The Senior Partnering Consultant is part of the Office for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) at Vanderbilt University and is a key contributor, working in partnership with their designated academic areas or support units, to ensuring that Vanderbilt makes decisions and plans on the basis of high-quality and relevant data, information, and analysis. Reporting directly to the Assistant Provost and Executive Director for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, the Senior Partnering Consultant will also have a strong dotted-line reporting relationship with the designated leaders in their partner area(s).

The Senior Partnering Consultant is a generalist role providing professional support around data, information, and analysis to leaders in their designated partner area(s). The Senior Partnering Consultant is a matrix role, with integration into both the designated partner area(s) and also the broader PIE Team. They will build strong relationships in those area(s) to provide targeted and nuanced support, helping the area(s) to interpret and use information for decision-making and planning. They will draw on relationships within the PIE Team to access specialist support as required. They will provide feedback to PIE about priorities and preferences among users, to ensure that PIE outputs are focused on institutional and local need.

The Senior Partnering Consultants serve Vanderbilt University as a whole, but each has designated partner areas where they develop closer relationships and specialized knowledge. These areas may vary over time depending on demand and priorities.

The anticipated partner areas for the position currently being advertised are the Graduate School, the Office of Faculty Affairs, and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

The Office for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) partners with leaders in Academic Affairs and beyond to support decision-making, planning, and actions based on high-quality and relevant data, information, and analysis. The Office comprises four teams: Partnering; Institutional Research and Analysis; Assessment; and Data Governance and Solutions.

Duties and Responsibilities

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.

Making data and analytical information accessible, relevant, and usable to stakeholders in the partner area(s) to support decision-making and planning

• 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 Excel, PowerPoint, and data visualization software.
• Identify weaknesses in data resources and advise and lead on how to collect and curate information better, working with PIE and partner area teams as appropriate.
• Be familiar with the key 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 to take into account the sensitivity and / or confidentiality of the information.
• Provide communications and training on data-oriented activities.
• Write and contribute to communications targeted to the Vanderbilt community and beyond.

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

• Identify projects (e.g., assessment, surveys, analysis, reporting) which may require input from the broader PIE team and broker and facilitate those conversations.
• Provide feedback to the PIE 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 PIE 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.
• Contribute to or lead institutional or PIE 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.

Cover for colleagues in Partnering team and collaborate as required inside and outside PIE

Qualifications

• A master's degree is necessary.
• A doctoral degree is preferred.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 which may be unwelcome.
• Excellent communication skills are necessary. This includes both written and verbal skills.
• 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.