Technical Business Analysts

University of Utah•Salt Lake City, UT

35d•$55,000 - $75,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-ranked division of the David Eccles School of Business, is seeking a highly detailed, execution-focused Business Data Analyst to be the core technical producer for the Institute's foundational data work. This role is critical for transforming the vast amount of raw data Lassonde has amassed over its 25-year history into a reliable, standardized, and usable asset. This is a real-world, hands-on digital transformation opportunity that provides unparalleled experience in data engineering, governance, and organizational impact. The successful candidate will build a powerful professional portfolio by delivering the technical foundation for a major institutional strategy. The ideal candidate is a technical specialist with a love for data and checklists, committed to rigorous technical quality assurance. They will perform the hands-on data engineering required to ensure the Institute's long-term data holdings are clean, validated, and ready to power strategic decisions. The role will maintain a comprehensive understanding of the digital tools available and approved within the University ecosystem. Learn more about the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at https://lassonde.utah.edu.

Requirements

EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor's degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).
Requires a bachelor's (or equivalency) + 4 years or a master's (or equivalency) + 2 years of directly related work experience.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in related area.
Demonstrated proficiency in Python for data manipulation and scripting.
Experience with cloud-based collaboration and analysis environments, such as Google Colab.
Expertise in the data lifecycle, specifically data transformation, preparation, cleaning, validating, blending, and maintenance.
Direct, hands-on experience with survey data extraction and preparation (e.g., Qualtrics).
Proficiency in developing and implementing data audits and normalization techniques.
Exceptional attention to detail and a commitment to technical rigor and documentation.
A "Love of Data and Checklists": A meticulous producer committed to data accuracy and technical rigor.
Passion for Impact: Driven by the opportunity to apply technical skills to a real-world digital transformation project that directly affects thousands of students and alumni.
Resume Builder: Motivated to leverage this experience to build an exceptional portfolio and professional network by working on foundational enterprise-level data strategy.
Experience with Software: Experience or confidence using, supporting, and connecting data and marketing software already used or preferred by the Lassonde Institute (e.g., Salesforce, Tableau, Qualtrics, Acuity, Pardot, Emma, TextRequest, Google Forms, Airtable, etc.)
A natural affinity for the mission of the Lassonde Institute and the field of entrepreneurship.

Responsibilities

The Analyst will serve as the technical engine, focused on achieving data quality and integrity across the Lassonde data environment:
Data Transformation & Engineering
Data Preparation & Blending: Utilize technical skills, including Python and tools like Google Colab, to execute data transformation, blending, and preparation scripts. The goal is to harmonize datasets from Lassonde's disparate sources and legacy systems into a unified structure.
Survey Integration: Serve as the primary technical resource for survey data (e.g., from Qualtrics) extraction and preparation, ensuring data is correctly structured, tagged, and ready for integration into the Institute's central data repository.
Cleaning & Normalization: Implement rigorous data cleaning and normalization protocols to standardize formatting, correct inconsistencies, and eliminate redundancies in the Institute's long-term data holdings.
Audits, Quality Assurance, and Maintenance
Data Audits: Execute comprehensive data audits on key Lassonde datasets to identify gaps, anomalies, and inconsistencies, ensuring the reliability of the Institute's data for future strategic use.
Checklist-Driven QA: Operate as a meticulous producer with a love of data and checklists, developing and adhering to detailed quality assurance processes for all recurring data preparation tasks to maintain consistent and accurate results.
Maintenance & Storage: Ensure all cleaned and validated data is stored in designated, internal repositories in a manner that is immediately processable and usable by the Lassonde team.
Marketing, Sales and Data Software Support & Integration
Data Repository Management: Establish and maintain internal storage repositories for all available Lassonde data assets (using database tools like Airtable), ensuring they are accessible for analysis and future integration.
Central System Data Liaison: Interface with the University's central data system (e.g., Salesforce) to build methods and tools for adding Lassonde-prepared data and ensuring its appropriate use within that environment.
Communications Data Enablement: Create clear pathways and tools to feed Lassonde's cleaned data into various communications platforms (e.g., email, SMS, etc.) used by the Institute's marketing team.
Integration Preparation & Tool Agility: Design and build methods for automatically connecting data between primary Lassonde data collection sources (Qualtrics is a key example) and the Institute's central systems. This includes rapid acclimation to current systems (e.g., Salesforce, Pardot, MarketingCloud, Emma, TextRequest, Acuity, Google Forms, etc.) and assessing their capabilities against business objectives.
Documentation & Context
Comprehensive Documentation: Produce clear, concise documentation for all data cleaning scripts, validation processes, and final data schemas, enabling seamless future maintenance and knowledge transfer within the Lassonde team.
Mission Alignment: Act as a technical partner, ensuring the quality of Lassonde-owned data supports the mission of achieving entrepreneurial ambitions faster and with more success.
Strategic Reporting and Data Visualization
Reporting Alignment: Work backward from high-level reporting requirements (for university rankings, internal presentations, and external audit reviews) to ensure all data preparation and transformation methods are aligned for strategic reporting output.
Data Visualization Basics: Possess the ability to generate basic data visualizations and dashboards to quickly and clearly communicate data quality, project progress, and key findings to non-technical stakeholders.
Data-to-Impact Pathway: Maintain a clear focus on the data-to-impact pathway, ensuring the prepared data seamlessly supports the Institute's communication and performance tracking goals.
Collaborative Problem-Solving & Strategic Agility
Creative Problem Solver: Eagerly work in a team dynamic, participating in strategy sessions to find quick, pragmatic solutions that benefit the overall data flow and team efficiency.
Bottleneck Resolution: Maintain an eye on data bottlenecks that are easily resolved for other team members, implementing solutions to improve daily workflows.
Constraint Management: Demonstrate a forward-thinking mindset by anticipating how current technical decisions will affect the strategy down the road, and adjusting approach based on technical and organizational constraints.
Technical Humility: Possess the willingness to recognize when a technical limitation or skills limitation is reached and proactively seek help and support from other campus staff, consultants, or other technical resources.
Other Tasks as Assigned: Be willing to support other projects and initiatives as time allows, possibly including enterprise software management, marketing automation support, and website management.