Job Information
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Data & Research Analyst in Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Location: Richland Campus
Full or Part Time: Full-Time
*Annual Salary: *$50,000 -- $55,000 plus a generous benefits package.
Application Deadline: Friday, March 6, 2026. (Applications will be accepted until the position is filled; however, fully completed employment applications received by the deadline with all required application materials will receive guaranteed priority consideration.)
Application Materials Required: Employment Application, Cover Letter, Resume ________________
Job Scope
The Data and Research Analyst acts as the primary contact for Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Penn Highlands Community College by collecting, extracting, transforming, loading (ETL), analyzing, visualizing, reporting, and presenting institutional data. Using SQL for database queries, relational databases, ETL processes, MS Excel, Power BI and Tableau, or other business intelligence or data visualization tools, and basic mathematical/statistical and research methods. The Analyst builds data pipelines and collection processes, creates interactive dashboards and reports, handles ad hoc requests, prepares state/federal compliance submissions, supports grant and project activities and internal reporting, and delivers actionable insights to leadership, administrators, and faculty.
Working within the Information Technology Department, the role fosters a data-informed culture through clear report writing and accessible visualizations, while providing a consistent, standards-based view of key metrics---including student outcomes, financial benchmarks, and other indicators---to advance the College's strategic plan, mission, and vision, and to inform decision-making, strategic planning, assessment, program review, and continuous improvement.
Essential Job Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness
- Provides overall direction to the College's research and planning functions and collaborates with other departments to ensure integration of activities.
- Acts as the primary contact for institutional effectiveness efforts, including academic assessment and program review.
- Inspires a culture of evidence-based decision making and advocates for research, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- Collaborates across college operations to integrate data into strategic planning, KPIs, and annual progress reporting.
- Identifies and updates KPIs to measure strategic plan progress and prepares reports for the Board of Trustees.
- Supports new initiatives, grant development, and academic program review through data extracts, metrics, trend analyses, and visualizations.
- Participates in team projects related to data governance, quality improvement, and institutional effectiveness.
- Assists in the development and implementation of the Institutional Department budget.
- Serves as a College representative at relevant state meetings and conferences.
- Data Management, ETL, and Database Administration
- Performs ETL processes to extract data from relational databases and other sources, clean/transform datasets, and load them into reporting tools, warehouses, or visualization platforms.
- Works with IT to ensure data integrity and accuracy; recommends new processes and enhancements to data collection, storage, and reporting.
- Writes, optimizes, and maintains complex SQL queries to extract, manipulate, join, and analyze data from enterprise systems for routine, ad hoc, and custom reporting.
- Maintains and queries relational databases; ensures data integrity, performs validation, merges, script creation, version control, and edits to support accurate analysis and reporting.
- Documents data processes, SQL queries, ETL workflows, report/dashboard designs, and methodologies for reproducibility and auditability.
- Data Analysis, Statistics, and Research Methods
- Applies basic statistical methods (descriptive statistics, frequencies, correlations, trends, t-tests, chi-square) and research methods (quantitative/qualitative design, survey analysis) to interpret institutional data and identify patterns.
- Assists with survey design, administration, and analysis using tools such as SurveyMonkey.
- Organizes and summarizes data into readable reports and presentations for non-research audiences.
- Oversees requests to conduct human research as defined by federal regulations.
- Reporting, Dashboards, Visualization, and Communication
- Develops and maintains interactive dashboards, visualizations, and reports using Power BI and Tableau to communicate metrics and insights to non-technical stakeholders.
- Utilizes advanced Excel features (pivot tables, formulas, charts, Power Query) for data manipulation, analysis, and ad hoc reporting, including preparing data for BI tools.
- Produces high-quality written reports, summaries, infographics, and presentations that translate complex data into clear, actionable narratives.
- Responds to internal ad hoc data requests to support enrollment management, student success initiatives, resource allocation, program review, and decision-making.
- Prepares and submits external compliance reports (IPEDS, Pennsylvania State Department of Education, PACCC, grant reports, and federal requirements) and supports accreditation processes with accurate data extracts, summaries, and visualizations.
- Provides oversight and completes all statutory reporting requirements and assists other departments with data collection and reporting as needed.
- Professional Development and Best Practices
- Stays current on best practices in institutional research, data analytics, SQL/ETL techniques, visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau), Excel advancements, and basic statistics/research methods through professional development.
- Other duties as assigned.
Direct Reports
- None
Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education plus experience required.
Experience & Knowledge:
- A minimum of three years' collecting, querying, organizing and analyzing complex data is required.
- Proficiency with technology system design, use, and support and oversight of critical systems and associated technicians.
- Expertise in SQL, relational database systems, Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) techniques, query and report generation tools, statistical packages, and data visualization tools (e.g., Toad, Tableau, R, Python, or SPSS) and the effective application of these to organizational research and reporting activities.
Computer Skills: