Institutional Research & Decision Support

Institutional Research & Decision Support (IR&DS) is looking for a leader to support reporting and analytics on the educational mission of the university. The Director of Decision Support and Business Intelligence builds relationships with partners across campus to understand the information needs of university leaders and front-line staff. This role collaborates with colleagues in University Information Technology to build business intelligence solutions.  This role is a great opportunity for someone with a technical background who is interested in working at the interface between Stanford’s academic and IT communities.

This position is responsible for overseeing the creation of architecture, ETL processes, and data collections within IR&DS, as well as helping to architect campus wide solutions in partnership with the University’s central IT group. This role leads the Student Integrated Reporting and Information System (SIRIS) project (http://siris.stanford.edu/).  The Director of Decision Support and Business Intelligence will manage a group of six analysts/developers in creating and/or specifying data solutions for a range of university-wide reporting subjects, especially (but not exclusively) those related to students and teaching.  The position reports to the Associate Vice Provost and Director of Institutional Research & Decision Support.

The Director of Decision Support and Business Intelligence executes substantial technical and managerial efforts with a university-wide focus, supporting IR&DS as the source of record for business intelligence related to the university’s teaching mission. The Director of Decision Support and Business Intelligence will perform advanced project and analytical work in a wide range of business intelligence activities that ensure the uniformity, accuracy, and semantic consistency of enterprise data through the application of effective data management, security, stewardship, and governance processes.

The Director of Decision Support and Business Intelligence will serve as a liaison between IR&DS and central University IT units, and should have a technical background in areas such as data warehousing, business intelligence, data virtualization, and data analytics. As part of a central analysis and reporting unit, this position interacts with a wide variety of campus stakeholders, and requires someone skilled in understanding and interpreting the information needs of a broad group of campus community members. Additionally, the position exercises major programmatic impact in designing information solutions for the academic leadership of the university.

CORE DUTIES*:

• Lead and manage staff responsible for the development of information solutions, from definition phase through implementation. Mentor technical staff in decision-making about architecture, tools, and information management approaches.
• Lead university-­wide complex business intelligence reporting and analysis initiatives, such as the SIRIS project; ensure initiatives directly support the organizational mission and are delivered on schedule and budget. 
• Provide technical direction for the Decision Support Systems warehouse.
• Provide complex analysis and recommendations regarding data management and the design of dashboard and reports; oversee the development of interactive query tools and dashboards for central and distributed users.
• Lead, hire, coach, and evaluate performance of staff. This position currently supervises a team of six people. The team includes analysts, developers, training, and user support specialists.
• Create and execute business and technical plans, and revise as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements. Write plans and charters for business intelligence and other analytics and reporting projects.
• Create procedures and guidelines to ensure compliance with university policy and federal and state regulations.
• Evaluate and assess metrics and program effectiveness; review trends and monitor proactively.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the organizational structure and programs to ensure success, development of employees, and appropriate use of staff resources.
• Lead student data stewardship efforts and develop the metadata supporting the applicable reporting systems.
• Troubleshoot business intelligence environment problems and seek opportunities for improvement; coordinate with application team to resolve application bottlenecks and performance issues. 

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree and eight years of increasingly technical work experience, or a combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Substantial experience with the design of data for reporting solutions, including data warehousing, relational and dimensional logical data modeling.
• Experience designing ETL processes and experience with ETL tools, such as Informatica’s PowerCenter.
•  In-­depth knowledge of and ability to use analytical and business intelligence programs such as OBIEE, Tableau, R, and others.
• Experience with student data, experience with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions is particularly desirable, but not required.
• Experience working in a research university desired.
• Strong project management skills.
• Ability to resolve issues quickly and make decisions that meet university objectives, in a collaborative culture.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, motivate, and develop staff.
• Exceptional stakeholder relationship skills, consensus building skills, and ability to establish effective working relationships in a diverse environment.
• Ability to understand and interpret campus policy, structure, processes, and data needs. Ability to understand questions from campus stakeholders and propose effective information solutions to meet their needs. Ability to serve as a translator between campus stakeholders and technical groups.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, proven presentation experience and comfort with senior management audiences, and effective facilitation skills with diverse groups.

 How to Apply

We invite you to apply for this position by clicking on the “Apply for Job” button. To be considered, please submit a cover letter and resume along with your online application. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Stanford welcomes applications from all who would bring additional dimensions to the University’s research, teaching and clinical missions.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job.

Additional Information

Schedule: Full-time
Job Code: 4807
Employee Status: Regular
Grade: M
Requisition ID: 86994