Assistant Director of Systemwide Data for Financial Planning and Analysis

Position Information

The California State University, Office of the Chancellor, is seeking an Assistant Director of Systemwide Data for Financial Planning and Analysis to be responsible for overseeing, managing and gathering relevant data from across the California State University (CSU) System and generating reports and dashboards. This position will create and deliver actionable data-driven insight and analysis and work closely with stakeholders to help senior leaders, the Board of Trustees, and other key stakeholders understand financial performance and aid in their decision-making. This role requires strong familiarity with CSU financial, human resources, and student data, as well as the ability to analyze dependencies and relationships between these data sets. The incumbent will collaborate with functional and technical subject matter experts across many departments to join related data, analyze CSU trends in new ways, provide consistent metrics between business units, and identify areas for potential improvement in data analysis.

Responsibilities

Under the general direction of the Director, Management and Accounting Practices , the Assistant Director of Systemwide Data for Financial Planning and Analysis will:

-Serve as the subject matter expert at the Chancellor’s Office for data integration and management across all budgeting and financial systems, including but not limited to Questica, Oracle, and Axiom.

-Establish and enforce data standards, policies, and procedures to ensure data integrity, consistency, and interoperability between software systems.

-Oversee and validate the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of budget and financial data for analysis and transparency reporting for the CSU, implementing quality control measures and facilitating the resolution of data discrepancies.

-Research and perform data management and quality control audits to advise corrective measures where necessary to ensure accuracy and validity of data prior to distribution.

-Develop and maintain departmental standards for branding and data distribution to internal and external constituents.

-Identify opportunities for process improvements, automation, and system enhancements to streamline budgeting operations and enable decision-making.

-Design and build technical processes to standardize processes and tools, automate production of regularly scheduled requests to increase efficiency and capacity of the data team. Build, develop and maintain data models, reporting systems, data automation systems, dashboards and performance metrics that support key business decisions.

-Support the design and implementation of data integration strategies to gather and consolidate systemwide data from various sources, including financial, human resources, student information systems, and other relevant data repositories.

-Create reports/queries and run processes to extract information using the appropriate system (e.g. PeopleSoft, AWS) and program language, (e.g., SQL, R, Python, SAS).

-Develop and maintain data models, multidimensional reports, dashboards, and visualizations to support financial planning, budgeting, and fiscal analysis, forecasting, and strategic decision-support activities across the CSU System.

-Analyze complex data and large datasets to identify trends, patterns, areas for potential improvement, cost optimization, and strategic resource allocation.

-Lead systemwide projects using advanced data modeling and analysis techniques to discover insights that will guide strategic decisions and uncover optimization opportunities.

-Collaborate with functional and technical subject matter experts across information technology, human resources, institutional research, financial services, and budget to understand data dependencies and relationships between financial, human resources, student, and operational data.

-Works as the primary liaison with the Business Intelligence/Data Operations team.

-Partner with stakeholders to identify needs, purpose of the request, gather requirements, determine deliverables and timeline to meet business needs.

-Ensure consistent application of standardized metrics, data definitions, and calculation methodologies across business units, departments, and universities to ensure data comparability and enable meaningful cross-functional and cross-institutional analyses.

-Leverage data-driven insights and analyses to provide actionable recommendations to support strategic decision-making and resource allocation.

-Develop and deliver data-driven presentations, reports, and visualizations to effectively communicate complex data findings, analyses, and recommendations to diverse stakeholders, including executive leadership, functional teams, and technical personnel.

-Design and facilitate training programs that allow CSU employees to effectively utilize the cost dashboards.

-Ensure data integrity, security, and compliance with relevant policies and regulations.

-Stay current with emerging data analytics technologies and best practices.

-Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

This position requires:

-Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as data analytics, business administration, or a related discipline; Advanced degree preferred.

-A minimum of five years of experience working in the CSU System and knowledge of the CSU operations is required.

-Five to eight years of experience in advanced data analysis, with demonstrated experience conducting statistical analysis, data extraction, aggregation, and analysis and the ability to identify and translate business requirements into functional specifications. Experience working with large databases and analyzing significantly complex datasets.

-Must have experience leading or managing projects, facilitating group discussions, and working in a fast-paced, demanding environment. 

-Experience with the CSU and CSU data systems (PIMS, CIRS, PeopleSoft, AWS, APDB).

-Advanced analytical, mathematical, statistical, and organizational skills.

-Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Excellent problem-solving skills, including the ability to work independently, determine the most effective approach to gathering and reporting needed information, and troubleshoot problems.

-Demonstrated project and time management skills. Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects and shifting priorities.

-Strong customer service orientation. Ability to work with individuals at all levels of the organization.

-Proficiency with common business software such as the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel (advanced user).

-Proficiency in statistical techniques and methods, including experience with one or more statistical software packages such as R, SAS, and/or SPSS.

-Proficiency in the use of data visualization tools such as Tableau/QuickSight.

-Must be self-motivated, with strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders.

-Must be systems savvy with the ability to easily adapt to a changing environment and priorities.

-Must be able to perform proficiently and possess the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new system technologies.

-Strong familiarity with CSU financial, human resources, and student data systems and reporting tools.

-Strong communication and presentation skills.

-Attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy and integrity.

-Knowledge of data governance, data security, and compliance standards.

Preferred Qualifications

-Proficiency with one or more programming languages such as SQL.

-Familiarity with Amazon Cloud infrastructure (S3, Athena, QuickSight).