Strategic Investment Analyst

THE ORGANIZATION 

Promise Partnership Utah is a cross-sector partnership that supports youth in their educational journey from cradle to career to ensure they can explore, dream, and take steps to realize their potential. Our approach involves being rooted in data and deeply collaborating with public and private sector partners to transform the education environment, so it produces more equitable outcomes and disparity gaps are eliminated. We operate on the deeply held belief that by working collectively we can have a greater impact on our youth than we could have alone. 

There is a dedicated team of individuals who support and convene Promise Partnership Utah, called the "backbone team." This team is housed at Utah's Promise, the support entity for the partnership. The Strategic Investment Analyst is part of this backbone team. 

Promise Partnership Utah’s backbone team, United Way of Salt Lake, and 211 Utah (Salt Lake City team) are part of the Utah’s Promise organization. Together, we are committed to 100% of kids and families thriving. Our workplace is fast-paced, friendly, adaptive, and grounded in our core values: relationships, continuous improvement, results, and equity. We offer competitive compensation including a comprehensive benefit package, generous paid time off, and flexible schedules. People with diverse backgrounds and abilities are encouraged to apply. 

POSITION SUMMARY 

The Promise Partnership Utah backbone team is seeking a relationship-oriented, dynamic, self-starter to join our team as a full-time Strategic Investment Analyst to advance sustainable and equitable funding for children and youth. In this role, you will help provide the necessary data and inputs to aid in coordinating and aligning people, data, and money around common goals for children and youth in Utah. This will require leveraging research, funding analysis and cost-modeling, relationship management, and project management skills. This role has an explicit focus on advancing sustainable and equitable funding for children and youth and will be responsible for helping to identify existing community investments in children and youth, cost modeling these investments, and identifying potential funding streams to help fill gaps.  

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS 

1. Guided by the Promise Partnership Utah established strategic plan, facilitate meetings and decision-making with community partners and local budget holders to make progress towards their strategic public finance goals 
2. Help communities across the state complete their own cost-modeling, investable plans, economic mobility reports, and fiscal mapping projects 
3. Build and maintain relationships with national, state, and local partners to stay up-to-date on strategic public finance best practices and lessons learned from across the country 
4. Position Promise Partnership Utah as a leader in strategic public finance for children and youth by joining a growing national network of strategic public finance experts who are building local capacity and expertise within their states and communities 
5. Lead the completion and maintenance of a state fiscal map, which will track, map, and analyze public and private funding in children and youth programs and services in Utah 
6. Estimate true costs of designing and implementing child and youth programming, with willingness to learn methods such as cost modeling and/or cost estimation 
7. Identify new and emerging funding sources in collaboration with local and national experts to help fill the gap between current investments in children and youth and the actual cost of achieving state/community goals 
8. Provide guidance and data to ballot initiative efforts at a local and state level including researching financing mechanisms, potential tax options, cost modeling tax increases, etc.  
9. Develop and execute a capacity-building plan at Promise Partnership Utah for growing local expertise in strategic finance planning 
10. Assist in maintaining efficient communication between Promise Partnership Utah and local government, school districts, community partners and advocacy organizations 

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES 

• Technical Skills. Ability to use and adapt to current technologies and make adjustments to adopt new technologies when necessary (and to expand knowledge within the technologies they know well).Technologies include but are not limited to: Salesforce, Power BI, Domo, Asana, Excel, and other statistical platforms (R, SQL, etc.). 
• Data Analysis Skills. Ability to make meaning out of data by creating relevant comparisons and completing data analysis to demonstrate the impact of programs and strategies on target populations.  
• Strategic Mindset. Ability to anticipate future needs/realities; to help stakeholders strategize around what data might help them move key work forward; and to draw connections across people, plans, and conversations. 
• Communication. Ability to write and speak with diverse stakeholders; to discuss complex data topics in ways that are appropriate to the audience; and to use qualitative and quantitative data to tell stories that inspire action.   
• Continuous Improvement. Confidence and humility to ask questions, admit and address challenges, “fail forward,” and learn and test continuous improvement tools and techniques. 
• Adaptability. Ability to operate with curiosity and confidence when things are uncertain or the way forward is unclear. Ability to deploy new skills and try new approaches as conditions change or opportunities emerge.  
• Project Management. Ability to define a project’s scope, resource requirements, dependencies, steps, and timelines and to manage against these, while also attuning to relationship management needs. 

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field, with two years of data and research experience, including analysis, reporting, and visualization.  
• Candidates with direct-service experience with youth and families, public policy, or budget analysis experience are strongly encouraged to apply. 
• Demonstrated experience collecting, tracking, and organizing information using Microsoft Word, Excel, or other software programs with attention to quality and detail in ensuring accuracy of information.   
• Demonstrated experience analyzing and using data to inform priorities and strategic decision-making.  
• Demonstrated experience effectively coordinating cross-sector collaboration by bringing diverse groups of stakeholders together and orienting them around the same goal. 
• Demonstrated experience managing projects to completion, including a strong ability to take initiative and lead bodies of work independently. 
• Exceptional interpersonal and facilitation skills. 
• Strong writing skills required. 

EXPERIENCE 

Required 

• Experience organizing data in relational databases and complex spreadsheets  
• Advanced Excel skills 
• Experience working with data visualization software(s) such as Tableau, Power BI, or Domo 
• Proven ability to visualize data in user-friendly ways required. 
• Cleaning and summarizing data 
• Tagging, coding, organizing, and visualizing data 
• Preferred 
• Salesforce experience 
• Survey design and other techniques for gathering stakeholder input 
• Experience designing, coding, and analyzing survey data. 
• Researching budgetary documents and related policy resources 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The employee regularly communicates with internal and external stakeholders and is required to communicate clearly, in oral and written formats and must be able to exchange accurate information. The employee must be able to transcribe, read extensively, prepare and analyze data and figures, operate a computer, and other standard office machinery. The employee is required to regularly travel to locations outside of Utah’s Promise facilities to set up and deliver presentations in person, in hybrid environments, and online. 

BENEFITS

The position is a full-time, exempt position with full benefits. $65,000-75,000. Salary commensurate with experience. UWSL/UP provides a wide range of benefits, including:   

• Competitive medical, dental, vision insurance • 6% retirement match   
• Life, accidental death, and long & short-term disability insurance • FSA • HSA contribution   
• Free on-site gym & bike storage • Paid parking or public transportation subsidy   
• Two weeks paid office closure (December & July) • Generous PTO & Health time  
• Paid parental leave • Onsite coffee shop & café • Paid time to volunteer 

How to apply: Please apply directly through our careers page via the link provided - https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Details/4114301/Utahs-Promise/Strategic-Investment-Analyst