Freelance Data Analyst R Programming Jobs in Salt Lake City, UT

This position is part of the BYU-Pathway Institutional Research (IR) team, which makes data visible and actionable for organizational decision-makers and implementation teams. BYU-Pathway operates with more of a start-up feel than is common in higher education research, creating significant opportunity for innovation and analytical impact. Leadership relies on IR to explain initiative performance, monitor key performance indicators, conduct applied research, and forecast future institutional outcomes.
This position is centered on transforming institutional data and research into trusted analytic products, clear findings, and actionable guidance. The incumbent will build and maintain reporting products, execute research projects, steward complex analytic methods, support shared reporting standards, and coordinate with internal and partner-organization stakeholders. Success requires strong technical capability, disciplined research practice, sound judgment, and the ability to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences.

Work Schedule: This is a full-time benefitted position located within commuting distance of BYU-Pathway headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City. The position is hybrid-remote, currently requiring 1-3 days per week in the office, and the incumbent must physically reside and perform assigned work in Utah. Occasional travel will be necessary.

Education
Bachelor's degree in statistics, data science, computer science, economics, mathematics, educational assessment, social science research, or another quantitative field. Master's degree preferred.

Experience
Experience in business intelligence, data analytics, reporting, or institutional research. Experience integrating data from multiple systems and supporting organizational decision-making is preferred.

Required Skills
    Power BI (reports, data models, Dataflows, Power Query, DAX)
    Proficiency in SQL for extracting, validating, and shaping data for analysis and reporting
    Data integration and data quality validation procedures
    Understanding of data lifecycle and reporting architecture
    Strong research design skills, including translating stakeholder needs into measurable questions, defining outcomes, selecting methods, and documenting assumptions and limitations
    Statistical analysis[DW4.1] and quantitative reasoning (descriptive and inferential) 
    Data visualization skills (technical and soft skills) which integrates analytics, design, and storytelling
    Strong written and verbal communication
 

Preferred Skills[DW5.1]
    Survey design, administration, and reporting (particularly in Qualtrics).
    Semantic models and data modeling
    R programming experience
    Experience in designing and synthesizing qualitative research (e.g., interviews, focus groups, and mixed-methods synthesis).
    Experience in higher education or institutional research
    Experience with learning analytics and assessment
 

• Develop and maintain PowerBI dashboards, reports, semantic models, and dataflows.
• Integrate data from multiple institutional systems to create reliable trend analyses, especially directed at the management and reporting of core institutional forecasting operations
• Develop and manage recurring surveys and associated reporting processes using approved data collection instruments[DW1.1][KG1.2] and channels (e.g. Qualtrics)
• Automate reporting workflows, including appropriate use of AI-assisted tools where they improve efficiency and quality.
• Promote and maintain data life-cycle documentation by helping define business terminology, metadata standards, and data lineage to strengthen institutional data context and discoverability

• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand business questions and analytical needs.
• Gather, prepare, and analyze institutional data to support applied research and organizational decision-making.
• Apply statistical and analytical techniques to identify trends, relationships, and opportunities.
• Conduct research using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods appropriate to the project, making use of current best practices.
• Regularly summarize findings for BYU-Pathway stakeholder and executive leadership through reports, dashboards, presentations, and visualizations

•  Respond to ad hoc data requests and perform deep-dive analyses.
•  Partner with request and project stakeholders to define requirements, clarify analytic assumptions, and promote consistent interpretation of impact and metrics.
• Working with IR team and Pathway leadership, prioritize and manage project lifecycles and outcomes according to stakeholder expectations and delivery deadlines.

• Maintain and update shared standards and practices used in reporting, analytics, and related operational workflows
• Ensure reporting designs and data collections align with church, CES and BYU-Pathway data governance protocols and requirements
• Identify inconsistencies in data or reporting procedures and recommend improvements

• Collaborate with partner organizations on shared reporting and analytics initiatives
• Support effective adoption of reporting solutions through clear documentation, user guidance, and stakeholder training
• Represent the IR team or BYU-Pathway in Church, CES or related higher education meetings and presentations