Data Analysis & Visualization Assistant Director, Data and Learning
Job Description
Assistant Director, Data and Learning
Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) is seeking an Assistant Director of Data and Learning to join CEI’s data team in our efforts to operate as a data-driven learning organization and to support our school and district partners to do the same. This position will primarily oversee data coaching and program evaluation within CEI’s career-connected learning portfolio, advising CEI colleagues and district and school partners on meaningful data use through high-quality data coaching and facilitation.
CEI’s data team promotes continuous improvement both internally at CEI through project and organization-wide evaluation and externally with CEI district and school partners through data sensemaking, coaching, and facilitation. Our data work is anchored by the following key principles:
- Action orientation: We value data processes that inform action and avoid thought exercises.
- Disaggregation matters: Often aggregate data mask disparities. Examining differences across groups of students is critical to confronting persistent barriers to student success.
- Holistic view of data: We believe in the value of looking beyond traditional measures to include the lived experiences of students, educators, families, and other stakeholders.
- Data do not equal simple answers: Data often help surface questions more than provide answers. We seek enough understanding to make different decisions.
The ideal candidate for this role is skilled at designing and implementing mixed-methods program evaluations with experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, cleaning and management, analysis, visualization, and reporting (including simple dashboards). This candidate can effectively build relationships and navigate data sharing processes across multiple partners, including other nonprofits and technical assistance providers, schools, districts, and third-party evaluators. Importantly, this person is passionate about working in K-12 education to evaluate and improve innovative systems, programs, and processes that drive equitable outcomes for all students.
The candidate is excited to join a team grounded in the CEI mindsets: dream big, act small, and pivot quickly; constant learning and adaptation; flexible, nimble, and purposeful; and partnership and service orientation. In addition to the qualifications included throughout this description, the candidate will exhibit belief in and comfort with the CEI Design Commitments, including diversity, equity, and inclusion; youth activation; relevant learning; social emotional development; family and community partnership; and leadership and change management. This position will report to the Director of Data and Strategy.
About Colorado Education Initiative
CEI is at the forefront of improvement, innovation, and change in Colorado’s public education system. CEI is a statewide nonprofit organization that invests time, expertise, and dollars in K-12 public education. For 15 years, CEI has worked with educators as an inspired and supportive partner on the ground in over 150 urban, suburban, and rural school districts. CEI works as an implementation expert, innovation thought leader, and statewide convener in public education. Our mission is to accelerate improvement and innovation in Colorado schools. Our vision is a future in which every student in Colorado is prepared and unafraid to succeed in school, work, and life, and ready to take on the challenges of today, tomorrow, and beyond. We currently partner deeply in over 80 Colorado school districts. In addition to our field implementation work, we engage in important policy and innovation agendas in Colorado. Our success is driven by a passionate team of diverse individuals who truly enjoy working together.
We are committed to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work we support across Colorado. We seek to identify and embed equity-seeking practices in our culture and talent systems and have made a focused set of investments in the related professional development of our team. We believe our work demands this because of the historic and current experiences in the school systems in which we operate and because we believe the outcomes we seek for students require the prioritization of equity. In all roles, we welcome candidates who are eager to participate in and contribute to this work and whose lived experiences deepen our perspectives on the education system.
Responsibilities
Project Evaluation and Progress Monitoring
- Co-design and oversee data-related components and deliverables in CEI’s career-connected learning projects, which support increased access to and engagement in student career pathways and learning opportunities (such as internships and apprenticeships) and serve as a liaison to CEI’s network team (who lead most of CEI’s careerconnected learning work). This role will also lead work outside of the career-connected learning portfolio, including within CEI’s projects focused on social emotional development.
- Collect and analyze project and partner data to identify key learnings and inform project implementation, leveraging CEI-collected data (e.g., educator feedback forms, student surveys, focus groups with multiple stakeholders) and relevant existing data (e.g., internship participation and completion, academic assessment results).
- Document and share project learnings throughout project lifecycles and, with support from the Director of Data and Strategy, produce annual evaluation reports for projects as needed.
Data Coaching, Advising, and Facilitation
- Provide project leadership to partner teams, including acting as lead data contact within projects, managing project quality with multiple moving parts, and partnering with teams to anticipate opportunities and challenges in project progress and success.
- Package and present data to CEI teammates and district and school partners in a concise and engaging manner, including across disparate data sources and through easy-to-use dashboards and polished slide decks.
- Collaborate with CEI teammates to design and facilitate data reflection sessions with district and school partners.
- Support partner and project success through advising and coaching partners on effective data collection, analysis, and reporting processes that reflect their unique context.
Internal and External Collaboration and Thought Partnership
- Contribute to and occasionally lead data work outside of CEI’s network projects, including for other projects or organization-wide efforts (e.g., administration and analysis of CEI’s annual partner survey).
- Regularly solicit and offer feedback on work led by the data team, including through intentional planning and preparation for one-on-one meetings with the Director of Data and Strategy and for data team meetings.
- Embody CEI’s culture of positivity and customer service internally and externally.
- Build new and maintain existing relationships with districts, schools, evaluators, and funders across Colorado.
- Learn new content, approaches, and processes and apply and share them within and outside of personal areas of expertise to advance the work of CEI and our partners.
Qualifications and Competencies
In addition to the competencies noted above, a successful candidate will have seven years of experience in nonprofit program evaluation and/or education with a proven track record of designing and implementing data-driven projects, as well as an advanced degree with some coursework in program evaluation, statistics, and/or data analysis. Experience in K-12 education or youth-serving organizations is a requirement, with preference given to candidates familiar with the Colorado K-12 ecosystem. Additionally, the successful candidate should have experience with and a demonstrated interest in career-connected learning and/or work-based learning.
This person will anticipate and take initiative to solve problems and know how to work across teams to build relationships and develop collaborative work products. They will have a record of working with humility and persistence to serve partners and teams to whom they are accountable. They will be data savvy, organized, detail oriented, an outstanding verbal and written communicator, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously. The successful candidate will love working in Excel, and ideally have experience working in survey platforms (e.g., Qualtrics) and statistical software (e.g., R). The person in this role must be available and willing to travel as needed, approximately 5-10 percent of working days, mostly within Colorado.
Compensation
- Full-time position
- Annual salary commensurate with experience in a range of $80,000 – $90,000
- Competitive benefits package
- Hybrid work environment that includes some flexible scheduling and work-from-home options (with regular need to attend in-person meetings in Denver and across the state).
- CEI’s headquarters are in Denver, but if you live elsewhere in Colorado, we would love to talk with you.
CEI is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity in the workplace. CEI strives to be an inclusive organization, and as such takes affirmative action to ensure that discrimination does not occur against an employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, age, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual identity, sexual orientation, religious or political affiliation, disability or any other classification considered discriminatory under applicable law.
