Senior Analytics Engineer: Enterprise BI & SQL Specialist

Sidley Austin LLP (IL LLP); Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 98,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Sidley Austin LLP seeks a Senior Analytics Engineer to lead recurring reporting and data processes across financial and HR domains, collaborating with Finance, Accounting, and HR. The role requires expert SQL analysis, end-to-end ownership of processes, and hands-on BI report development in Power BI, Tableau, or Cognos.

Experience in a law firm or professional services environment is a plus, with strong discretion handling sensitive data and clear documentation of procedures.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Data Analytics, Information Systems, Computer Science, Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience as a data analyst, reporting analyst, or in a similar role owning recurring operational data processes.
• Expert-level SQL analysis: read and unravel complex multi-table logic, nested views, and stored procedures, explain what they produce and why, write queries and safe modifications.
• Experience running recurring financial or operational close cycles (month-end, year-end) with hard deadlines.
• Exceptional attention to detail, with data validation, reconciliation, and correction.
• Proven ability to handle highly sensitive financial and personnel data with discretion.
• Report development experience with at least one enterprise BI platform such as Power BI, Tableau, or Cognos.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with product managers, business analysts, and senior stakeholders.
• Ability to own long-running processes independently with minimal supervision.
• Strong diagnostic ability: trace root causes rather than patch symptoms.
• Demonstrated habit of documenting processes, decisions, and fixes in writing.

Responsibilities

• Own recurring operational reporting and data processes across firm financial and HR data domains, from daily validation through month-end and year-end close.
• Read, analyze, and understand complex SQL to explain how reported numbers are produced, diagnose discrepancies, and make targeted corrections.
• Monitor daily data validation reporting and coordinate with business analysts to fix discrepancies before month-end close.
• Execute month-end and year-end close activities, including reconciliations and year-end reporting deliverables.
• Prepare and distribute highly confidential deliverables for firm leadership with discretion.
• Develop and maintain reports in the firm's BI platforms (Power BI, Cognos) and support legacy Crystal reports.
• Translate organizational and system changes into data/report updates with product management.
• Trace data issues to source systems and coordinate with data engineering and system owners.
• Maintain documentation and step-by-step procedures for recurring processes.
• Respond to ad hoc analysis and data requests with fast, accurate turnaround.
• Reduce manual work through automation and improved queries.

Skills

SQL analysis

Data validation

Attention to detail

Communication

Problem solving

End-to-end ownership

Discretion with sensitive data

Education

Bachelor's degree in Data Analytics

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

Cognos

Crystal Reports

SSIS

Databricks

Azure SQL

Job description

Sidley Austin LLP seeks a Senior Analytics Engineer to lead recurring reporting and data processes across financial and HR domains, collaborating with Finance, Accounting, and HR. The role requires expert SQL analysis, end-to-end ownership of processes, and hands-on BI report development in Power BI, Tableau, or Cognos.

Experience in a law firm or professional services environment is a plus, with strong discretion handling sensitive data and clear documentation of procedures.