Western Governors University

IAR Senior Data Analyst

Western Governors University$91K — $136K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a related discipline.
  • 5 years of experience in Data Analysis, Business Intelligence, or related fields.
  • Advanced SQL proficiency, including query writing and performance tuning.
  • Experience with data visualization tools, specifically Tableau and Power BI.
  • Familiarity with data modeling principles and statistics.

Responsibilities

  • Drive documentation of analytics needs with a student-centered focus.
  • Set and manage expectations for analytics tasks with stakeholders.
  • Answer complex business questions using university data.
  • Identify data sources for hypotheses evaluation and research support.
  • Collaborate with Data Engineering on ETL processes and data pipelines.
  • Solve complex data issues to ensure data quality and validity.
  • Combine analysis and storytelling to drive actionable insights.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, vision, and telehealth coverage.
  • Retirement savings plan with employer contributions.
  • Flexible paid time off and sick time with no accrual needed.
  • Discounted WGU tuition for employees and their dependents.
  • Comprehensive wellbeing program and mental health support.
Full Job Description
Job Description

At WGU, data is a catalyst for better outcomes. As an IAR Senior Data Analyst, you will transform complex information into meaningful insights that help leaders make informed decisions, improve operations, and enhance the student experience. This role partners closely with academic leaders, data engineers, product teams, finance, and other stakeholders to solve challenging business problems through data storytelling, analytics, and reporting.

This position is ideal for someone who combines strong technical expertise with the ability to communicate insights to executive audiences. You are equally comfortable writing complex SQL, developing business intelligence solutions, collaborating on data pipelines, and presenting actionable recommendations to senior leaders.

What You'll Do
  • Partner with stakeholders across academic delivery, reporting, data engineering, and executive leadership teams to identify analytics needs and translate business questions into technical requirements.
  • Develop, maintain, and enhance dashboards, reports, and visualizations that provide actionable insights and support key business decisions.
  • Perform complex analyses across multiple data domains to answer strategic business questions, evaluate initiatives, and support planning activities such as quarterly business reviews and operating plans.
  • Collaborate with Data Engineering teams on ETL/ELT processes, data pipelines, and data quality initiatives to improve the reliability and accessibility of university data.
  • Identify, investigate, and resolve complex data issues while helping establish standards and best practices that improve data quality across the organization.
  • Combine data analysis, visualization, and storytelling techniques to communicate findings effectively to technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.
  • Drive projects and analytics initiatives with a high degree of autonomy while mentoring peers through knowledge sharing and constructive feedback.


What You'll Bring
  • Bachelor's degree in a related discipline.
  • 5 years of related experience in Data Analysis, Business Intelligence, Data Science, Statistics, Decision Intelligence, Research, Learning Science, or Behavioral/Cognitive Psychology.
  • Advanced SQL proficiency, including complex queries, subqueries, joins, aggregations, window functions, common table expressions (CTEs), data manipulation, and performance optimization.
  • Strong experience building reports, dashboards, and visualizations using Tableau.
  • Experience working with analytics engineering concepts, ETL/ELT processes, data pipelines, and data quality initiatives.
  • Ability to read, understand, and work with PySpark code in support of analytics and data engineering efforts.
  • Experience communicating complex insights to partners, stakeholders, and senior leaders through presentations, meetings, workshops, and written communications.
  • Knowledge of data modeling concepts including conceptual, logical, dimensional, star schema, and snowflake schema design.
  • Experience with descriptive statistics, causal analysis, and inference.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including advanced Excel.
  • Familiarity with project management methodologies such as Agile, Waterfall, or SDLC frameworks.
  • Ability to perform with a high level of autonomy, reliability, self-direction, and sound judgment while balancing multiple priorities.


Bonus Points
  • Experience with Databricks.
  • Experience developing solutions in Power BI.
  • Exposure to Databricks Genie or other AI-assisted coding and analytics tools.
  • Experience using Jira, Confluence, Miro, Visio, Lucidchart, or similar collaboration and diagramming platforms.
  • Previous experience supporting executive reporting, strategic planning, or high-visibility business reviews.


Experience in Lieu of Education

An equivalent combination of training, experience, credentials, or accomplishments demonstrating the ability to perform the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.

What to Expect

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to show their best work through meaningful conversations and collaboration.

We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission.
  • Introductory call
  • Hiring manager interview
  • Technical Panel interview
  • Leadership Interview


Work Location

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City, Utah office, designed to foster the collaboration and connection that fuel our best work.

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Travel Requirement

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

About Western Governors University

Western Governors University (WGU) is a private, nonprofit online university based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university was founded by 19 U.S. governors in 1997 with a mission to expand access to higher education. WGU offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, information technology, education, and healthcare. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and has been recognized by the White House as an example of excellence in education innovation. WGU has a competency-based learning model, which allows students to progress through their coursework at their own pace based on their mastery of the material.
Learn more about Western Governors University
Size
5,000 employees
Industry

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