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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Word Program Analyst

💰 $ - $

Program AnalystData AnalystProgram Management

🎯 Role Definition

The Word Program Analyst is a mid-level program and data analyst who partners with program managers, operations teams, and stakeholders to design, measure, and optimize program delivery. This role blends program management, quantitative analysis, compliance oversight, and stakeholder engagement to drive continuous improvement, ensure grant and regulatory compliance, and produce actionable insights through reporting and visualization tools. Ideal candidates are comfortable working with program data (SQL, Excel, Power BI/Tableau), translating business questions into analyses, and presenting clear recommendations to leadership.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Program Coordinator / Program Assistant responsible for daily program operations and basic reporting.
  • Data Analyst or Reporting Analyst with exposure to program metrics and stakeholder-facing reports.
  • Grants or Compliance Specialist who supports monitoring, audit preparation, and documentation.

Advancement To:

  • Senior Program Analyst / Senior Data Analyst leading cross-functional program evaluations and dashboards.
  • Program Manager overseeing multiple programs or a broader portfolio.
  • Program Evaluation Manager or Director of Program Performance responsible for strategy and KPIs.

Lateral Moves:

  • Business Intelligence Analyst (focus on visualization and data engineering)
  • Grants Management Specialist (focus on funding compliance and administration)
  • Policy Analyst (focus on program policy, regulation, and impact analysis)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Serve as the primary analyst for assigned programs by designing, maintaining, and delivering recurring dashboards and ad-hoc analyses that track performance against KPIs, SLAs, and funding milestones to inform operational decisions.
  • Translate program questions and stakeholder requests into measurable analytic plans, defining datasets, metrics, assumptions, and acceptance criteria to ensure consistent and reproducible analyses.
  • Extract, clean, and transform program data from multiple sources (databases, CSVs, APIs, case-management systems) using SQL, Excel Power Query, Python, or R to produce high-quality analytical datasets for reporting and modeling.
  • Develop interactive visualizations and executive reports in Power BI, Tableau, or similar BI tools that surface trends, outliers, and performance drivers for program leadership and funding agencies.
  • Conduct rigorous program evaluations using both quantitative and qualitative methods — including cohort analysis, pre/post comparisons, regression analysis, and survey analysis — to measure program effectiveness and outcomes.
  • Monitor grants and contract compliance by reviewing deliverables, expenditure reports, and performance against grant-funded objectives; prepare documentation and evidence for audits and funder reviews.
  • Build and maintain program logic models, theory of change artifacts, and performance frameworks that align program activities with intended outcomes and measurable indicators.
  • Collaborate with program operations and IT to support system implementations and data migrations, defining data mapping, acceptance tests, and user acceptance testing (UAT) scripts to ensure integrity of migrated program data.
  • Prepare clear, concise written summaries and slide decks that translate complex analytics into actionable recommendations and next steps for non-technical audiences, executives, and external partners.
  • Facilitate cross-functional meetings and working sessions with program leads, finance, compliance, and external stakeholders to reconcile data differences, prioritize analytic requests, and operationalize improvement plans.
  • Create and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), metrics dictionaries, and data governance documentation that promote consistency and reproducibility across program analyses.
  • Conduct cost analyses and budget monitoring by forecasting program expenditures, calculating unit costs and cost-per-outcome, identifying fiscal risks, and recommending corrective actions to program managers.
  • Design and implement quality assurance checks and automated validation routines (data validation rules, row counts, reconciliation scripts) to detect data anomalies and prevent reporting errors.
  • Lead root-cause analyses and process improvement initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma concepts) to identify operational bottlenecks, reduce cycle times, and increase program throughput or participant outcomes.
  • Support the development and tracking of performance-based contracts and vendor deliverables, reviewing vendor data, reconciling performance claims, and escalating non-compliance to procurement or legal teams.
  • Manage a prioritized queue of analytic and reporting requests using Agile or project-management practices; estimate effort, set timelines, and communicate status to stakeholders on a regular cadence.
  • Provide training and coaching to program staff on basic data literacy, use of dashboards, and interpretation of metrics to build internal analytic capacity and improve data-driven decision making.
  • Respond to state, federal, or funder data requests by compiling required reports, ensuring data privacy and redaction where necessary, and submitting within required timelines.
  • Conduct risk assessments and monitor key control metrics to ensure program activities adhere to internal policies, regulatory requirements, and funder conditions; recommend mitigations where risks are identified.
  • Stay current on industry best practices and benchmarks by researching comparable programs, participating in professional networks, and surfacing innovative KPIs and analysis techniques for leadership consideration.
  • Coordinate and support external evaluations and third-party research by providing data extracts, documentation, and subject-matter expertise to evaluators and academic partners.
  • Implement participant-level attribution and outcome tracking strategies to enable longitudinal impact analysis and automated reporting of short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes.
  • Drive continuous improvement in reporting cadence and structure by soliciting stakeholder feedback, iterating on dashboard design, and consolidating redundant reporting to increase clarity and reduce report fatigue.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist with project management tasks such as maintaining project plans, updating trackers, and coordinating cross-team deliverables.
  • Participate in stakeholder interviews and user research to refine reporting requirements and improve end-user experience.
  • Help maintain master data lists and reference tables that support consistent program reporting across systems.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • SQL: Proficient in writing complex queries, window functions, joins, CTEs, and performance-aware SQL for data extraction and transformation.
  • Microsoft Excel (advanced): PivotTables, Power Query, advanced formulas, and data modeling for quick analysis and prototyping.
  • Business Intelligence: Experience building and maintaining dashboards in Power BI, Tableau, or Looker with best practices for UX and performance.
  • Programming for analysis: Familiarity with Python (pandas) or R for data manipulation, statistical analysis, and automation of repetitive tasks.
  • Statistical Analysis & Evaluation: Ability to apply cohort analysis, regression models, A/B analysis, and confidence-interval-based reporting to evaluate outcomes.
  • Data Modeling & ETL Concepts: Understanding of data warehousing concepts, ETL/ELT pipelines, data quality checks, and schema design.
  • Reporting & Visualization: Skilled at producing executive summaries, slide decks, and story-driven visualizations that clearly communicate insights and recommendations.
  • Grants, Contracts & Compliance: Knowledge of grant reporting cycles, allowable costs, contract deliverables, and audit documentation processes.
  • Project Management Tools: Experience using JIRA, MS Project, Asana, or similar tools to manage analytic backlogs and project timelines.
  • Database & Cloud: Familiarity with relational databases (SQL Server, Postgres) and cloud analytics environments (Snowflake, BigQuery, Azure) is a plus.
  • Data Governance & Privacy: Understanding of data classification, PII handling, and privacy best practices when preparing external reports.
  • Automation & Scripting: Experience automating repeatable reports and validation checks using scripting or workflow tools (Python, VBA, Airflow, Power Automate).

