Strategy, Innovation & Business Intelligence Analyst at West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE)

Position Summary

• The Business Intelligence Analyst is responsible for providing technical data and business intelligence support to the programs team.
• The BI Analyst will also implement an impact evaluation strategy to identify our impact and areas for improvement across all programs and locations.
• The BI Analyst will work closely with client services to conduct the full range of activities to monitor and evaluate WAVE programs/projects, and with our communications/marketing and fundraising, staff to communicate key learnings and impact.

Position Responsibilities

• The BI Analyst will support the Strategy, Innovation and Business Intelligence (SIB) Lead in working with cross-functional teams to analyze and present key financial and strategic issues to senior leadership.
• The ideal candidate will be a natural leader with excellent verbal/communication skills and a thoughtful, persuasive personal style.
• Self-starters who are comfortable in a project-oriented environment tend to be successful in this role.

BI Planning & Strategy (20% time):

• Support the BI Lead in developing the overall framework for WAVE’s Business Intelligence, Innovation, and M&E, including annual project reviews, impact assessments, process monitoring, operations monitoring, cost-benefit analysis, and lessons-learned sessions
• Support the BI Lead in working with department/project leads to lead the annual planning and budgeting processes to ensure alignment with strategic priorities
• Support the BI Lead in preparing work plans, budgets, and resources needed for strategy, innovation & business intelligence
• Design surveys, focus groups, and data collection methods
• Work with programs/project leads to develop evaluation plans for new grants and programs
• Be an in-house resource for any staff needing to develop hypothesis-based testing or project monitoring & evaluation programs
• Ensure BI meets the needs of stakeholders (funders, board, strategic partners), and that grant terms are fully observed in our M&E design.
• Assist departments in developing their BI framework and impact data collection methods
• Provide reports to SIB Lead for organizational decision making

Operations & Systems (20% time):

• Maintain and innovate on the organizational database to track client and programmatic data, including daily database management through salesforce
• Provide training in BI / M&E (and accompanying tools such as Salesforce, and Formstack) for relevant programs and support staff
• Assist in creating data management procedures and training materials to ensure an effective and efficient data collection and management process for future use

Implementing BI (40% time):

• Run full evaluations/metrics for program impact on a quarterly basis at all program sites
• Design / oversee /conduct baseline surveys, including intake forms for all new projects
• Supervise data collection, including supervising (including hiring) any support staff or partners
• Record all data into the organizational database and/or tracking systems
• Analyze all data collected, identifying trends, issues, and impact, compared to initial program targets
• Enable the monthly/quarterly dashboards, and operational monitoring, as well as participate in strategic discussions, and figure out ways to approach key strategic decisions (revenue collection, pricing, employer partnerships, etc.)
• Managing M&E activities related to one-off consultancy projects

Communication (10% time):

• Make regular reports for team/leads highlighting program trends; prepare documentation for review at meetings.
• Prepare reports to partner organizations, funders, and key stakeholders on M&E findings, working closely with the fundraising and communications staff
• Write client (alumni, employers) profiles to illustrate key trends in M&E
• Share M&E data with team members as appropriate to help all team members improve our programs

Strategic Projects (10% time):

• Provide consulting expertise and program management for specific strategic initiatives that are deemed critical to the organization’s success.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree with 1 - 2 years of work experience.

Competencies:

• Highly qualified in excel, databases, statistics, and other data management systems
• Communicate complicated matters in a simple, structured way to senior management
• Increased emphasis on analytics. One important success factor is building a fact-based case for change. Strategic initiative leaders need to be comfortable with ambiguity and working with large amounts of data and information.
• Comfortable taking calculated risks and advocating for new ideas; in the spirit of innovation and professional development, encourage and empower others to move outside of their comfort zone.
• Data Gathering and Insight Analysis- Ability to gather, and analyze data on key data points such as education sector trends, gaps, demographics, key skills mapping, policymakers and employer trends, so as to proactively direct project goals
• Good analytical skills- Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations. Use analytical skills and judgment to solve problems with limited information at hand
• Strategic Thinking Ability to think, develop effective long-term plans, set goals and determine priorities and to identify potential risks and opportunities within the MB projects.
• A self-starter with the ability to work independently and deliver tasks within a short period of time and within budget.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Ability to work effectively with people across various teams to achieve project goals
• Learning and Innovation - Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Problem Solving Skills: Ability to find the root causes of issues, analyze potential alternatives, generate possible solutions, make recommendations and/or choose the best available option for the particular situation they face.
• Make Decisions: Assess situations to determine the importance, urgency and risks, and make clear decisions which are timely and in the best interests of the organization.
• Organize: Set priorities, develop a work schedule, monitor progress towards goals, and track details, data, information and activities.