Research Analyst

$85,000 - $95,000/Yr

Northern Va Community College - Fairfax, VA

Part-time

Fairfax, VA

Educational Services

About the position

The Research Analyst position at Northern Virginia Community College is a pivotal role focused on analyzing data and conducting research to provide insights into the job market and student employment outcomes in Northern Virginia. This position plays a crucial part in supporting the College's mission to cultivate an educated population and a globally competitive workforce in the region and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The role requires a strong analytical mindset and the ability to communicate complex data in an accessible manner to various stakeholders. In this role, the Research Analyst will actively monitor and assess key economic indicators, performing exploratory and statistical analyses of labor market, economic, and demographic data. The insights derived from this analysis will help identify regional trends that may affect the College and its students. The analyst will also review labor market data related to current and proposed credit and non-credit programs to ensure alignment with workforce needs. The position involves responding to ad hoc requests for labor market data and analysis from both internal and external stakeholders. The Research Analyst will assist in developing and maintaining a suite of data resources and publications, which may include both static and interactive formats, to effectively communicate labor market data to non-technical audiences. Additionally, the role includes writing original research content such as reports, articles, blog posts, and social media posts, as well as engaging with other organizations for collaborative research projects. The Research Analyst will also provide presentations and workshops to NOVA faculty, staff, and external stakeholders, collaborating closely with colleagues in the Office of Strategic Insights and other College staff. This position may require performing other duties as assigned and assisting the agency or state government in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor.

Responsibilities

• Actively monitor and assess important economic indicators.
• Carry out exploratory and statistical analyses of core labor market, economic, and demographic data sources to identify and communicate regional trends that may impact the College and its students.
• Review labor market data related to current and proposed credit and non-credit programs to determine alignment with workforce needs.
• Respond to ad hoc requests for labor market data and analysis from internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist in developing and maintaining a suite of data resources and publications, both static and interactive, that effectively communicate labor market data to non-technical audiences.
• Write original research content including reports, articles, blog posts, and social media posts.
• Engage with other organizations to carry out collaborative research projects.
• Assist with and provide presentations and workshops to NOVA faculty, staff, and external stakeholders.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues in the Office of Strategic Insights, as well as other College staff, faculty, and external stakeholders.
• Provide research and data analysis support for other Office of Strategic Insights projects as needed.

Requirements

• Strong analytic and computer skills.
• A curious mind and passion for problem-solving.
• Ability to clean and wrangle data in a variety of formats and structures to prepare for analysis.
• Ability to provide basic descriptive and statistical analysis of quantitative data, including identification of meaningful trends.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel, including the use of formulas and PivotTables.
• Skill in presenting data and communicating insights to diverse, non-technical audiences.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Basic knowledge of, or the ability to learn, how to gather and interpret information from a variety of labor market data sources, including datasets from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as proprietary data tools and job posting aggregators such as Emsi Analyst, JobsEQ, etc.
• Ability to develop and manage strong working relationships with a range of stakeholders, including students, staff, faculty members, and community/employer partners.
• Ability to communicate with an ethnically and culturally diverse community, as well as integrate considerations of diversity, opportunity, and inclusion into data analysis and reporting.
• Ability to present comfortably in front of small and large groups.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively.
• Must be comfortable asking for, accepting, and providing constructive feedback.
• Thorough attention to detail.
• Ability to simultaneously execute and deliver on multiple projects.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working with higher education and/or labor market data.
• Experience of Tableau or Power BI.
• Experience of R, SAS, or another statistical software or programming language is a plus.
• Experience of ArcGIS is a plus.