Principal Web & Digital Analyst - 6 month FTC

Times Higher Education; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Times Higher Education seeks a Principal Web & Digital Analyst for the Business Intelligence team on a six-month fixed-term contract. The role focuses on web analytics, AI traffic analysis, and building data models in Snowflake with dbt, feeding Tableau reporting.

You will classify bot vs human traffic, apply AI tools judiciously, and present insights to senior leadership. The position is hybrid (1–2 days in the office).

Qualifications

• Strong, hands-on SQL capabilities and ability to explain queries.
• Experience building models in dbt or equivalent tool.
• Experience with bot/AI crawlers or CDN log analysis.
• Experience with Snowflake, RudderStack or Tableau.
• Working knowledge of event-level web data, tracking plans and tagging.
• Comfort using AI tools in analysis and scepticism about outputs.
• Ability to explain findings to senior non-technical colleagues.
• Self-motivated with initiative to move tasks forward.

Responsibilities

• Add senior firepower to web analytics.
• Drive analytics for the jobs platform move from plan to post-launch reporting.
• Classify human, AI and bot traffic using CDN data.
• Apply AI tools across analyses with checks on outputs.
• Build Tableau reporting for cross-team understanding to guide decisions.
• Present findings to the senior management team.
• Support management of dbt models turning raw RudderStack data into clean Snowflake tables.
• Document definitions and logic for future teams.

Skills

SQL

dbt models

Bot/AI crawler analysis

Snowflake

RudderStack

Tableau

Web data tracking

AI tools

Communication of findings

Self-motivation

Tools

Snowflake

RudderStack

Tableau

dbt

Job description

HYBRID / LOCATION (1 - 2 days/week in the office)

SALARY: £60,000 - £70,000

Times Higher Education is the data provider underpinning university excellence in every continent across the world. As the company behind the world’s most influential university ranking, and with almost five decades of experience as a source of analysis and insight on higher education, we have unparalleled expertise on the trends underpinning university performance globally. Our data and benchmarking tools are used by many of the world’s most prestigious universities to help them achieve their strategic goals and our events series act as the home of higher education thought leadership around the world.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Principal Web & Digital Analyst to join our Business Intelligence team on a six-month fixed term contract. Two big changes are landing at once, a new jobs platform and much sharper sight of bot and AI traffic, and we want to move faster on both. You’ll add senior firepower alongside our existing analyst and help set the foundations for how we use web data, and AI. You’ll bring specialist web and data expertise, and together we will ensure that what is built addresses the questions that matter most to the business. AI has upended web analytics, and for an experienced analyst that makes this an exciting time to do things that weren’t possible a few years ago. Much of what we need sits at the meeting point of the two: understanding how AI crawlers and LLMs use our content, and putting AI tools to work on the analysis itself, with the data quality to make both trustworthy. You’ll use SQL to query and model data in Snowflake, building and maintaining dbt models that feed our Tableau reporting. The models, definitions and ways of working you put in place are the ones the team will build on. You will help guide the development of our wider team in best practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Bring additional firepower to web analytics work.
• Drive web analytics for the jobs platform move, from tracking plan to post-launch reporting.
• Use the improved CDN data to classify human, AI and bot traffic, and keep that classification honest.
• Put AI tools to practical use across the team's analysis, with sensible checks on what they produce.
• Build Tableau reporting that Marketing, Product, Editorial and Commercial teams can use to understand the key stories behind the data, equipping them to make the best commercial decisions.
• Present findings to the senior management team and help shape decisions with them.
• Support the Management of dbt models that turn raw RudderStack event data into clean, trusted tables in Snowflake.
• Write down what you build, so definitions and logic are clear to everyone who comes after.

Skills & Experience

• Strong, hands-on SQL. You'll be asked to walk us through queries you've written.
• Experience building models in dbt, or a clear track record with a similar tool.
• Bot, AI crawler or CDN log analysis.
• Experience with Snowflake, RudderStack or Tableau.
• Working knowledge of event-level web data, tracking plans and tagging.
• Comfort using AI tools in your day-to-day analysis, and a healthy scepticism about their output.
• The ability to explain findings plainly to senior, non-technical colleagues.
• Self-motivated, spotting what needs doing and taking the initiative to move it forward.

Desirable

• Has seen a platform migration through, ideally a jobs board or marketplace, and kept the data intact on the other side.
• Knows how publishing, media or subscription businesses make their money, and what the numbers need to show.

You do You. With colleagues located around the world, we know that our individuality and diversity of experiences are our greatest strengths. That’s why we want THE to be a place where you are welcome to be who you want to be at work; where you can share whatever part of your life or self-identity you want, without obligation or facing discrimination; and where all abilities and perspectives are recognised and accommodated.

Empowering higher education by combining data and expertise within a global platform, Times Higher Education helps universities deliver transformative impact for people, places and the planet.

We connect the world’s higher education community, facilitate the flow of ideas and talent, and help academics and students fulfil their potential. We are proud to support universities, and believe that together we will build a better, more sustainable future.

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