Associate, Data & Innovation

BACKGROUND 

The Chicago Public Education Fund (The Fund) supports public schools by investing in the talented educators who lead them. As an independent nonprofit organization, we partner with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the City of Chicago, the local philanthropic community, principals, and aspiring principals to build and sustain a culture of strong leadership. For more than two decades, our supportive program and policy efforts and our willingness to innovate alongside educators have made a measurable, positive impact on the quality of leadership in schools and helped educators support student learning. In our current campaign, Chicago Leads, we will raise and invest $50M to deepen and strengthen leadership in Chicago’s 636 public schools. 

Organizational Values 

We are solutions-oriented. We approach our work with a proactive and productive mindset. Challenges are part of the work; we aim for continuous improvement. 

We are collaborative. We understand that each team member relies on others to achieve goals. We ask for help when we need it and provide help when asked. The organization, as a whole, is more significant than any one of us alone. 

We act with integrity. We say what we will do, and we do what we say. We are honest about what we know and what we are learning; this helps us achieve the best possible outcomes.  

We prioritize equity. Our work prioritizes leaders who serve and represent communities most directly impacted by structural racism and systematic exclusion. On our team, we actively recruit and hire for diversity in all areas of identity. Our commitments are lived out loud. 

ASSOCIATE, DATA & INNOVATION 

The Associate, Data & Innovation supports The Fund's Data & Innovation team in maintaining the organization's data infrastructure, Salesforce environment, and reporting systems that inform decision-making across policy, sector, operations, and leadership priorities. 

Reporting to the Manager, Data & Innovation, this role manages recurring reporting, develops dashboards, fulfills data requests, and keeps Salesforce running as the organization's central data platform — ensuring data stays high-quality, accessible, and aligned with The Fund's strategic plan. Success requires combining strong technical execution with project management, relationship management, and continuous improvement. 

You will primarily be responsible for four key areas: 

Support Strategic Data Systems & Salesforce: Support the maintenance, improvement, and ongoing use of Salesforce and other organizational data systems to ensure accurate, timely, and accessible information across the organization. 

Tactically, this includes: 

• Maintain Salesforce records and ensure data quality.  

• Support data imports, validation, and ongoing maintenance.  

• Assist in developing and maintaining Salesforce dashboards.  

• Monitor dashboard accuracy and recommend improvements.  

• Maintain documentation for Salesforce processes and data governance.  

• Support organization-wide adoption of Salesforce and reporting tools.  

• Produce recurring reports on policy, sector, and organizational metrics.  

• Track dashboard updates and coordinate recurring refresh schedules. 

Support research and reporting to stakeholders around issues that impact principals in Chicago: You will support the Data & Innovation team by using data to identify ways to better support principals.  

Tactically, this includes: 

• Support and create reports, memos, presentations, and materials to share The Fund’s perspective on issues that impact principals in Chicago as well as sustainable approaches for principal quality in Chicago, both internally and externally. 

• Conduct analyses to identify trends, issues, and themes that inform The Fund’s strategic priorities and support the interpretation and communication of research findings to a wide range of Fund stakeholders. 

• Support The Fund’s grant writing process by providing data and other relevant updates and information. 

• Support The Fund’s publications and other work by providing copy-editing, fact-checking, and data quality reviews, as needed.  

• Own from beginning to end, The Fund annual Principal and Assistant Principal Engagement Survey initiative. 

Support Cross-Functional Strategic Initiatives: You will partner with teams across the organization to support major strategic initiatives and improve organizational effectiveness through data. 

Tactically, this includes: 

• Support policy data collection and tracking.  

• Maintain policy, sector, budget, and organizational datasets.  

• Support principal retention, pipeline, and overview reporting.  

• Own engagement survey, focus groups, and organizational learning.  

• Collaborate with Policy, Finance, and Development teams.  

• Coordinate recurring reporting cycles and project milestones. 

Supporting Overall Data & Strategy Team Work + Continuous improvement: You will serve on the Data & Innovation team that works to use data to inform our organization strategy.  

Tactically, this includes: 

• Support with data products and tools: school profiles, district profiles, community profiles, dashboards and so on. We will generally produce some of these each month. 

• Manage project timelines and deliverables.  

• Maintain project trackers and documentation.  

• Identify risks and recommend process improvements. 

• Collaborate with team members to support The Fund’s data management strategy on principal quality through on-going data collection, analysis, and reporting activities. 

• Add value to organizational activities such as strategic planning, document production, recruiting and other duties as assigned. 

• Cultivate and manage external partner and/or grantee relationships as needed. 

• Represent The Fund at external events and exhibit The Fund’s core values of collaboration, equity, excellence, innovation, integrity, and leadership.  
  
  

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS 

You are (or will quickly become!) passionate about Chicago's public schools and The Fund’s work to support principals. You share The Fund’s core values of collaboration, equity, excellence, innovation, integrity, and leadership. You are clear on what those values mean in action for you. 

You have prior experience with data management and analytics, especially in presenting the results of analyses to a wide array of audiences. You will also have prior experience in reach and education policy. You are a strong project planner and have a strong track record of executing on and achieving results. You have experience working in public education in Chicago (preferred, not ).  

Required qualifications 

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  • 2–3 years of experience in data analysis, ideally within education or nonprofit sectors 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience managing data within Salesforce or a similar CRM/database system 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Proficiency with Excel and at least one data visualization tool (e.g., Tableau, PowerBI) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience translating data into memos, reports, or presentations for varied audiences 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously and meeting deadlines 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Excellent organizational skills and ability to work independently while collaborating across teams 
  
  
  
  
  

Preferred qualifications 

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  • Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Public Policy, Education, or related field 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience with statistical software (e.g., R, Python, SPSS) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience specifically with Salesforce (if not already required-level for this hire) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience in data storytelling and designing presentations/decks that compel action 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience facilitating data-driven conversations and turning insights into action 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Experience using AI tools to support data analysis, visualization, or presentation/deck development 
  
  
  
  
  

INTERVIEW PROCESS

The interview process may vary slightly but will include:

• Phone Screening


• Panel Interview


• Performance Task


• Interview with Hiring Manager


• Reference Checks

COMPENSATION 

The salary band for an Associate at The Fund starts at $59,000. There is room to grow to $74,000 over time, based on performance and market adjustments annually. The Fund offers a robust and highly competitive benefits package, including healthcare coverage, retirement contribution, generous paid-time-off for all team members, and paid short-term and family leave. Please note that The Fund team is an in-person organization, working in schools and out of our offices in downtown Chicago from 8:30am to 5pm. We do have at least one work-from-home day per week. This position will require some evening and weekend hours. 

The Fund employs and values a diverse workforce. We are also an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to engaging the skills and leadership of people of color, low-income persons, LGBTQ+ persons, differently abled people, and other people from diverse backgrounds. People from these and other historically marginalized backgrounds and communities are strongly encouraged to apply.