Job Description
Position Overview
Our Data Systems Engineer will own the data systems management that allows the team to execute high-quality reporting and insight. He/she/they will ensure that KIPP Foundation, and therefore the KIPP network, has timely access to accurate data to make data-informed decisions about how to best serve KIPP’s communities. He/she/they will simultaneously lead streamlining existing collection and loading processes and piloting of new data pipelines. In addition, the Research & Evaluation, Information Technology, and Insight & Analytics teams are engaged in several significant updates and new implementations of KIPP’s data infrastructure to accommodate the KIPP network’s growth, and subsequently, its increasingly complex, sophisticated, and large-scale data needs. The Data Systems Engineer will support this exciting, high-impact challenge as a stakeholder who is using and contributing to the improvements and on-going validation.
The Data Systems Engineer reports to the Director, Data Systems.
Key Responsibilities and Duties
Oversee ongoing execution and management of annual data collection
- Ensure annual data collection is as low-burden as possible to regions and schools, by continually reevaluating our collection processes
- Work with Project Managers to ensure collection of high quality, error free data for all our data streams including schools and regions, staff, students, and college and career paths
- Collaborate with various Product Managers to enhance requirements, ensuring data quality monitoring is embedded in our ETL processes as data systems are re-imagined and re-built
- Support Data Collection Specialist and Product Managers in trainings, webinars and professional development for our regions as needed at various retreats and conferences throughout the year, with an emphasis on skill building for strong data management practices
Lead loading of third-party vendor data into data systems
- Clean, load, and verify data related to students and schools necessary for monitoring the health of our network from our schools and regions and to track student achievement
- Develop and maintain scalable, sustainable quality assurance practices to ensure high quality and reliable data
- Forecast potential data quality issues and ensure that these are given adequate consideration during tool development, in documenting our data collection processes, and in working with schools
Drive operational excellence in data work
- Maintain quality assurance processes and cross-train teammates when needed
- Ensure documentation of internal technical processes are maintained and updated
- Own code base and code review processes within Research and Evaluation
Support piloting of new data pipelines and maintenance of legacy, less-automated systems
- Develop and implement MVP pipelines to enable piloting of new data collection and loading processes
- Work with Project Managers to ensure on-going pilots and legacy systems have proper technical support to ensure high quality data
- Work with Product Managers to translate learnings from pilots and legacy systems into business requirements, ensuring that data quality is an automated and embedded part of our end-to-end data loading processes
- Support QA Analyst and Product Manager in user acceptance testing of requirements
Key Competencies
- Prove the possible: Student Focus
- Drive Results: Continuous Learning
- Build Relations: Impact and Influence
- Drive Results: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Qualifications
Experience and Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in a technical field
- Passion for KIPP’s mission and values, sense of humor, and ability to find joy in tackling hard problems
- Fluency in a SQL language and 3+ years of experience in scripting language, python preferred
- Excellent attention to detail and constant focus on data quality
- Proven experience developing and executing on data quality assurance processes, with track record of driving complex projects to completion
- Adept at working with team members in a fast-paced environment while balancing competing priorities
- Limited travel may be required in the future (e.g. team retreats)
- Full-time, exempt
