Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 340,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers.  CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.  In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.  Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Office of Access and Enrollment (OAE) manages the application, testing, selection, notification, and enrollment processes for all district elementary and high schools, charter high schools, and designated preschools. OAE is dedicated to increasing student achievement by ensuring that all students have equal access to high-quality programs that fit their educational needs. 

Within the Office of Access and Enrollment, the Data Analyst is a part of a data team that is responsible for collecting, managing, and ensuring the fidelity of a wide variety of data necessary for the selection process for more than 40,000 students annually. The Data Analyst, in conjunction with the rest of the data team, oversees the selection process and the algorithm that underpins the process to place students in pre-k through high school seats across the district. The work of this team is vital to the overall success of OAE. The team also provides data and analytical support to all of OAE as well as conducts analysis on enrollment and offer data to drive improvements and inform senior leadership as well as other stakeholders. The Data Analyst reports to the Director of Data Management within OAE.  

The Senior Data Analyst will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

Typical Duties/Responsibilities:

• Perform analysis on complex data sets to provide meaningful information.

• Evaluate data for structural integrity and consistency.

• Understand data and extract information to meet business requirements.  

• Identify trends/anomalies in the data collected to understand the source of data inaccuracies.  

• Summarize metrics and produce visualizations for reports and other ad hoc analyses.  

• Work with the business and other subject matter experts to identify additional data needs.  

• Assist in the development and management of data and data operations projects (e.g., project planning, documentation). 

• Work with CPS ITS teams and vendor teams to support OAE data systems and connections among internal and external data systems.

• Assist in training and mentoring junior data analysts.

• Contribute to department strategic planning and goal-setting activities.

• Participate in monthly Data Analyst user group (DAUG) meetings and activities.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Senior Data Analyst must possess the following qualifications:

Type of Education Required: 

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

• Master’s degree preferred.

Type of Experience Required:

• Minimum five years of data mining or data analysis experience  

• Minimum five years experience writing code with data analytic tools (SAS, R, SPSS, STATA, etc.)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated commitment to CPS Core Values: student centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning

• Demonstrated commitment to self-directed, continuous professional development

• Ability to use or learn SAS required (training is provided)

• Expert user of Microsoft and Google office suites

• Ability to write advanced queries and produce reports

• Exceptional organizational, communication (oral and written), and problem-solving skills

• Strong attention to detail

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, respond immediately to multiple constituencies and meet established deadlines

• Ability to work in a team, with technical and non-technical personnel, and across departmental boundaries

• Flexibility to meet changing departmental needs and priorities

• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously

• Ability to bring projects to a close with minimal supervision

• Familiarity of CPS data systems is a plus

• Knowledge of K-12 education systems a plus

Residency Requirement:

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and must maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.