Data Analyst

Job Summary

UBC Sauder School of Business is one of the world’s leading business faculties. The school consistently ranks among the top 100 in the world and is recognized internationally for excellence in research and learning, an outstanding faculty and unmatched global partnerships. A collaborative and respectful culture within which all members of our community can thrive is a key principle in our strategic plan, and one that underpins our educational mission.

We acknowledge that UBC Sauder at the Vancouver Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam. We acknowledge that UBC Sauder at UBC Robson Square is situated on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.

The Sauder IT & Analytics team partners with faculty, staff, students, and other institutional stakeholders to deliver and sustain relevant, reliable, and innovative information technology solutions. Operating within a dynamic and fast-paced environment, we are committed to driving evidence-based decision-making in support of academic and operational excellence.

The Data Analyst sources and manages data from multiple systems-of-record, including raw data from databases and application APIs, curated extracts, and ad-hoc datasets. This position supports data management and analytics for the UBC Sauder School of Business, while working closely with institutional data governance and analytics teams.

This role focuses on identifying, sourcing, cleaning, managing and transforming data to provide clear, actionable insights for multiple UBC Sauder stakeholders. The Data Analyst is responsible for identifying and sourcing required data, preparing trusted and analytics-ready datasets, developing impactful visualizations, and enabling self-service analytics for business users using modern technologies such as Microsoft Fabric and AI-enabled analytics tools. The Data Analyst is responsible for a number of analytic areas, including, but not limited to, data preparation and management, data mining, statistical analysis, visual analysis, temporal data analysis and/or text analysis.

Organizational Status

Reports to the Assistant Dean, Information Technology & Analytics, UBC Sauder School of Business.

The Data Analyst collaborates proactively with business stakeholders within UBC Sauder, including other data analysts, faculty and administrative stakeholders. The Data Analyst also works with UBC’s Enterprise Data Governance & Business Intelligence teams. Work is reviewed in terms of achievement of high professional standards in the delivery of data and analytics services and broad project objectives and goals.

Work Performed

Business Engagement & Delivery

• Partner with stakeholders to understand business needs, gather requirements and translate them into analytical datasets, dashboards, reports and analytical solutions.
• Work with stakeholders to identify relevant data sources, clarify data definitions, and understand how data flows across systems.
• Support reporting needs across key domains (e.g., finance, HR, learning systems, marketing, admissions).
• Enable self-service analytics by creating reusable datasets, semantic models, and reports.
• Provide guidance and training to users on how to interpret and use data effectively.
• Support business users in understanding the end-to-end flow of data.

Data Discovery, Dataset Development & Data Preparation

• Identify, source, and bring together data from multiple information systems, files, databases, and business processes to support reporting and analytics needs.
• Build and maintain curated, analytics-ready datasets within Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Warehouse, OneLake).
• Clean, transform, standardize and model data using SQL, Power Query, and Fabric Dataflows.
• Apply business rules and data transformation logic to ensure datasets are accurate, consistent, and aligned with reporting needs.
• Collaborate with other analysts, data managers, and technical partners to source, refine, and prepare data for analytics consumption.
• Collaborate with other analysts and data managers to optimize data for performance, accuracy, and long-term maintenance.

Data Quality & Governance

• Validate and reconcile data to ensure accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reliability across reports and dashboards.
• Document data definitions, calculations, transformation logic, assumptions and lineage for transparency and reuse.
• Contribute and adhere to data governance practices, including the use of standardized data definitions, metrics and metadata.
• Identify and troubleshoot data issues, working with upstream teams to resolve them.

Dashboarding & Data Visualization

• Design, develop, and maintain interactive dashboards and reports using Power BI within Microsoft Fabric.
• Create clear, intuitive and visually compelling data products that communicate key metrics, trends, insights, and business unit performance.
• Define and standardize KPIs and reporting layers.
• Promote best practices in data visualization, usability, and performance, with an emphasis on empowering business user self-service where appropriate.

Advanced Analytics & Continuous Improvement

• Perform exploratory data analysis to uncover trends, patterns, and opportunities.
• Support advanced analytics initiatives by preparing high-quality datasets.
• Use novel technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support data management and analysis.
• Leverage Microsoft Fabric capabilities (e.g., Notebooks, Pipelines, Data Agents) to enhance productivity and insight generation.
• Manage version control of notebooks and data deployments across environments.
• Improve dashboards, datasets, and reporting processes based on user feedback, and changing business needs.
• Identify, source, clean, prepare and manage data from multiple independent systems-of-record.
• Ensure data is continuously available in data lakes and/or data warehouses
• Validate data for accuracy, completeness, consistency, and reliability across datasets.
• Build dashboards, reports, and curated datasets.
• Maintain documentation for datasets, data definitions, KPIs, calculations, and reporting logic.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise data standards and governance practices.
• Support the full analytics lifecycle, from data discovery and preparation through to reporting, visualization, and insight delivery.
• Contribute to the evolution of the organization’s analytics and reporting capabilities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The position is expected to exercise sound judgement in organizing work, communicating with stakeholders, following established procedures, documenting issues accurately, and escalating concerns in a timely manner. Poor judgement or inaccurate information may negatively affect the quality, consistency, and continuity of activities within UBC Sauder. The role will have access to a significant amount of data and responsibility for this data. All work must be within the bounds of data security and privacy.

Supervision Received

Works within a team, showing proactive initiative under the direction of the Assistant Dean, Information Technology & Analytics.

Supervision Given

Takes on a leadership role as required in directing ad hoc projects and recommending solutions to ensure optimal reporting and quality of data analysis.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of two years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Undergraduate or graduate degree in Business Operations, Data Analytics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience in data management, data analysis, business intelligence, or other analytics roles.
• Experience in proactively identifying, collecting and preparing data for use in data pipelines, reporting, and analytics.
• Experience building dashboards and preparing datasets in enterprise environments.
• Experience working with large and complex datasets from multiple independent systems of record.

People Skills

• Excellent communication and data storytelling abilities.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and collaboration skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy, quality and documentation.

Technical Skills

• Strong experience with Python and Microsoft Fabric (including Power BI, Dataflows, and Lakehouse/Warehouse environments).
• Strong experience with SQL (T-SQL, PL/SQL) for data querying, transformation, and validation.
• Advanced skills in DAX, semantic modeling, and building interactive reports within the Fabric ecosystem.
• Expertise in building Power BI dashboards, reports, and semantic models.
• Experience with OneLake, Delta tables, and Medallion architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold) concepts.
• Proficiency in Power Query M and/or Microsoft Fabric Dataflows for data preparation.
• Familiarity with notebook-based analytics.
• Understanding of data modeling concepts (star schemas, dimensional modeling).

Additional Assets

• Experience with enterprise systems such as Workday, CRM/Salesforce, and Student Information Systems.
• Knowledge of data governance, data quality, and metadata management practices.
• Familiarity with cloud-based analytics platforms (Microsoft Azure and AWS preferred).
• Experience enabling self-service analytics in large organizations.
• Familiarity with Data Agents/Copilot in Microsoft Fabric.
• Experience working in Higher Education.