Senior Manager, Data Insights & Learning

The Context

Atlanta leads the nation in income inequality and has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the entire country. In fact, recent research suggests that a child living in poverty in Atlanta has about a four percent chance of moving out of poverty and into a higher income bracket in his or her lifetime.

Despite these odds, Atlanta’s students have dreams for their futures and their families. In 2015, Achieve Atlanta (AATL) was launched by a group of local leaders determined to support these dreams. Coming together initially with the goal of dramatically increasing the number of Atlanta Public School (APS) students who earn a degree. Achieve Atlanta today, inspired by the power of strategic, coordinated action, and using data as the spark for change, has expanded its vision for the future to include eliminating the degree attainment gap in the city, expanding scholarship access to Fulton County Schools (FCS), and making Atlanta a place where race and income no longer predict postsecondary success or upward mobility. 

The Work

In pursuit of its vision, Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. To do this, Achieve Atlanta:

• partners with college advising providers with proven results to serve APS students while they are in high school;
• establishes strategic formal relationships with postsecondary institutions that can successfully serve APS graduates, especially those who are first generation or come from underrepresented populations;
• is progressing along a plan to mobilize broad community support by leveraging data to accelerate collaborations that further college access, persistence, and completion in Atlanta; and
• provides Achieve Atlanta Scholarships to students to reduce financial barriers to college enrollment and completion.

The Results

It’s clear that Achieve Atlanta’s endeavors are yielding significant gains; driving an increase in college enrollment and persistence, creating greater access to financial aid and scholarships, securing meaningful commitments from partners, identifying and removing barriers to college completion, and supporting APS to institutionalize a culture that raises awareness of and encourages the pursuit of postsecondary education, thereby enhancing individual students’ ability to realize their own potential.

The Opportunity 

Achieve Atlanta is seeking an enthusiastic leader to serve as the Senior Manager, Data Insights & Learning, a role that sits at the intersection of data, programs, and learning to drive continuous improvement across the organization. Utilizing student-level data from scholarship applications, surveys, and partnerships with more than 15 partner organizations, this individual serves as both a technical expert and strategic translator: conducting analyses to answer critical programmatic questions, monitoring progress toward Achieve Atlanta's ambition and KPIs, and translating data into clear, actionable recommendations for program teams. Reporting directly to the Senior Director, Data Analytics & Insights, the Senior Manager partners closely across the organization to strengthen programmatic strategy and implementation.

Primary Responsibilities 

Target-Setting & Progress Monitoring

• Support the organization-wide annual target-setting process, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 
• Supervise documentation of annual and long-term targets aligned with Achieve Atlanta’s ambition 
• Set targets for partner organizations using historical data and context from program teams, aligned to org-wide annual targets 
• Monitor progress against KPIs and the organizational ambition on an ongoing basis, surfacing trends and flagging areas of concern to leadership and program teams 

Scholar Data Analysis & Insights 

• Analyze historical and current data to identify and present key insights that drive programmatic strategy and decision-making 
• Design and manage qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, including roundtables, focus groups, and surveys, ensuring alignment with program objectives 
• Summarize and present findings and recommendations to internal and external partners in a concise and clear manner 
• Create detailed documentation of analyses and business rules to enable replication and understanding 

Continuous Improvement & Program Partnership

• Partner with programs teams to understand priorities, surface data-informed questions, and build a culture of data-informed decision-making 
• Translate complex data findings into accessible narratives and actionable recommendations for non-technical audiences across internal and external teams  
• Support with ad hoc data requests, providing subject-matter expertise and analytical framing to ensure outputs are actionable 

Data Visualization and Reporting

• Build dashboards to track progress on key metrics 
• Serve as an organizational expert in data visualization best practices, with deep understanding of dashboard architecture, data pipelines, and back-end data structures  
• Ensure visualizations and reports communicate insights clearly to varied audiences, from program staff to senior leadership and board members

The Profile

The ideal candidate is a positive, detail-oriented, and proactive team player, thoroughly committed to Achieve Atlanta's vision, mission, and core values. They are technically strong, an effective communicator, and deeply motivated by using data to improve outcomes for students.

