Overview
The Data Specialist oversees the data needs of Strengthening Chicago's Youth (SCY), a violence prevention collaborative and catalyst for innovation convened by Lurie Children's, and its' partners. This position is responsible for collecting, analyzing and formatting relevant violence data, evidence-based violence prevention strategies, and other related information. The Data Specialist develops and disseminates related materials, including provision of relevant trainings and technical assistance to stakeholders. This position is responsible for developing and maintaining good working relationships with data experts within Lurie Children’s and at other institutions and organizations, fostering positive relationships with SCY partners, staff, and policy makers.
Responsibilities
- Gather current and trend information on relevant violence prevention data, evidence-based violence prevention strategies and policies, and other related information; analyze and format these into user-friendly fact sheets, slides, reports, and other publications and resources.
- Identify new ways to present data to further SCY's policy goals and to meet SCY partners' data needs; including managing data requests and providing technical assistance to internal and external stakeholders.
- Under the direction of the Executive Director, Associate Director, and Policy Manager, develop a strategy for broadening SCY's relevance in the violence data landscape, including the development of tools and resources to build internal and external capacity related to data usage.
- Assist SCY's leadership in preparing and tracking presentations, reports, and white papers, by providing statistics, research information, and technical expertise, including development of related materials and resources.
- Coordinate the annual survey process, developing protocols and questionnaires, leading the distribution of surveys and collection of responses, and analyzing the results.
- Implement other aspects of evaluation, including analysis of policymakers’ social media and Chicago media coverage related to violence prevention and SCY’s policy priorities.
- Other job functions as assigned.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred. A combination of education and/or experience may be considered in lieu of the degree when the experience is directly related to the functions of the job.
- Minimum of 2 years of data analytics, research, or other relevant experience required; health, public safey, or policy-related experience preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to work well with complex issues.
- Ability to communicate clearly with experts and general public about data and research.
- Commitment to social justice, evidence-based policy and practices, data-driven advocacy and community-driven processes.
- Strong analytical, interpersonal, and oral and written communication skills and demonstrated ability to collaborate with individuals from different backgrounds and disciplines.
- Strong working knowledge and skills in Microsoft Office software applications and database technologies; proficiency in mulitple data analytic technologies (e.g., SPSS, SAS, etc.) and mapping software (e.g., Mapitude, ArcGIS, etc.) preferred.
- Ability to take initiative and work independently.
- Organizational skills: Experience independently planning and managing projects; ability to establish priorities and react promptly to a large variety of requests and needs, sometimes on short notice.
- Willingness to travel to different locations, neighborhoods, and communities through Chicago (via public transportation or personal vehicle).
