Data Analysis & Visualization Senior Director of Data Strategy
Job Description
OVERVIEW OF THE POSITION
Tennessee has long been a leader in establishing the policy foundation and robust data systems needed to advance education in our state. Although we have seen progress in student outcomes across K-12 and postsecondary education, the pipeline is not seamless, and we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated existing leaks in our system. Tennessee has an important opportunity to rethink the system and build on its current foundation to develop an even stronger system that supports students from K-12 to careers. Doing so will require that our state establish a shared vision and take action to elevate and use key data to drive decisions and interventions at each critical transition point for students along the K-12 to career education continuum. The Senior Director of Data Strategy will lead SCORE’s efforts to advance this vision.
The Senior Director of Data Strategy will be responsible for driving SCORE’s strategy to improve access to, connections across, and use of student data from K-12 to postsecondary education and workforce.
Specifically, this role will be responsible for strategy to advance state-level policy and local-level action that enables policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and community leaders to leverage data to support students across transition points. The successful candidate has a deep understanding of how student-level data can drive outcomes across the K-12 to career continuum and has experience collaborating with partners and state leaders to drive change.
The Senior Director of Data Strategy will report to SCORE’s Vice President of Strategy.
ABOUT SCORE
“The progress that our students have made in recent years is inspiring – there is no doubt that they are capable of achieving at high levels and leading Tennessee into a bright future. While education stakeholders are already working together in exciting ways in Tennessee, it is our responsibility to redouble our innovative efforts to ensure that we are supporting our students to truly excel and thrive. The future of our state depends on it.”
– Senator Bill Frist, Chairman and Founder, SCORE
Tennessee has been making significant progress in advancing a bold education reform plan over the last decade and is now a leader in the nation in dramatically improving student achievement. Tennessee is among the fastest improving states for student achievement according to the Nation’s Report Card.
While Tennessee has made significant gains, there is much still to do – in public K12 education, in college and career readiness, and in postsecondary completion. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) plays a critical role in advancing student achievement, aligning K12 and postsecondary, and ensuring that all students can achieve career and life success. We work to monitor statewide progress in support of a prioritized agenda that drives collaboration across the state on policy while generating proof points and providing targeted support for implementation across the state.
SCORE is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization founded by former US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and is dedicated to the goal that that all students can achieve success in college, career, and life. SCORE supports student success in public schools across Tennessee by ensuring all schools and systems meet high expectations; preparing, recruiting, supporting, and retaining excellent teachers and leaders; and aligning K-12 and college with career and life success.
SCORE is based at Vanderbilt University’s John Seigenthaler Center. This role is eligible for hybrid work with the expectation of 15-20 hours per week in the office and the balance remote. For more information on SCORE, please visit www.tnscore.org.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead on concept, design, implementation, and monitoring of SCORE’s strategy to advance data access and use in Tennessee in K-12, higher education, and workforce development.
- Leverage research and local proof points to identify and advocate for SCORE’s policy and practice priorities for data governance, access, and use in Tennessee.
- Manage SCORE’s P-20 working group, an informal group of external partners working together to ensure effective, strategic, and coordinated policy and practice efforts.
- Build and maintain effective relationships with national, state, and local leaders, including K-12 and higher education leaders, industry leaders and employers, community leaders, state leaders, and advocacy partners.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with the state agencies that are contributing to and using the P-20 Connect system, identifying opportunities for improved access to and use of Tennessee’s longitudinal data system.
- Lead SCORE’s efforts to surface new opportunities and/or gaps in data policy, advocacy, and use, identifying places for SCORE to add value and impact.
- Build and manage concepts, initiatives, and partnerships that leverage data in new ways to support students across transition points (i.e., partnering with K-12 and community colleges to use data to drive interventions aimed at postsecondary enrollment and persistence, or partnering with employers to identify opportunities to leverage education data with workforce analytics to advance SCORE’s mission).
- In partnership with SCORE’s Senior Director of Policy and Government Relations, build and advance SCORE’s data policy agenda.
- In partnership with SCORE’s Vice President of Strategic Practice, generate proof points for how data can be used to drive improved student outcomes across transition points from K-12 to career.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
- Deep understanding of how student-level data can drive better outcomes across the K-12 to workforce continuum.
- Master’s degree in public policy or a related field and at least 5 years of experience working in data strategy and/or data systems.
- Experience working with state, district, and/or institution data systems is
- Demonstrated experience collaborating with key stakeholders, including policymakers, state leaders, industry leaders, education leaders, and community partners, among others.
- Passion for SCORE’s mission and deep alignment with SCORE’s core values of student focus, collaboration, optimism, excellence, and innovation.
- Ability to think in strategic, analytic, and innovative ways with a high tolerance for ambiguity.
- Ability to leverage data, research, and insights to help inform strategy.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to move projects forward and clearly communicate both internally with team members, as well as with outside stakeholders.
- Proactive and flexible; detail-orientation; comfortable with autonomy; ability to manage teams and collaborate across an organization.
SCORE is committed to providing opportunities for professional growth by providing team members with feedback and opportunities to grow in their work.
COMPENSATION
SCORE offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience.
BENEFITS
SCORE deeply values team members and their well-being and is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits plan. All full-time SCORE employees are eligible for benefits, including:
- Medical insurance, including access to a high-quality network with SCORE paying for most medical coverage costs; dental insurance options; vision insurance options; employer-paid disability, life insurance, and EAP benefits; access to Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) benefits.
- Eligibility for participation in a 401K program with employer match after one year of
- Paid parental leave time, including paternity, maternity, and adoption leave, available after six months of service.
- Paid time off, holiday office closures, and paid floating holidays.
- Free on-site parking.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
At SCORE, we are committed to creating a workplace where all team members bring their whole selves to work and thrive both personally and professionally. We deeply value collaboration, optimism, excellence, and innovation in our student-centered work and in how we work together and support each other as a team. We also believe that it is important for our team to reflect the rich diversity of students in Tennessee, and that we intentionally create space for diverse viewpoints to meaningfully contribute to our work.
SCORE is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.
