Western Governors University

Senior Analytics Operations Specialist

Western Governors University$100K — $150K *
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a related field.
  • 5+ years in Analytics with SDLC and Agile/Scrum experience.
  • 3+ years defining workflows in CI/CD, MLOps, Data Management, and Analytics Processes.
  • Proficiency in data governance concepts like lineage, cataloging, and quality management.
  • Experience improving data discoverability and governance practices.
  • Ability to collaborate with Data Engineering teams to enhance operational frameworks without hands-on engineering.
  • Strong communication skills to translate technical details for business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Design and enhance analytics work processes including demand intake and delivery tracking.
  • Create frameworks to provide leaders visibility into work pipelines and delivery status.
  • Define and enforce standard operating procedures and governance practices.
  • Advance data governance capabilities, ensuring high data quality and accessibility.
  • Partner with technical teams to improve data operations and collaboration.
  • Develop frameworks to measure the impact of analytics initiatives and support prioritization.
  • Facilitate capability building through enhanced onboarding and knowledge sharing.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Flexible paid time off with no need for accrual.
  • 11 paid holidays and additional paid leaves, including parental leave.
  • Retirement savings plan with employer contribution.
  • Discounted tuition for WGU courses.
Full Job Description

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Grade: Professional 311

Pay Range: $100,000.00 - $150,000.00

Job Description

Institutional Analytics and Research (IAR) is looking for a strategic, systems-minded analytics professional to help elevate how analytics work gets done across the organization. This is not a traditional data analyst role focused on building reports and dashboards. Instead, you will serve as a force multiplier for a department of approximately 90 analytics professionals, helping establish standards, improve processes, increase transparency, and enable more effective collaboration across analytics, data engineering, enterprise technology, and business stakeholders.

In this role, you will drive the operational excellence behind analytics and research initiatives by developing scalable processes, advancing data governance practices, improving knowledge management, measuring business impact, and ensuring teams have the tools and frameworks needed to deliver extraordinary outcomes. You will act as a connector between technical and non-technical teams, helping transform complex work into clear priorities, actionable insights, and measurable value.
What You'll Do
  • Design, implement, and continuously improve the operating processes that govern analytics work across IAR, including demand intake, prioritization, stakeholder engagement, resource planning, delivery tracking, and portfolio management.
  • Create visibility into departmental work by developing frameworks that help leaders understand pipelines, priorities, capacity, expected business value, and delivery status.
  • Define and enforce standard operating procedures, service level agreements, templates, governance practices, and analytics standards that drive consistency across teams.
  • Advance data governance capabilities across IAR, including data cataloging, data lineage, data quality, metadata management, discoverability, and asset ownership.
  • Partner closely with Data Engineering, Enterprise Technology, MLOps, and Product teams to improve data operations, issue management, observability, and cross-functional collaboration.
  • Develop measurement frameworks that help quantify the impact of analytics initiatives, support prioritization decisions, and demonstrate the value created by IAR across WGU.
  • Drive department-wide capability building through onboarding improvements, knowledge sharing, communities of practice, stakeholder education, learning resources, and process enablement initiatives.
What You'll Bring
  • Bachelor's degree in a related field.
  • 5 or more years of experience in Analytics with demonstrated experience in SDLC and Agile/Scrum.
  • 3 or more years of experience in the definition and execution of workflows in several of the following areas: CI/CD, MLOps, Data Management, Data Governance, Data Engineering, Analytics Processes and Infrastructure, Data Quality, and Data Science.
  • Demonstrated understanding of data governance concepts, including data lineage, data cataloging, metadata management, data classification, and data quality practices.
  • Experience improving data discoverability, governance, and cataloging practices that help organizations identify, understand, and confidently use the right data assets.
  • Experience partnering closely with Data Engineering teams to define processes, standards, governance frameworks, and operational improvements without serving as a hands-on data engineer.
  • Strong ability to bridge technical and business stakeholders, translating complex data concepts into actionable recommendations, priorities, and outcomes.
Bonus Points
  • Experience working within Databricks environments, including Databricks Unity Catalog and modern data governance practices.
  • Experience with enterprise data governance and catalog solutions such as Collibra, Ataccama, or similar platforms.
  • Experience as a leader, project manager, product owner, or senior individual contributor within analytics, data, business intelligence, or data governance organizations.

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 (30 minutes)
  • Hiring manager interview (30–45 minutes)
  • Panel interview (1 hour)
  • Final conversation with hiring manager (45 minutes)
Work Location
This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City, UT 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.

Disclaimer: This Job Description has been designed to indicate the general nature, essential duties, and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this classification. It does not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications that are required of the employee to do this job.  Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. This Job Description does not constitute a contract of employment and the University may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

#LI-ONESS

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.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

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

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Western Governors University

More Enterprise Technology Jobs

Find similar Senior Analytics Operations Specialist jobs: