Senior Analytics Engineer

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Academic Intervention, Algorithms, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Analysis Skills, Application Programming Interface (API), Architectural Services, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation, Cloud Computing, Communication Skills, Computer Science, Continuous Deployment/Delivery, Continuous Integration, Cross-Functional, Data Analysis, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Processing, Data Quality, Data Science, Data Sets, Data Visualization, Data Warehousing, DevOps, Documentation, Early Intervention, Educational Administration, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Embedded Systems, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), GCP (Good Clinical Practices), Git, GitHub, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), Health Education, Health Informatics, Health Science, Healthcare, Identify Issues, Informatics, Instructional Design, Interoperability, Machine Learning, Medicine, Metadata, Metrics, Microservices, Microsoft Windows Azure, Needs Assessment, NoSQL, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Ontology, Power BI, Predictive Modeling, Presentation/Verbal Skills, Problem Solving Skills, Process Improvement, Python Programming/Scripting Language, Quality of Care, REST (Representational State Transfer), Reporting Dashboards, SQL (Structured Query Language), Software Design, Software Development, Source Code/Configuration Management (SCM), Student Financial Services, Tableau, Team Player, Technical/Engineering Design, Time Management, Training Data Sets, Training Tools, Unstructured Data, Writing Skills
LOCATION
Nashville, TN
POSTED
30+ days ago

Position Summary:

The Education Design and Informatics (EDI) team within the Office of Health Sciences Education at

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) is seeking an experienced Analytics Engineer with

an inquisitive and analytical mindset to join our team.

The Analytics Engineer designs and maintains curated datasets and data models that support

educational analytics, dashboards, and AI-enabled learning tools and predictive analytics across

VUSM. The role involves building reproducible, version-controlled data transformation workflows

that convert raw educational data into analysis-ready structures while ensuring data quality,

governance, and transparency. A key responsibility is creating and maintaining Power BI dashboards

and visualizations for educational leaders, administrators, and faculty that align with

institutional competency frameworks and strategic goals. The Analytics Engineer collaborates with

AI engineers, software developers, and cross-institutional stakeholders to enable predictive

modeling, experimentation datasets, and learner-facing insights embedded in digital learning

workflows. This position contributes to Vanderbilt's broader precision education and AI-enabled

learning strategy by translating educational questions into measurable data indicators and staying

current with evolving data governance and analytics practices.

This role offers opportunities to contribute to nationally recognized research in precision

education and to develop expertise at the intersection of data engineering, artificial

intelligence, and medical education within one of the nation's leading academic medical centers.

This position reports administratively and functionally to the Director of Education Design and

Informatics.

About the Work Unit:

The Office of Health Sciences Education (OHSE) administers the degree programs of the Vanderbilt

University School of Medicine (VUSM) and supports its mission to catalyze impactful discovery,

servant leadership, and lifelong learning. OHSE staff provide comprehensive support across academic

program administration, educational design and informatics, student services, and financial and

operational oversight.

In alignment with VUSM's commitment to excellence, OHSE works to prepare future leaders in the

health professions who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and judgment needed to deliver

safe, effective, ethical, and patient-centered care. Our students are encouraged to think

critically, foster innovation, and understand the broader systems and social factors that shape

health outcomes-empowering them to advocate for positive change in both local and global

communities.

The Education Design and Informatics (EDI) team serves as the technology, data, and analytics arm

of OHSE, building and maintaining the digital infrastructure, learning platforms, dashboards, and

AI-enabled tools that support the educational mission. The Analytics Engineer joins a

multidisciplinary EDI team that includes software developers, instructional designers, an applied

AI engineer, and data specialists. Vanderbilt's institutional strengths - including a top-tier

health system, deep research infrastructure, enterprise Databricks and Epic EHR environments, and a

strong commitment to innovation in medical education - provide a uniquely rich

foundation for this work.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

Update and optimize VUSM's cloud-based data architecture to support ongoing scalability, efficiency, and security standards

Build and maintain processes that support data transformation, workload management, data

structures, dependency and metadata

Support monitoring and alerting processes to ensure uptime of infrastructure

Identify, design, and implement internal process improvements such as automating manual

processes and optimizing data delivery

Manage and communicate data visualization plans to internal team and stakeholders

Collaborate with Development team on architectural decisions

Perform data analysis required to troubleshoot data related issues and assist in the

resolution of data issues.

