Executive Director, Enterprise Data & Analytics at Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 40,000 people, most of them teachers.CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life.In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Office of Information and Technology Services (ITS) works to build the capacity of schools to use information and technology, maintain network infrastructure, security standards, and support other departments to meet district goals. ITS provides innovative technology solutions that improve the quality of education for students, reduce the administrative burden on educators, facilitate parent interaction, increase community engagement, and support CPS' mission of transparency by focusing on the ease and equity of access to information.

Job Summary:

The Executive Director (ED) of Enterprise Data & Analytics will be responsible for the overall development and implementation of the district's information management, knowledge management, advanced analytics, and reporting strategies. This position will manage the Enterprise Data & Analytics Solutions team responsible for the enterprise data warehouse, master data management, data governance, and dashboard reporting, as well as the Analytics team responsible for establishing enterprise reporting, analytics, and business insights. The Executive Director of Enterprise Data & Analytics will oversee and lead the prioritization of multiple projects and workstreams, ensuring compliance with CPS expectations and guidelines. This position will report to the Chief Information Technology Officer (CIO) and will manage a team of direct reporting professionals.

The ED, Enterprise Data & Analytics will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:
•Lead the development, implementation and ongoing activities surrounding the district's IT strategies in information management, knowledge management, advanced analytics and reporting strategies
•Establish and ensure district-wide adherence to a set of guiding principles for data warehousing and analytic practice
•Provide recommendations for data architecture and database strategies; communicate data architecture concepts, strategies and standards throughout the organization
•Participate in the planning and delivery of business intelligence applications and related data warehouse technical solutions such as business intelligence and reporting solutions
•Provide direction, guidance, and strong leadership to direct reports; develop and recommend training classes and/or programs to ensure robust learning and career development consistent with the CPS values and mission
•Work closely with leadership and data-focused positions in business functional areas in defining systems/project priorities, scope, approach, resource requirements, timing deliverables, change management and funding
•Facilitate, participate on, and lead the District-wide Master Data Governance Council
•Provide training and support to district-wide Data Analysts to ensure consistent, compliant practices related to research design, data analytic process, data usage, data quality and integrity
•Work with business users to analyze, define, and document systems, data sources, and business requirements for analytical needs related to department objectives
•Complete project management duties including but not limited to:
•Ideation, estimation, tracking and management of project deliverables
•Effectively manage project budgets and timelines to deliver results on time and on- budget
•Provide leadership and direction to project teams
•Participate with strategic vendors in the areas of IT data infrastructure and software systems, including student information systems
•Participate in the complete software development lifecycle (SDLC; includes planning, analysis, design, documentation, prototyping, development, testing, training, and launch) and Agile management (IBM RUP, SAFe, Scrum) of new and existing business applications and business processes
•Ensure teams successfully and efficiently uphold their duties in areas including but not limited to: Master data management and governance, Logical Data Modeling, Data Integration/ETL Development, recommend improvements to BI Architecture and Administration, Recommend Application Enhancements, BI metadata, and standard BI reports improvements, Data Request fulfillment and/or routing
•Other duties as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilitiesthe ED, Enterprise Data & Analytics must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field requiring significant qualitative coursework from an accredited college or university
• Master's degree preferred
• Relevant certification(s) in business intelligence and data warehousing architecture, data modeling, application development, project life cycle, relational database concepts, data mining, and OLAP technologies, strongly preferred

• Minimum of eight (8) years of professional leadership experience in master data management, data governance, data science, data warehousing, advanced business analytics, and business intelligence technologies, including the following, is required:
• Minimum of seven (7) years of enterprise application development experience, including experience implementing enterprise-wide Business Reporting tools (e.g., IBM Cognos, SAP Business Objects, Tableau, Salesforce, Microsoft Power BI, OBI EE Plus, SAP Analytics, etc.)
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in a managerial role with responsibility for leading, training, and mentoring a team of direct reports
• Tangible experience with multiple database types and familiarity with establishing data schemas and taxonomies
• Experience creating CEO-level dashboards
• Experience in full-lifecycle development processes related to data modeling/warehousing, business intelligence, and application development and strong SQL and development skills preferred
• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of the above experience, strongly preferred

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to advise technical and non-technical stakeholders on technical topics (ie: online data collection, useful reporting tools, etc.) in an understandable manner in order to support usability
• Effective project management and strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment
• Excellent organization, prioritization and time management capabilities, including the ability to manage and lead teams through multiple complex projects simultaneously, driving them to completion and achieving success
• Capable of success in a fast-paced environment; ability to anticipate the short- and long-term demands of stakeholders, proactively consider solutions, and maintain flexibility to meet the changing needs of the organization
• Ability to articulate a vision, set high standards, and effectively guide stakeholders and team members in the realization of expectations set
• Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Expertise in leadership development; ability to coach directors and managers toward excellence and build the capacity of technical teams
• Ability to build collaborative, cross-functional relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including technical and non-technical stakeholders and external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support organizational success
• Exceptional problem-solving skills; ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
• High levels of attention to detail, IT expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions
• Strong business acumen; knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management, and organizational development
• Proficiency in Relational Databases and experience with data extraction and warehousing (preferably SSIS)

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.