Data Analyst - Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development

DATA ANALYST - Research Intelligence and Technology Transformation

Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development; Research Informatics

Exempt, Market Range 12

Job Summary/Essential Job Functions

The Research Informatics (RI) unit within the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development (ORIED) is responsible for providing data insights that inform strategic decision-making for UT's research enterprise, and technology solutions that transform the workflow operations of the office. The Data Analyst supports a high-quality, innovative data analytics program that explores internal and external data sources to analyze changes in funding support, identify trends in UT's research performance, and benchmark the university's research activity against other academic institutions. This individual plays a key role in tracking and reporting research activity aggregates for organizational units, and assists in the generation, maintenance, analysis, dissemination, and presentation of information that supports the research mission of the University. In addition, the Data Analyst develops and operationalizes technology solutions that meet the business needs of ORIED staff by producing custom reports and dashboards, automating workflow processes, and exploiting other efficiencies that move business forward. The position is hybrid, with some in-person work requirements and some remote work flexibility.

Qualifications:

Duties and Responsibilities

Report Design and Generation:

• Timely and accurate generation and dissemination of recurring and on-demand reports for use by administrative and academic units within ORIED and across UT.

• Designing and developing tools, methodologies, and applications for data collection, reporting, and presentation.

• Developing and maintaining procedures to improve accuracy and efficiency of data querying, report generation, and data dissemination processes.

• Identifying data discrepancies and addressing data quality issues to ensure consistency and integrity of data collection and reporting.

• Consulting with clients to understand data needs and developing tools to collect and deliver requested information.

Data Analysis and Data Visualization:

• Designing and maintaining automated reports and dashboards to inform data-driven decisions and support workflow management, using software such as Microsoft Power BI and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), RStudio, Tableau Desktop, and other applications.

• Contributing to data analysis and data visualization needs via ETL (extract, transform, load) procedures to translate raw data into user-friendly formats, trend analyses, static, and interactive graphics.

• Performing more complex data analyses, which may require the use of advanced data modeling or statistical methods using such software as Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), R programming language and RStudio, and IBM SPSS Statistics.

Data Collection, Querying, and Aggregation from Internal and External Sources:

• Designing and maintaining queries using standard query language (SQL) and SQL Server Management Studio, RStudio, or other querying applications for internal databases, such as ORIED's electronic proposal and award routing system (Cayuse/Huron), UT's enterprise resource planning (ERP) information system (SAP/Oracle), and Elements faculty activity system.

• Collecting and assisting with the analysis of research activity data from external sources, such as National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey (NSF HERD), Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Clarivate's Web of Science, Elsevier Scopus, Digital Science Dimensions publication/citations databases, etc.

• Merging data from external and internal databases and making correlations across data sets.

• Developing overall subject matter expertise regarding internal and external data sources that support ORIED's mission-critical activities.

Technology Transformation and Process Improvement:

• Serving as assigned liaison to one or more ORIED teams to create custom data- and technology-driven solutions that meet mission-critical, specialized business needs.

• Embedding within ORIED teams to build a deep, contextualized understanding of their data sources and business operations.

• Developing and maintaining data dashboards, reports, and automations that help ORIED staff make business decisions, manage risk, improve processes, and ensure alignment with university, federal, and state requirements.

• Identifying, evaluating, recommending, and ultimately implementing emerging technology solutions that meet the needs of ORIED staff.

Other duties as assigned. Includes, but is not limited to:

• Temporarily assuming additional duties in the event of a job vacancy elsewhere on the RI unit until the position can be filled.

• Completing professional development activities to acquire new skills and remain current on best practices, approaches, and software applications, as available tools and data analysis needs change over time.

Required knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge and high proficiency in the use of Microsoft Excel, standard query language (SQL), and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

• Evidenced analytic skills necessary to collect information from diverse sources, perform analyses, summarize and present information.

• Well-developed oral and written communication skills.

• Ability to interact constructively with diverse data users including faculty, staff, and administrators.

• Evidenced ability to assimilate new skills, learn new applications, and adapt to new data platforms.

• Meticulous attention to detail.

• Ability to develop a deep, contextualized understanding of how research data are defined and used.

• Ability to manage a high volume of complex projects to produce required deliverables and meet critical deadlines.

Preferred knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Experience with software programs and tools used at UT or in other academic institutions, such as SAP(IRIS)/Oracle or similar ERP, Cayuse/Huron, Elements, Academic Analytics, Clarivate's Web of Science, Elsevier Scopus, Digital Science Dimensions, etc.

• Knowledge and high proficiency in the use of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and Power BI.

• Knowledge and high proficiency in the use of R and RStudio (programming language and statistical computing and graphics software environment).

• Ability to use automation tools and customize such tools for the use of others.

Required level/type of experience and/or years of experience

Required level/type of experience and/or years of experience

All of the following:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field - Statistics, data science, business analytics, mathematics, computer science, computational social science, or similar

A minimum of one to two years of professional experience in collecting and working with large datasets from multiple sources to produce reports, visualizations, and automate processes.

Preferred level/type of experience and/or years of experience

Any of the following:

• Master's degree in a relevant field - Statistics, data science, business analytics, mathematics, computer science, computational social science, or similar

• Three to five years of relevant experience.

• Any professional experience in university or national laboratory setting.

• Any level of experience related to research administration (e.g., proposals and awards, research accounting).

Additional Information

• Please attach the following electronic documents to the application: Cover letter, resume, and the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of at least three professional references.

• Applications will be reviewed immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Related Websites:

• Research Informatics: https://liveutk.sharepoint.com/sites/ORIED/SitePages/Research-Informatics.aspx

• Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development: https://research.utk.edu/oried/

• Employment & Benefits: http://hr.tennessee.edu/benefits/

• Benefits Summary for Active Employees: http://humanresources.tennessee.edu/benefits/gen_benefits_info.html