Design and maintain curated datasets that support educational analytics, dashboards, and AI

feature development

Develop and improve canonical tables and views representing learners, competencies, curricular

experiences, assessments, progression metrics, and other medical education concepts

Align data models with standard medical education frameworks and ontologies (e.g., AAMC

competency frameworks, EPA/milestone mappings) to ensure interoperability and

domain relevance

Maintain comprehensive documentation of key data views and catalog table definitions within

Databricks to ensure data transparency, governance, and accessibility across teams.

Build transformation workflows that convert raw data into analysis-ready structures

Implement version-controlled data transformations using tools such as dbt, SQL-based pipelines

and Databricks workflows

Ensure datasets are reproducible, documented, and auditable

Monitor data quality, completeness, and consistency across sources

Build and maintain Power BI dashboards and reporting views used by educational leadership,

program administrators, and faculty

Collaborate with stakeholders to understand analytic needs and to define meaningful

visualizations and metrics

Ensure that dashboards align with institutional competency frameworks and educational goals

Iteratively refine dashboards and reporting views based on end-user feedback, evolving

programmatic needs, and emerging data sources

Work with the Applied AI Engineer to create feature-ready datasets supporting predictive

models and AI applications

Collaborate with stakeholders in VUIT, VUSM, and VUMC IT to facilitate secure cross-

institutional exchange of educational datasets

Collaborate with software developers to expose analytics datasets to VSTAR and related

applications

Support development of learner-facing insights and faculty analytics embedded in digital

learning workflows

Design and implement intervention signals and early warning indicators to support timely

learner support

Help design experimentation datasets for evaluating educational interventions and AI tools

Contribute to evaluation frameworks that assess the effectiveness and impact of AI- enabled

educational tools and interventions

Translate educational questions into data models and measurable indicators

Contribute to Vanderbilt's broader strategy for precision education, learning analytics, and

AI-enabled education

Maintain clear documentation of data models, transformations, and metrics

Stay current with evolving approaches to educational analytics, data modeling, and data

governance

Support grant-related activities including preparation of pilot data, data architecture

documentation for proposals, and reporting on funded projects

Supervisory Relationships:

This position does not have supervisory responsibility and reports administratively and

functionally to the Associate Director, Education Design and Informatics

Education and Certifications:

Bachelor's degree or above in Computer Science, Data Science, Informatics, Information

Systems, Health Informatics, or related technical field OR a comparable combination of on-the-job

experience and technical training is necessary.

Experience and Skills:

5 years of experience with data engineering, analytical data modeling, data transformations,

or analytics engineering is necessary.

5 years of experience working in education, healthcare, or another complex regulated

environment is preferred.

5 years of experience with Python, including object-oriented programming, is highly preferred.

Advanced SQL skills and experience designing complex queries and transformations is highly

preferred

Demonstrated skills with NoSQL databases (e.g., for unstructured assessment data or document

stores) is preferred

Demonstrated experience working with cloud-based data platforms or modern data warehouses

(Azure, AWS, GCP, Databricks, Snowflake) is highly preferred

Excellent oral and written communication skills with a keen sense of stakeholder engagement is

highly preferred

Ability to translate stakeholder questions into structured datasets and metrics is highly

preferred

Experience supporting and working with cross-functional teams in a dynamic, collaborative

environment is highly preferred

Demonstrated ability to work with non-technical domain experts and navigate complex

organizational structures is preferred

Experience supporting machine learning or feature engineering workflows is highly preferred

Experience with designing data models for dashboards and reporting through dimensional

modeling techniques is highly preferred

Experience building or supporting dashboards in tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar

platforms is preferred

Experience with continuous integration/continuous delivery automation and version control

(Git) in Bitbucket, GitLab, GitHub, or Azure DevOps is preferred

Experience with REST data services, APIs, and microservices is preferred

Experience working with regulated or sensitive datasets (FERPA, HIPAA-adjacent environments)

is preferred

Familiarity with competency-based education or learner progression frameworks is preferred

Familiarity with ethical considerations in educational data use, algorithmic fairness, or

responsible AI practices is preferred

At Vanderbilt University , our work - regardless of title or role - is in service to an important and noble mission in which every member of our community serves in advancing knowledge and transforming lives on a daily basis. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, on a 330+ acre campus and arboretum dating back to 1873, Vanderbilt is proud to have been named as one of "America's Best Large Employers" as well as a top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area by Forbes for several years running. We welcome those who are interested in learning and growing professionally with an employer that strives to create, foster and sustain opportunities as an employer of choice.

We understand you have a choice when choosing where to work and pursue a career. We understand you are unique and have a story. We want to hear it. We encourage you to apply today so that you might become a part of our story.

Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

About the Company

V

Vanderbilt University