Lead IAR Data Analyst

WGU; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Medical benefits

Tuition benefits

Retirement plan

Wellbeing program

Paid time off

Job summary

Western Governors University in Salt Lake City is seeking a senior Lead IAR Data Analyst to transform complex data into actionable insights that drive university decisions. You will partner with leaders across Institutional Analytics & Research, Data Engineering, Product Management, and Finance to answer critical business questions and tell data stories that influence strategy.

The role requires deep analytical expertise, autonomy, and the ability to mentor peers while elevating team

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline.
• 7+ years in Data Analysis, BI, Data Science, Statistics, or related fields.
• Strong SQL, BI visualization, data modeling, and statistics expertise.

Responsibilities

• Lead analytics and research initiatives translating user needs into technical requirements.
• Answer complex questions with advanced analysis, forecasting, and statistical techniques.
• Investigate data quality issues and collaborate with Data Engineering to improve data quality.
• Develop ETL/ELT processes and data standards with analytics partners.
• Translate data into narratives, dashboards, and executive-ready reports.
• Help establish data visualization standards and best practices.
• Mentor peers and share knowledge to elevate team capabilities.

Skills

Advanced SQL

Tableau

Power BI

Data modeling

Statistics

Autonomy

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

ETL/ELT tools

Job description

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

Pay Range: $109,900.00 - $170,400.00

The Lead IAR Data Analyst is a senior-level individual contributor responsible for transforming complex data into rigorous, actionable insights that drive decision-making across the university. This role partners closely with leaders and stakeholders across Institutional Analytics & Research (IAR), Data Engineering, Product Management, Finance, EdTech, Enrollment, and Faculty teams to answer critical business questions, deliver meaningful research, and influence strategic direction through data storytelling.

The ideal candidate brings deep analytical expertise, operates with a high degree of autonomy, and serves as a trusted advisor to stakeholders across the organization. Success in this role requires the ability to move beyond reporting data to generating insights, influencing decisions, and helping others elevate their analytical capabilities.

What You'll Do

• Lead complex analytics and research initiatives by documenting business needs, translating user stories into technical requirements, and delivering solutions with a student and equity-centered lens.
• Answer complex business questions through advanced analysis, forecasting, statistical techniques, and extensive knowledge of university data assets across multiple domains.
• Identify, investigate, and resolve complex data quality issues while partnering with Data Engineering to improve the accuracy, consistency, timeliness, and validity of institutional data.
• Collaborate with Data Engineering and other analytics partners to develop complex ETL/ELT processes, data pipelines, data products, and enterprise data standards.
• Transform data into compelling narratives, dashboards, visualizations, and presentations that drive understanding and action among stakeholders ranging from managers to executive leadership.
• Participate in defining and promoting data visualization standards and best practices across the university.
• Serve as a subject matter expert, mentor, and trusted resource for peers by sharing knowledge, providing constructive feedback, and helping elevate team capabilities.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's Degree in a related discipline.
• 7 years of related experience in Data Analysis, Business Intelligence, Data Science, Statistics, Decision Intelligence, Research, Learning Science, or Behavioral/Cognitive Psychology.
• Advanced SQL proficiency, including queries and subqueries, joins, filtering, aggregation, window functions, common table expressions (CTEs), data modification (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE), view creation, and performance tuning.
• Extensive experience using Tableau, Power BI, or similar business intelligence tools to create impactful visualizations and executive-ready reporting.
• Experience with conceptual and logical data modeling, dimensional models, star schemas, snowflake schemas, slowly changing dimensions, and enterprise data architecture concepts.
• Experience with descriptive statistics, causal analysis, inference, forecasting methodologies, regression techniques, and classification algorithms.
• Ability to perform with very high levels of autonomy, reliability, self-direction, and a strong bias for action while managing competing priorities with minimal supervision.

What Makes You Successful

Highest Priority Attributes

• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy and make strategic decisions without heavy reliance on leadership. The ideal candidate understands the appropriate path forward and independently drives work.
• Demonstrated mastery of analytics capabilities, moving beyond intermediate proficiency to deep expertise in role-related skills, analytical practices, and business problem-solving.
• Strong ability to translate data into actionable insights rather than simply reporting information.
• Expertise in building and communicating data-driven narratives tailored to different audiences, including executive stakeholders.
• Ability to adjust analytical rigor, messaging, recommendations, and storytelling appropriately for SVP-, VP-, manager-, and operational-level audiences.

High Priority Attributes

• Leadership mindset despite the role being an individual contributor position, with the ability to influence decisions and outcomes through expertise and partnership.
• Proven mentoring and coaching capability, including helping junior analysts develop skills, competencies, and analytical thinking.
• Experience serving as a subject matter expert and trusted resource for peers and business partners.
• Ability to elevate team performance through knowledge sharing, cross-skilling, and upskilling other team members.
• Demonstrated success partnering effectively with senior stakeholders and navigating complex organizational environments.

Why This Role Stands Out

This is an individual contributor role, not a people leader position. However, the performance bar is intentionally higher because of the seniority level, expected leadership influence, and strategic impact of the position.

The successful candidate will support stakeholders across the broader organization rather than a single functional area, collaborating with teams including Enrollment and other key university partners. This role requires strong executive presence, exceptional stakeholder management skills, and the ability to influence decisions through data, insights, and trusted partnerships.

Experience in Lieu of Education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.

What to Expect

At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to allow qualified candidates to show their best work through meaningful conversations and collaboration.

We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission.

• Introductory call
• Hiring manager interview
• Technical Panel interview
• Leadership Interview

Work Location

This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City office, designed to foster the collaboration and connection that fuel our best work.

Visa Sponsorship

While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Travel Requirement

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

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Additional Information

• Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses
• medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare
• health savings account and flexible spending account
• basic and voluntary life insurance
• disability coverage
• accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages
• legal and identity theft coverage
• retirement savings plan
• wellbeing program
• discounted WGU tuition
• and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
• Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.
• Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].
• Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.