analytics and Technical Services team by supporting the development of advisory services and toolkits and creating actionable insights that enhance workforce competitiveness and opportunity pathways.

Requirements

• a bachelor’s degree in data analytics, computer science, education or social science research, mathematics, business, or a related field or equivalent work experience; master’s degree preferred.
• 3-5 years minimum experience conducting analysis on complex datasets.
• Familiarity with R Studio, Python, SQL, SAS/STAT, Stata or other data & statistical analysis
• Experience leveraging cloud-based data warehouse environments such as Google Cloud Platform, or similar cloud infrastructure for data management, transformation, analysis and reporting.
• Experience with visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI or other business intelligence platforms.
• Familiarity with educational, government labor and state workforce data.
• Knowledge of workforce and economic data product APIs and data shares (e.g., Lightcast, Chmura, Moody’s) and integrating these into data ecosystems.
• Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Excellent strategic analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills.
• Experience using project management methodologies for analysis projects.
• Ability to multi-task and work under time pressure.
• Committed to providing equitable pathways to opportunity through PSET, particularly for individuals who have faced significant barriers.
• Demonstrated alignment with Strada's guiding values, commitment to building a strong and healthy workplace culture, and working in a collaborative environment.
• Adept at operationalizing strategy and effectively communicating strategic endeavors within the organization and in external contexts, both verbally and in writing.
• Adaptable with tolerance for ambiguity.
• Able to problem-solve and navigate varied viewpoints.
• Capacity to refine efforts based on evidence that change is needed.
• Ability to lead efforts to visualize and monitor change.
• Capabilities in taking the perspective of others and adapting an agenda and approach – toward a shared aim - accordingly.
• Ability to effectively utilize a hypothesis-driven approach to problem solving, with effective quantitative and communication skills.
• Ability to take on broad-reaching and sometimes ambiguous questions while working collaboratively and cross-functionally with Strada team members across the organization.
• Ability to translate innovative, strategic ideas into tangible, actionable steps, as well as to effectively monitor progress and partner with others on identifying improvements during implementation to increase the likelihood of successful execution.
• Commitment and professional experience advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within and organization, including incorporating stakeholder perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of strategic efforts.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, grow, and manage positive, mutually beneficial relationships at all levels of an organization and with partners outside the organization.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship management skills—including identifying and working through challenges—underscored by strong judgment and emotional intelligence.
• Proven collaborator, able to work with colleagues at all levels in the organization.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with state-level or other large-scale workforce, education, and economic datasets.
• Experience working in fields such as education and or economic research, business. intelligence, social science research or policy analysis.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards and best practices in visual design.

Responsibilities

• Identify, integrate, and manage education and workforce datasets from state, federal, third-party, and proprietary sources, applying modern data cataloging to improve discoverability, stewardship, and governance.
• Design, develop, and maintain scalable ELT pipelines within a Google Cloud Platform/BigQuery environment, ensuring secure, reliable, and efficient data integration and transformation in support of analytics and advisory services.
• Coordinate with external contracted data teams to align pipeline operations, data flows, and platform management with internal requirements, security expectations, and project objectives.
• Implement data quality and governance practices that promote consistent, accurate, and trustworthy data across the cloud environment, including systematic validation and monitoring.
• Ensure secure and compliant management of sensitive data—such as PII/PHI, FERPA-protected records, and wage/employment data—by applying strong privacy, de-identification, and minimization practices.
• Apply modern cloud-security standards, including role-based access control, least-privilege design, encryption, secrets management, and secure service-account configurations across data pipelines and warehouse operations.
• Monitor and audit platform activity through automated logging and access reviews to detect anomalies, support incident response, and strengthen overall data protection.
• Partner with IT and security teams to document data flows, classify information assets, support regulatory compliance (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, SOC 2), and embed a culture of privacy and risk mitigation across environments.
• Conduct sophisticated statistical analyses of labor market trends, supply/demand projections, and higher education/workforce alignment using cloud-based data sources.
• Develop and refine models to support data-driven policy and decision-making for clients and stakeholders, leveraging SQL, Python, R, and advanced BigQuery capabilities.
• Integrate best practices in data quality and metadata management to enable reliable, reusable analysis.
• Work with the analytics team to translate research findings into policy-relevant insights targeted to key stakeholders in postsecondary education and training.
• Develop reports, dashboards, and presentations to communicate key insights to stakeholders.
• Support the development of reports, interactive visualizations and presentations using Tableau, Power BI, or similar platforms to communicate key insights to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with partners to refine data products that inform workforce and education policy decisions.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to Strada research colleagues on data relating to education and workforce alignment and measuring diversity and representation of populations in workforce data and analysis.
• Partner with Human Resources and DEI leadership to promote equitable workplace practices and diverse perspectives.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive environment that encourages innovation and cross-functional teamwork.
• Model transparency, respect, and inclusion in all professional interactions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior