Senior Partnering Consultant

Position Summary:
The Senior Partnering Consultant is part of the Office of Data and Strategic Analytics (DSA) at Vanderbilt University. They are a key contributor, working in partnership with their designated academic areas or support units, ensuring that Vanderbilt makes decisions utilizing high-quality and relevant data, information, and analysis. These areas may vary over time depending on demand and priorities. Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Institutional Research & Academic Partnering, the Senior Partnering Consultant will also have a strong dotted-line reporting relationship with the designated leaders supporting the Graduate School, including the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School.

The Senior Partnering Consultant is a generalist role providing professional support around data, information, and analysis to leaders. The position is also a “matrix” role, with integration into both the Graduate School and also the broader DSA Team. The consultant will build strong relationships in the Graduate School to provide targeted and nuanced support, helping  leaders and staff to interpret and use information for decision-making and planning. They will draw on relationships within the DSA Team to access specialist support as required. They will provide feedback to DSA about priorities and preferences among users, to ensure that DSA outputs are focused on institutional and local need.

This is a position that requires the successful candidate to be on campus four days per week.  Forming strong integral working relationships with staff in the Graduate School and across Academic Affairs is key to success, with remote and hybrid flexibility for occasions where it will not impact work.  

About the Work Units:

The Office of Data and Strategic Analytics
The Office of Data and Strategic Analytics (DSA) is led by the Vanderbilt’s Chief Data Officer and is responsible for defining and leading the Vanderbilt Data Strategy, now in its second phase after a successful phase 1 (2021-2024). DSA is part of the Office of the Chancellor and works with Vice Chancellor areas across the institution to deliver value to Vanderbilt through thoughtful and intentional use of data. DSA is spearheading a transformation in Vanderbilt’s data culture as part of Vanderbilt University’s broader ambitions to define and model what a university for the 21st Century.

DSA is made up of three teams: Institutional Research and Academic Partnering; Administrative Partnering; and Data Governance, Solutions, and Consulting. DSA works closely with other units to deliver the data strategy, including strong collaboration with Vanderbilt University Information Technology (VUIT) on technical and information security issues and the Office of General Counsel on compliance issues.  

The Graduate School   
The mission of the Graduate School (GS) is to promote excellence in research, scholarship, and creative expression such that graduate students and postdoctoral trainees are optimally prepared for successful careers in academia, industry, and related fields. The Graduate School does this by recruiting the most promising pre- and post-doctoral scholars and creating an environment that fosters intellectual growth and development.

Graduate education emphasizes intensive, disciplinary-specific and interdisciplinary training, taking advantage of Vanderbilt’s uniquely collaborative and collegial culture. The Graduate School collaborates with the leadership of the schools/colleges as well as the Offices of the Vice Provosts and Vice Chancellors to ensure operational excellence. The Graduate School ensures the maintenance of the highest academic and professional standards and plays an important advocacy role for graduate students and postdoctoral trainees.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:
The key function of a Senior Partnering Consultant is to enable their designated area(s) to make use of data, analysis, and other information to support decision-making and planning. As such, the Senior Partnering Consultant needs to draw on a broad range of skills to build relationships, understand the strategic needs of their partner areas, and analyze and translate quantitative information for senior leaders.  

Key functions include:

Making data and analytical information accessible, relevant, and usable to stakeholders in the partner area(s) to support decision-making and planning.
•    Integrate disparate sources of information to provide strategic insights and pragmatic recommendations for action.
•    Share and explain data, analysis, assessment findings, and similar information to leadership and other stakeholders in partner area(s). This may include personalizing reports for the area, and using a variety of tools including Tableau, Excel, PowerPoint, and other data visualization software.  
•    Identify weaknesses in data resources and advise and lead on how to collect and curate information, working with DSA and partner area teams as appropriate.
•    Be familiar with the key strategic and operational issues facing their partner area(s) and work with leadership to understand those issues and to determine how data, information, and analysis can best support decision-making. 
•    Integrate quantitative and qualitative information with an understanding of the goals and constraints of the area(s).  
•    Advise on options, risks, and action plans. 
 

Communicating data, analysis, and information to make an impact.

•    Author presentations and reports, using different media, to present to a variety of audiences.
•    Tailor the message to suit the audience and consider the sensitivity and/or confidentiality of the information.
•    Provide communications and training on data-oriented activities.  
•    Contribute to the development and release of Certified Data Sets.  
•    Write and contribute to communications targeted to the Vanderbilt community and beyond.

Serve as an intermediary between DSA and their designated area(s).

•    Identify projects (e.g., assessment, surveys, analysis, reporting) that may require input from the broader DSA team and broker and facilitate those conversations. 
•    Provide feedback to the DSA team about the effectiveness and impact of various office outputs, and about local priorities from their partner area(s).
•    Remain abreast of developments elsewhere in the DSA team to identify what may be of use to their designated area(s).

Compile and submit data for area to internal and external data collection exercises, as required.

•    Coordinate the collect and compilation of local data, ensuring it is compliant, consistent, and in the correct format. 
•    Take responsibility for some external data submissions related to the areas where the individual is partnering.  

Contribute to or lead institutional or DSA projects and support the development of institutional data capability.

•    Examples of current institutional projects include the redevelopment of the website and Factbook, and the review of reporting resources and tools to develop a more self-service approach.
•    Work with local and institutional leadership to support regional accreditation processes.
•    Support institutional data governance activities to ensure the appropriate use of data.

Support colleagues within the partnering team and collaborate as required inside and outside DSA (e.g., serving on institutional committees).

Supervisory Relationships:
This position does not currently have supervisory responsibilities.  This position reports administratively and functionally to the Senior Director of Institutional Research & Academic Partnering and ultimately to the Chief Data Officer.  The Senior Partnering Consultant will also have a strong dotted-line reporting relationship with the designated leaders in the Graduate School. Regular meetings and reporting will occur with leadership within the Graduate School. 

Education and Certifications:
The Senior Partnering Consultant is a generalist role, and a variety of skills and experiences may provide appropriate experience and preparation for this role.

•     A master’s or doctoral degree is necessary. 

Experience and Skills:

•    At least five years’ experience working in a professional setting is necessary, including experience working with those in leadership roles. 
•    Experience of working with quantitative information and data is necessary; this may be demonstrated by academic or professional experience. 
      •    Ability to manipulate and present data in Excel and Tableau is necessary. 
      •    Ability to work with Tableau or a similar data visualization tool is strongly preferred. 
      •    Ability to do descriptive statistical analysis (e.g., compute means, variances, change over time) is necessary.
      •    Data storytelling experience is preferred. 
      •    Training in and experience of more advanced statistical techniques is preferred.  
•    Experience working in higher education is necessary, with a demonstrated understanding of how a higher educational institution works. This includes an understanding of the strategic challenges, knowledge of the formal structures, and an appreciation of the internal and external political context and how that influences appropriate behavior. 
      •    Knowledge of Graduate Education and what distinguishes it from Professional Education at Vanderbilt is preferred.  
      •    Knowledge of the faculty tenure system is preferred. 
      •    Familiarity with the role postdoctoral study plays in the graduate and faculty career cycle is preferred. 
•    Ability to understand and translate quantitative data for a wide variety of audiences is necessary. 
•    Excellent interpersonal skills are necessary. The Senior Partnering Consultant needs to be able develop a rapport with a wide range of individuals. They must be able to effectively challenge pre-conceived notions and deliver messages that may be unwelcome.  
•    Excellent communication skills are necessary. This includes both written and verbal skills. 
      •    Experience with writing for research publication is preferred. 
      •    Familiarity with APA-style / or similar is preferred. 
      •    The ability to review work with a high attention to detail, grammar, and punctuality is necessary. 
      •    Ability to work with Tableau or a similar data visualization tool is strongly preferred. 
•    Ability to present to and train targeted audiences is necessary. 
•    Excellent problem-solving skills are necessary. The Senior Partnering Consultant needs to be able to define a problem, place it into a broader context, and work collaboratively to explore the issue and develop solutions. This requires the intellectual agility to move from theoretical to practical and back again, drawing together a variety of different inputs to come to a conclusion.   
•    Demonstrated experience managing projects through to completion is necessary. 
•    Strong time-management skills are necessary, as this post will be working in a matrix environment so will need to prioritize their own workload much of the time.
 

Key Characteristics for this Position:
•    Works through Issues – Recognizes that the work is about successful outcomes, if things aren’t going well, outcomes suffer; is willing to have crucial conversations if things aren’t going well; doesn’t just complain to management… does everything possible to remedy the situation directly first.
•    Respects confidentiality and demonstrates a strong ethical compass, recognizing the sensitivity and potential power of data, information, and outcomes, respecting the privacy and dignity of personal data. This approach underpins the trust the University places in DSA as data stewards.
•    Collaborative - Works inclusively to build trust and accomplish tasks, goals, and initiatives. Understands, anticipates, and appropriately responds to internal and/or external customers’ needs.
•    Teamwork – Genuinely values teamwork and co-workers, makes them feel valuable and important by acknowledging what they do well; doesn’t expect from others effort that one is unwilling to do themselves, finds ways to acknowledge other’s strong suits.
•    Communicates proactively. Uses sound judgment to identify what needs to be communicated with teammates, local leaders, and senior institutional leadership, in order to support Vanderbilt’s mission. Not seeking to control information for personal or local advantage. Listens thoughtfully to understand the needs of partners and stakeholders, asks relevant, clarifying, and probing questions and generates trust through this process.
•    Raises the Bar – Expects and delivers excellence; is a creative problem solver; is proactive; welcomes input on making things better -- places a high value on learning and getting better.
•    Interpersonal adaptability – Reads cues and adapt accordingly; adjusts style and approach to accommodate the styles and needs of others; can anticipate and effectively de-escalate potential conflicts. 
•    Civil Discourse – Has the courage to challenge and be challenged by others with divergent points of view, substantiated by evidence and objective analysis.  
•    Problem-solving and learning – Is a creative, proactive problem solver; welcomes input and places a high value on learning and continual improvement and professional development; willing to learn new technologies and tools.
•    Detail-Oriented – Attention to detail, thoroughness, quality assurance, and handling mistakes appropriately all underpin the trust of Vanderbilt in the work of DSA.  
•    Judgment and Professional Acumen - Understands the organizational context and the various factors affecting their work. Makes appropriate decisions and evaluates risk and uncertainty to create ideal outcomes, exhibits an eye for the macro and the micro, and works to ensure others are able to do the same.
•    Self-disciplined – Self-managing; self-motivated; manages time, activities and outcomes well so that progress stays on track; is accountable for own work.  
•    Self-Aware - Self-reflective and recognizes one’s own biases and is sensitive to the perceptions of others. Understands own strengths and weaknesses and able to receive constructive feedback and initiate strategies to compensate and adapt. Recognizes the specific role of a member of staff within a faculty-led environment.
•    Supports the overall value of higher education and understands the distinctive values of a research-intensive, highly selective private institution, such as Vanderbilt.