Director, Data Analysis and Visualization

Position: Director, Data Analysis and Visualization

Location: Remote – preferably within California

Job Description

The Director leads the exploration, interpretation, and visualization of diverse datasets to inform our stakeholders as well as CCSA’s programmatic, legislative, and advocacy efforts. This position plays a pivotal role in shaping CCSA’s position as an expert on California charter schools, K-12 education policy, and data through the power of data storytelling. This position’s primary responsibilities involve uncovering insights from data and turning findings into compelling stories and actionable insights.

Overview of Responsibilities

The Director is responsible for analyzing CCSA and externally sourced data to produce visualizations, summaries, and reports which bring our member schools and stakeholders value. They will support research projects and advocacy efforts on a wide range of topics using quantitative methods. The ideal candidate can juggle multiple projects simultaneously, possesses a strong interest in data visualization and analytics, can work professionally within a team of diverse people and on a wide range of projects, and be able to translate complex information into layperson terms. This position reports to the Managing Director, School Performance, Accountability, and Research.

Essential Duties

• (40%) Data Visualization and analysis: designing visualizations and analysis to suit the needs of Association staff, member school teams and partners, and charter stakeholder clients on topics including charter school performance, enrollment, and accountability. Tailoring visualizations to suit the preferences and needs of different audiences using tools like Tableau, PowerBI or Excel.
• (20%) Communicating findings: Preparing written reports, summaries, and presentations based on the results of visualizations.
• (10%) Data Management: designing and maintaining databases, data cleaning and documentation, refining data governance and Extract Transform and Load processes, troubleshooting data processing and system errors. Preprocessing data to ensure suitability for analysis.
• (10%) Research: Support the team’s efforts to conceptualize, design, and implement cutting edge research on topics related to charter school efficacy and equity, leveraging the Association’s unique access to nearly 1,300 charter schools to gather charter-specific data; Monitor external research at the state and national level as needed and summarize key takeaways from reports for potential use and/or dissemination. Maintain working knowledge of current data/research practices, education/social science research by reading reports, participating in workshops, conferences, and other educational opportunities.
• (10%) Policy Monitoring: Maintain an awareness of state and local level policy developments that impact charter schools; Model the implications of new and proposed policies and communicate these impacts to CCSA member schools and advocacy staff in a digestible way.
• (10%) Organizational/Team Culture: Contribute actively to a positive work environment, actively building relationships, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as giving and receiving feedback.

What Does Success Look Like:

The Director, Data Analysis and Visualization will improve existing and develop new data tools and resources that are user-friendly and produce relevant and powerful insights for CCSA staff and stakeholders. The Director will need to consider how the resources they prepare could be used to support CCSA’s programming, secure legislative and local advocacy wins, and create member value by helping staff, member school teams, and our stakeholders leverage data. Within the first six months of starting, the Director will understand our user-base, begin updating existing tools to improve usability, usefulness, and accessibility, and develop plans for new data tools and resources. As a result of the Director’s work, CCSA’s advocacy will be more effective and member school teams will have a better understanding of their school and their wider education community.

Core Competencies

• Ability to communicate effectively to a diversity of audiences in ways that are appropriate to those audiences.
• Self-starter with exceptional decision making, strategic thinking, project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to collaborate with others by keeping others informed and encouraging input and support.
• Can work through uncertainty and complexity and continue making progress.
• Cognizant of where identity and power intersect with the work. Recognizes the ways that their own and others’ identities show up in data, research, and during interactions with colleagues, educators, and students.

Required Experience/Capabilities

• Five years of relevant work or education experience in data analytics and visualization.
• Ability to analyze, summarize, and visualize data using programs like Tableau, STATA, R, and/or Excel.
• Excellent communications skills, including an understanding of how to use data visualizations to illustrate findings.
• Experience connecting with and extracting data from databases or large datasets through languages like SQL, STATA, or Python, or with programs and software like Salesforce Data Cloud, Oracle, Google Cloud BigQuery, or Amazon Redshift.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects.
• Ability to adapt written communication for different audiences.

Preferred Experience/Capabilities

• Experience with California’s K-12 education system, education data, research, and public policy.
• Advanced coursework in statistics.

How to Apply

When applying please include a sample of your data visualization work and submit a cover letter answering the following questions:

• What is it about our mission that resonates with your experience and/or interests?
• What makes you an exceptional candidate for this position?
• Where did you learn about this opportunity?

Benefits and Salary

Salary for this position starts at $75,429 annually. Selected candidates will be offered a starting salary based on years of aligned experience and any specialized training or certifications. Our organization is deeply committed to equity and thus has a no-negotiation policy. CCSA also offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental and vision coverage upon hire, 401K eligibility with a company match (up to 6%) after the first 90 days of employment, and generous paid time off.

Flexible Workplace

CCSA is a fully remote organization. CCSA staff work in all regions of the state with significant presence in Los Angeles, Sacramento, the Bay Area, the Central Valley, and San Diego.

Equal Employment Opportunity

California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is an equal opportunity employer and makes all employment decisions on the basis of merit, qualifications, and abilities. CCSA shall recruit, hire, train, and promote in all job titles, including interns, apprentices, and volunteers, without regard on race, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity (including transgender identification), gender expression, age for individuals over forty years of age, sexual orientation, military and veteran status of any person, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state or local laws (“protected characteristics”).

Salary for this position starts at $75,429 annually. Selected candidates will be offered a starting salary based on years of aligned experience and any specialized training or certifications. Our organization is deeply committed to equity and thus has a no-negotiation policy. CCSA also offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental and vision coverage upon hire, 401K eligibility with a company match (up to 6%) after the first 90 days of employment, and generous paid time off.

When applying please include a sample of your data visualization work and submit a cover letter answering the following questions:

• What is it about our mission that resonates with your experience and/or interests?
• What makes you an exceptional candidate for this position?
• Where did you learn about this opportunity?