Data Analyst Developer - Strategic Planning and Performance Insight - 106157 - Grade 7

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.

The Data and Analytics Team is responsible for delivering key elements of the University's Data Strategy, alongside providing analytical capability, data management expertise and reporting services for a wide range of business-critical activities.

Situated within the Strategic Planning and Performance Insight Office, and part of the Executive Support Division, we have a close working relationship with IT Services. As an office, we work with colleagues across the University to connect a range of perspectives to support senior leaders in making well-informed and evidence-led decisions. We aim to provide trusted advice and expertise, insightful analysis, and robust data.

Our activity can be categorized into four broad segments:

Data governance, capability and reporting. Our enabler, providing technical data and systems management, and ensuring quality, accurate and accessible data.

Policy, regulation and compliance. Seeking to understand and interpret the implications of the external environment on the University.

Institutional planning. Understanding and advising on where we want, and need, to go as a University.

Performance Insight and Strategy management. Understanding whether the University is on track to deliver to its strategic priorities.

The University of Birmingham’s digital and data landscape is undergoing major transformation. One of the underpinning elements of the Data Strategy is to move our legacy systems to cloud solutions and enhance data literacy and the overall data culture of the institution. In this role you will play an integral part in supporting the implementation of the Institutional Data Strategy through Snowflake adoption and Power BI migration, as well as data related changes to our internal organisational structure. If you are looking to develop your experience of supporting impactful change and are passionate about demonstrating the value of data and analytics in driving institutional progress, this is the role for you!

Reporting to the Data and Systems Manager, and working in close partnership with colleagues across the department and IT Services, you will be a technically focussed analyst with experience of reporting tools like Power BI and Tableau. You will develop the necessary foundations to provide a data and analytics capability that enables users to make quicker, more autonomous, and better-informed decisions. As part of the University's data transformation programme, you will help develop and maintain cloud-based analytics solutions using Snowflake, dbt and modern data engineering practices. Working closely with colleagues in IT Services and across Planning and Performance Insight, you will support the delivery of robust data pipelines, reusable data models and enterprise reporting solutions that underpin strategic planning, forecasting and institutional performance management. You will provide additional support for several key institutional systems utilised heavily by the Planning Office (primarily Cognos Planning Analytics, Simitive) and support the delivery of student number forecasts.

The role requires proactive collaboration with colleagues across the Planning and Performance Insight Office, as well as across Academic areas and Professional Services (e.g. Registry, Careers Network, IT and HR). You will be expected to communicate effectively on technical subjects as well as strategy in writing and in person. You will contribute to the exploration and adoption of emerging technologies, including AI-enabled solutions, to enhance analytical capabilities, support business processes and complement enterprise reporting activities.

This will be a huge opportunity for the right person to deliver suites of reports from our new Power BI Reporting Platform. The successful candidate will be a highly skilled, delivery-focussed, and technically competent hands-on developer who thrives on working in a varied and challenging environment. You will be confident in engaging and influencing colleagues at all levels and will act flexibly and pragmatically to seek and implement solutions.

Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) or relevant technical qualification and considerable relevant experience. Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of more demanding roles will be required demonstrating the conceptual understanding required.

In depth up to date specialist understanding and experience in a relevant scientific, technical or IT specialism.

Microsoft Power BI certified or extensive report writing experience using business intelligence/ visualisation tools such as Power BI, Tableau and SAP BOBJ, with relevant hands-on experience.

Experience of creating data-rich dashboards, writing DAX expressions, Power Query and implementing row-level security in Power BI.

Experience in extracting and transforming datasets for reporting and/or analysis using tools such as SQL, R, Alteryx, Snowflake or dbt etc.

Understanding of user experience in Power BI reporting.

Experience of data architecture and modelling (e.g. facts and dimensions, materialised views etc)

Proven experience in developing and implementing best practices and development standards.

Proven experience of undertaking thorough and detailed analysis and using those findings to develop recommendations, presenting outcomes in a clear and concise manner.

Proven experience of ensuring data quality and accuracy.

Understanding of emerging technologies, including AI-enabled solutions, and their potential to enhance analytics, improve business processes and support enterprise reporting and decision-making.

Ability to see the big picture technically and communicate insights in business terms to everyone in the organisation.

Excellent oral and written communication skills for translating data insights into concise executive summaries and presentations.

A high level of numeracy coupled with a proven ability to accurately analyse and interpret complex datasets from multiple electronic sources.

A customer-orientated approach to service provision.

Analytical and systematic approach to problem-solving.

Ability to work calmly and systematically in a busy environment and to meet agreed deadlines.

Good team player, with an ability to contribute outside their principal area of work in a constructive and helpful manner.

Knowledge of data protection considerations.

An appropriate manner in dealing with senior managers, staff, students, visitors, clients and other contacts.

Awareness of departmental and institutional relationships and an ability to work across teams and activities.

Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

A good awareness of the issues facing UK higher education and how they affect university support services.

Experience with the Python programming language or similar.

Experience of supporting junior developers.

Proven experience of working in agile teams using methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban.

Experience of Power BI integration with a cloud warehouse.

Experience of Cognos Planning Analytics.

Experience of Simitive WAMS.

Informal enquiries to Thomas Hennessy, email: t.hennessy.1@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website .