Assistant Director, Research Analytics job at University of Illinois Chicago

Job Description

This position will support the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) by developing resources needed to provide accurate and actionable insights into the research portfolio at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Working closely with the Director of Research Analytics, this role will produce reports, presentations, visualizations, metrics, and dashboards to provide crucial information to university leadership and inform strategic planning efforts around research activity at UIC.

Benefits eligible positions include a comprehensive benefits package which offers: Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability & AD&D insurance; a defined benefit pension plan; paid leaves such as Vacation, Holiday and Sick; tuition waivers for employees and dependents. Click for a complete list of Employee Benefits.

Salary: The budgeted salary range for the position is $85,000 -$110,000. The final salary offered will be determined by a thorough assessment of available market data, internal salary equity, candidate experience and qualifications, and budget constraints.

Job Responsibilities

Extract, clean, and analyze data related to research activity, including proposals, awards, expenditures, bibliometrics, and other related data.
Develop queries and quality metrics needed to assess research activity at UIC.
Interpret results using a variety of techniques, ranging from simple data aggregation via statistical analysis to complex statistical analysis.
Support the development and maintenance of dashboards and reports using tools such as Tableau, Excel and SQL databases.
Support ad hoc data requests and special projects related to research analytics.
Manage projects ensuring timelines and deliverables are met and meet quality and compliance expectations, with independence and limited supervision.
Consult with the Director of Research Analytics to develop reports and presentations that convey complex data and metrics to a wide variety of audiences.
Assist in compiling and validating data for external reporting requirements, such as the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey.
Collaborate with research administration staff to identify data quality issues through creation of exception reports; makes recommendations on process improvements.
Work closely with IT and institutional data teams to ensure efficient data integration and automation.
Advise on creation of new datasets and data fields; works with IT on implementation.
Stay updated on trends in research administration data and analytics to recommend best practices for continuous improvement.
Define, develop and communicate new standards and best practices.
Train users on systems and provides effective documentation for training materials.
Supervise 1-2 undergraduate and/or graduate student assistants on a research analytics-related project.
Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Master’s degree in data science, information technology, computer science, statistics, public policy, higher education or a related field.
At least four years of data analysis/report writing experience working with data analytics, preferably in a research or academic setting.
Familiarity with data warehousing concepts and designing/executing basic to complex queries in relational databases.
Proficiency in data visualization and analysis tools such as Tableau, SQL Studio, Microsoft PowerBI, Excel or similar platforms.
Ability to feed data marts and data warehouses to the above tools to create dashboards connected to live data.
Strong attention to detail and ability to ensure data integrity.
Ability to appropriately communicate complex data and metrics to audiences with varying levels of data literacy.
Excellent problem-solving skills.
Discretion when dealing with sensitive data, particularly protected health information (PHI).
Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Ability to design custom databases using SQL from Oracle-based source material.
Experience with electronic research administration systems such as Kuali Coeus, enterprise resource planning systems such as Banner, and business intelligence systems such as SAP Web Intelligence.
Familiarity with federal research funding data sources (e.g., NSF HERD Survey, NIH RePORTER).
Familiarity with third party research benchmarking and analytics tools such as Academic Analytics.
Familiarity with bibliometric visualization tools such as VOSviewer.

APPLICATION: To ensure fullest consideration, application materials must be received by Friday, May 30, 2025 by 5pm CST. Start date is as soon as possible after the close of the search. Salary is commensurate with experience and education. All candidates must create a candidate profile through http://jobs.uic.edu and upload a cover letter, resume and contact information for three references by the close date.

Candidates must apply for this role by visiting the following link:

https://uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/14835?c=uic

As an EOE/AA employer, the University of Illinois encourages applications from individuals regardless of an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, and Veteran or disability status.

Offers of employment by the University of Illinois may be subject to approval by the University’s Board of Trustees and are made contingent upon the candidate’s successful completion of any criminal background checks and other pre-employment assessments that may be required for the position being offered. Additional information regarding such pre-employment checks and assessments may be provided as applicable during the hiring process.

The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment.

For more information, visit: https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=4292&pageId=1411899

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