Data & Analytics Specialist - College of Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University is a private, global research university that stands among the world’s most renowned education institutions. With ground-breaking brain science, path-breaking performances, creative start-ups, big data, big ambitions, hands-on learning, and a whole lot of robots, CMU doesn’t imagine the future, we invent it. If you’re passionate about joining a community that challenges the curious to deliver work that matters, your journey starts here!

Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) is Carnegie Mellon University's global location in Africa, based in Kigali, Rwanda. Established in 2011, CMU-Africa is advancing engineering, technology, research, and innovation across the continent through world-class graduate education, applied research, and strategic partnerships. With students from more than 25 African countries and a growing portfolio of sponsored programs, research initiatives, and talent development activities, CMU- Africa is helping develop the next generation of technology leaders while contributing to Africa's digital transformation.

CMU-Africa is seeking an experienced and highly analytical Data and Analytics Specialist to strengthen the institution's data capabilities and support evidence- based decision-making across its educational, research, and sponsored programs. This role will play a critical part in developing and maintaining the data systems, reporting infrastructure, analytics capabilities, and business intelligence tools that enable CMU-Africa and its partner institutions to effectively monitor performance, track outcomes, identify trends, and make informed decisions.

Working closely with institutional leadership, program teams, partner institutions, and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist, the successful candidate will transform complex datasets into meaningful insights that support institutional effectiveness, program performance, accountability, and strategic planning. This position offers a unique opportunity to help shape data and analytics practices across a growing network of leading African universities and innovation ecosystems.

Responsibilities: Data Architecture and Systems: Partner with CMU’s Institutional Research and Analysis teams to support the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of data architectures, systems, and workflows that enable effective collection, storage, integration, analysis, and reporting of institutional and program data. Develop and maintain scalable data pipelines, databases, reporting processes, and analytical environments that consolidate data from multiple programs, partners, and platforms.

Promote data governance standards, data quality protocols, documentation practices, and interoperability across systems and institutions. Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reliability, and scalability through automation, process improvement, and technology adoption. Develop and maintain data dictionaries, metadata standards, and technical documentation. Data Management and Quality Assurance: Oversee processes for data validation, cleaning, transformation, and quality assurance across multiple data sources.

Monitor data completeness, consistency, and accuracy, and work with stakeholders to resolve data quality issues. Establish and maintain processes that ensure data integrity, security, confidentiality, and compliance with institutional policies and applicable regulations. Support the development and implementation of standardized data collection and reporting practices across programs and partner institutions.

Analytics and Insight Generation: Conduct quantitative analyses to identify trends, patterns, opportunities, risks, and performance drivers across programs and institutional activities. Develop analytical products that support operational effectiveness, strategic planning, and organizational decision-making. Produce technical analyses, data briefs, and analytical reports that communicate findings in a cle