Education, Experience & Knowledge 

• Bachelor's degree in a related field; advanced degree preferred 
• Minimum of five years of professional work experience in a related technical and/or data-related field with a strong track record 
• Demonstrated experience as both a technical practitioner and a data translator; able to build rigorous analyses and clearly communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders 
• Experience using data visualization tools, Tableau (required) 
• Familiarity with dashboard back-end structures and data pipelines; ability to partner effectively with data analysts on architecture and data requests 
• Experience in the college access, college success, or broader education equity field preferred 

Skills & Abilities 

Project Management and Execution

• Demonstrates proficient time management skills and strong project management skills, capable of prioritizing tasks effectively to meet deadlines and deliverables 
• Proactively recognizes important trends that can impact processes and program work 
• Service Orientation and Relationship Management: 
• Builds and sustains effective long-term relationships, fostering a collaborative working environment with stakeholders and colleagues 
• Focuses on doing what is right for stakeholders and colleagues 
• Demonstrates a natural ability to maintain a service-oriented mindset and advocate for students 

Communication

• Exhibits excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to effectively convey complex information to various stakeholders 
• Demonstrates an empathetic nature, acknowledging and honoring all people’s humanity 
• Approaches working and learning with humility 

Adaptability and Autonomy

• Works effectively in an environment requiring new perspectives and creative technical and non-technical approaches with multiple competing deadlines 
• Shows comfort with ambiguity and the ability to complete tasks with minimal oversight 
• Adapts to changing priorities and requirements in a dynamic work environment, demonstrating resilience and flexibility to support growth with a roll-up your sleeves mentality 

Analytical and Problem-Solving

• Applies exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, using knowledge and experience in decision-making to arrive at creative solutions 
• Displays exceptional attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and reliability in data analysis and reporting 

Technical

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and intermediate skills in either Stata or R (Stata preferred) 
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite 
• Strong proficiency in Tableau, including the ability to advise on and QA dashboard design 
• Working knowledge of data warehouse structures, SQL, or equivalent back-end data tools is a plus

Organizational Competencies 

• Mission and Values Driven: Understands how job contributes to the greater mission of AATL; operates within the core values; supports and performs responsibilities with Mission and Vision in mind. 

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates awareness of one’s own and others’ emotions, attitudes, biases, belief systems, strengths, and limitations to adjust behavior and thus manage interactions successfully and create a psychologically safe workplace.  

• Strategic Approach: Understands and processes complex information for use in long-term planning and execution. 

• Partnership: Works collaboratively across internal and external boundaries to build relationships and achieve common goals.

• Growth and Development: Actively seeks to improve skills and knowledge to meet the organization’s vision and commitments, to fulfill current job responsibilities and prepare for future career goals and opportunities.

• Leading: Takes personal accountability for the organization’s success. 

Organizational Culture 

Achieve Atlanta is a value-driven organization, grounded in principles that guide everything we do.

• Unwavering Belief: A steadfast confidence in our students is the inspiration and fuel for everything we do.  Their dreams are the foundation for our work.
• Champion for Students: We back our belief in students by acknowledging historical inequities, breaking down systemic barriers, earning students’ trust, and building their agency to become their own champions.
• Expectation of Excellence: We foster a culture of excellence through consistent effort, tenacity, and integrity, resulting in work we can stand behind. It is the standard we set for ourselves and the example we model for our students and community.
• Intentional Collaboration: We cannot achieve our vision alone. We deliberately work together internally and build strategic partnerships externally to identify and accomplish shared goals in changing environments.
• Continuous Improvement: We are constantly learning, remaining curious, and reflecting on our systems, processes, and outcomes to meet our mission.  We encourage critical analysis of our work to make thoughtful adjustments, innovate, and take risks to create solutions.

Salary and Benefits

To be determined based upon experience and qualifications within the anticipated salary range of $79,000 - $98,000.

This position is exempt and eligible for the Achieve Atlanta’s competitive health and benefits package, including:

• Flexible Paid Time Off:
  • Take the time you need, when you need it—our trust-based PTO policy empowers you to balance work and life without strict accrual limits.
• Benefits:
  • Benefits effective on your first day—no waiting period
  • 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee-only plans
  • 100% employer-paid life insurance and AD&D
  • 100% employer-paid short-term disability and long-term disability
  • Wellness and Work from Home Reimbursement programs
  • Access to affordable plans for legal insurance, critical illness, supplemental life, and more
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Retirement:
  • Immediate eligibility to contribute to a 403(b)-retirement plan
  • After one year of employment, Achieve Atlanta provides an employer-paid contribution to your 403(b), regardless of team member contributions
• Professional Development: 
  • Individual Development Plans (IDPs) tailored to each team member, including access to trainings, resources, and growth opportunities
  • Annual stipends for conferences and individual professional development

Location 

Achieve Atlanta currently operates a hybrid model for all staff. Team members work in the office at our downtown Atlanta location for at least two days each week to allow for collaboration and in-person connections. Team members have the flexibility to work the remaining three days from the office, home, or another location. 

Achieve Atlanta is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of qualifications. Achieve Atlanta policy prohibits unlawful discrimination in any employment decision based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religious creed, color, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age, sexual orientation or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law or ordinance or regulation.