Soft Skills

  • Strong written and verbal communication — able to explain technical findings clearly to non-technical stakeholders and executives.
  • Stakeholder management — proven ability to build trust with program teams, funders, and vendors and manage expectations.
  • Analytical problem solving — methodical, hypothesis-driven approach to root cause analysis and data interpretation.
  • Attention to detail — meticulous about data quality, validation, and documentation to reduce reporting risk.
  • Time management and prioritization — comfortable balancing competing requests and delivering on tight timelines.
  • Collaboration and facilitation — leads productive cross-functional workshops and aligns diverse teams around shared metrics.
  • Adaptability and learning orientation — quickly masters new tools, data sources, and analytic techniques as needs evolve.
  • Presentation and storytelling — synthesizes complex analyses into persuasive recommendations and action plans.
  • Ethical judgment — exercises sound judgment on data privacy, appropriate use of data, and ethical reporting.
  • Coaching and knowledge transfer — ability to upskill program staff and create training materials that increase adoption.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative, policy, or business field such as Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, Data Science, Business Administration, or a related discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Public Policy, Applied Statistics, Data Science, Business Analytics, or an MBA with emphasis on analytics or program evaluation.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Economics
  • Statistics / Applied Mathematics
  • Public Policy / Public Administration
  • Data Science / Analytics
  • Business Administration / Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–7 years of progressive experience in program analysis, monitoring & evaluation, data analytics, or related roles supporting operational programs.

Preferred:

  • Experience working in government, non-profit programs, healthcare, workforce development, or grant-funded environments.
  • Demonstrated track record of managing complex data projects, producing executive-level reporting, and supporting audits or external evaluations.
  • Prior exposure to case-management systems or enterprise program platforms and experience with cloud analytics or BI platform administration.
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