U.S. News and World Report, a publisher of news and information that empowers people to make informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives, is currently seeking a Data Analyst for an opening in its Washington, DC office. This location is situated in Georgetown within a 15 minute walk of the Foggy Bottom metro station and provides a collaborative work environment and excellent amenities including but not limited to a brand new gym! This individual will be contributing to the success of the Education Rankings team by assisting in the analytical and survey research tasks needed to produce the U.S. News education rankings projects including: Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools, Best High Schools, Best Online Degree programs, and Best Global Universities. Successful candidates for this position need to have experience working in quantitative research, preferably within a higher education environment.

Responsibilities:

• Develop quality assurance procedures for data collected internally and from third party sources; ensuring accuracy of rankings computations and information displayed on usnews.com and in print guidebooks
• Coordinate closely with U.S. News technical team on their development efforts; providing detailed written specs, assisting in troubleshooting bugs, and testing the accuracy of data loads
• Keep up to date on trends in higher education as foundation for drafting/refining survey questions and adjusting rankings methodologies
• Analysis tasks may include computing schools’ scores on ranking factors, evaluating schools’ year-to-year movement in the rankings, modeling impact of potential methodology changes, performing multiple regression analyses, testing for statistical outliers and producing data visualizations.
• Assist in the development and implementation of the statistical and peer assessment survey instruments
• Meet specific project deadlines and timelines set by the Chief Data Strategist and the Director of Data Projects, as well as others who work on education ranking projects
• Communicate via email, phone, meetings and presentations with representatives from education institutions on issues relating to U.S. News rankings and data
• Provide editorial team with data used in articles, short lists, and slideshows as well as assist in the review process prior to publication
• Additional tasks may include researching survey contacts, institutional accreditation status, reviewing school websites and other light administrative tasks as needed

Requirements:

• Minimum 3 years of experience doing data analysis and statistical modeling
• Experience in the field of higher education a plus
• High level proficiency working in MS Office Suite, specifically in Excel as well as experience in doing analysis using statistical packages such as SPSS or SAS
• Knowledge of database structures and experience writing SQL select statements to query databases
• Strong oral and written communications skills, including experience explaining technical results to non-technical audiences
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required, Master’s degree preferred
• Attention to detail, excellent organizational skills and strong time management skills

Please provide both a resume and cover letter to be considered.

We are offering a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package that includes healthcare, dental, and 401(k) plan.

EOE
M/F/D/V