Director, Insights

Job Title: Director, Insights.

Team: Insights

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL) preferred, Atlanta (GA), Newark (NJ)

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a career-accelerating program that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low income backgrounds, and the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation. 

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, Insights who will lead critical aspects of our organization’s data strategy and drive our organizational efforts to maximize the power of our data and insights. This role requires a visionary leader who has deep technical expertise and a passion for leveraging data to create social impact.

This role is on the Strategy team and reports directly to the VP, Insights.

What You’ll Do

Data Strategy and Governance (35%)

• Develop, recommend and implement a comprehensive data strategy that aligns with the organization’s mission and goals and meets the needs of key stakeholders. This includes:

• Partnering with other teams at Braven (e.g., Research, Design, External Affairs) to articulate what data we need to collect
• Centralizing and automating data collection methods in partnership with the Systems team
• Identifying and incorporating relevant external data sources
• Collaborating with the Systems team to ensure seamless data flow between systems and applications via scalable ETL pipelines and data infrastructure
• Overseeing the buildout of Braven’s suite of organizational Tableau dashboards based on a thorough understanding of stakeholder needs and expected behaviors
• Own the partnership with Braven’s Data Engineering & Salesforce teams to ensure that business needs are clear and are accurately translated into technical requirements. Ensure that the right work is prioritized and completed
• Implement and monitor data management and data governance practices to maintain high standards of data accuracy and accessibility
• Promote a data-driven culture by advocating for data-informed decision-making across all levels of the organization

Strategic Project Ownership & Stakeholder Management (35%)

• Independently design and lead high-stakes projects from conception through execution to support the execution of Braven strategy and improvement of Braven programming and services. Examples may include:
• Proactively identifying opportunities where data and analysis can add value to the organization
• Performing analysis to support multiyear strategic planning and large gift applications
• Performing analysis on staff hiring and retention for the People team
• Independently own and build relationships with key stakeholders across Braven (e.g., Executive Directors, C-Suite, One Braven leadership body) to define business questions and deliver insights that drive decision-making
• Communicate findings and recommendations effectively through reports, presentations, and storytelling tailored to organizational leadership, the board of directors, and external stakeholders, as needed

Advanced Analytics and Data Science (20%)

• In support of Braven’s research agenda and in close partnership with the Braven’s Research team, perform advanced analytics on large, complex datasets to identify trends, patterns, and relationships
• Apply data mining techniques to extract actionable insights from structured and unstructured data
• Develop, deploy, and optimize predictive models using machine learning algorithms (e.g., clustering, classification, regression)

Organizational Leadership (10%)

• Lead the Data Governance Council in partnership with the Systems team at Braven to enforce data governance policies
• Serve on other priority-driven strategic councils and working groups as needed
• Drive the development and adoption of analytical best practices across the organization
• Contribute to internal training initiatives to increase staff data literacy
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Requirements 

• BS in quantitative field or work experience that demonstrates expertise in quantitative analysis
• At least 8 years working in data analytics, data science, or a similar field, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership
• At least 2 years in a leadership role
• Advanced proficiency in SQL
• Advanced proficiency in R or Python (both preferred)
• Advanced proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets
• Advanced proficiency in designing and building Tableau dashboards and visualizations that have organizational impact
• Experience developing predictive models and working with statistical or machine learning techniques

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field
• Superb strategic thinking and problem solving skills, including a proven ability to recognize patterns, see around strategic corners, and bring sharp clarity to ambiguous solutions
• Masterful collaboration and communication skills. You see the necessity of effective cross-functional work in achieving collective goals. You are excellent at deeply understanding and considering others’ perspectives and bringing the right people together to do work.
• Extensive experience writing, creating, and presenting compelling data-driven stories, arguments, and narratives for organizational leadership and external audiences
• Unquestioned ability to take the lead to solve large complex organizational challenges and tap into opportunities
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills, which allow you to manage your own time and energy and seek the right help to complete multiple projects well and on-time.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, known for checking and double checking your work
• Learner’s mindset, which you use to master new tools, software, and ways of working.
• You have the following technical skills and knowledge:
• Proficiency in Google Suite, Slack, Asana
• Proficiency in Salesforce
• Proficiency in Stata
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), or Newark (NJ) at least 3 days per week
• Travel 4-6 times per year for in-person convenings

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Conversation with Hiring Manager
• Performance Task
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $105,000-$131,200 in Atlanta, $110,500-$138,100 in Chicago, and $121,600-$152,000 in Newark. This is a full-time regular, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity. Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and often work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Atlanta, Chicago, or Newark. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.