Business Intelligence Analyst (26-27)

Description

Business Intelligence Analyst

Mission:

The Business Intelligence Analyst designs, builds, and maintains high-quality dashboards and reports that enable data-driven decision-making across IDEA’s schools and departments. Reporting to the Director of Business Intelligence, this role executes BI development work within established enterprise standards, leveraging certified semantic definitions and governed datasets to deliver reliable, performant, and user-friendly insights. The analyst partners closely with stakeholders, Analytics Engineering, and domain teams to translate business questions into actionable visualizations that support student outcomes and operational excellence.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

None

Location:

This is a full-time position based in Texas, with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.

Travel Expectations:

10-15% travel to IDEA locations, regional offices, and team meetings, especially during critical dashboard launches and training initiatives.

What You’ll Do – Accountabilities

Essential Duties:

• Build and maintain Power BI dashboards in alignment with enterprise BI standards for data modeling, DAX, visualization design, performance optimization, and security.

• Partner with stakeholders to gather requirements, clarify analytical needs, and translate business questions into well-defined dashboard specifications.
• Execute the full dashboard lifecycle, including development, testing, deployment, documentation, and ongoing maintenance.
• Conduct rigorous quality assurance, including data validation, performance testing, and user acceptance testing prior to release.
• Document dashboards with clear metric descriptions, data sources, assumptions, and user guidance to support adoption and appropriate use.
• Iterate on dashboards based on user feedback, usage data, and evolving business needs, in coordination with BI leadership.
• Implement certified enterprise metric definitions from the approved semantic layer into Power BI datasets, ensuring consistency across reports and domains.
  
  

Additional Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design efficient Power BI data models using approved modeling patterns (e.g., star schemas) that balance performance, scalability, and usability.
• Develop, test, and optimize DAX measures and calculations to deliver accurate and performant analytics.
• Collaborate with Analytics Engineering to validate upstream data transformations, investigate anomalies, and troubleshoot data quality issues.
• Participate in metric review and certification processes by validating implementation accuracy and surfacing discrepancies or edge cases for resolution.
• Adhere to established semantic layer and modeling standards, escalating proposed changes or issues to BI leadership for review and approval.
• Serve as the primary delivery-level BI contact for assigned departments or states, building trusted working relationships with business users.
• Facilitate requirements-gathering sessions and design walkthroughs to ensure dashboards address true decision-making needs, not just surface requests.
• Translate analytical findings into clear, accessible narratives and visualizations for non-technical audiences.
• Provide training and ongoing support to dashboard consumers and power users, reinforcing self-service analytics within enterprise guardrails.
• Communicate timelines, dependencies, and tradeoffs transparently, managing stakeholder expectations in alignment with BI priorities and capacity.
• Contribute to the Power BI Center of Excellence by sharing knowledge, participating in peer reviews, and reinforcing established best practices.
• Monitor dashboard usage, performance, and reliability to identify optimization opportunities and candidates for enhancement or retirement.
• Participate in the BI community of practice, staying current on Power BI features and continuously developing technical and analytical skills.
• Develop reusable templates, examples, and documentation to support federated BI development by domain teams
• Identify opportunities to improve BI workflows, standards, and tooling, surfacing recommendations to BI leadership.
  
  

Knowledge and Skills – Competencies

• Make Strategic Decisions: This team member uses data, feedback, and insights to inform thoughtful decision-making, while considering the impact on their direct reports and team. They communicate decisions with clear rationale and begin to connect their choices to broader team objectives.

• Manage Work and Teams: This team member ensures their direct reports have clear, measurable goals with defined benchmarks and success criteria. They actively monitor progress, intervening as needed to keep work on track, while balancing leadership responsibilities with their own individual contributions through effective scheduling.

• Grow Self and Others: This team member regularly offers affirming and adjusting feedback, maintaining a positive balance that reinforces growth and motivation. They provide transparent, candid performance insights and offer consistent coaching and development aligned with individual goals, supporting both direct reports and cross-functional partners.

• Build a Culture of Trust: This team member fosters a team culture where individuals genuinely care for one another both personally and professionally. They lead with transparency, encourage open communication, including healthy conflict—and promote reliability and consistency, while regularly seeking and responding to team feedback to enhance the collective experience.

• Communicate Deliberately: This team member leads inclusive discussions that surface obstacles and drive actionable solutions, ensuring all voices are heard. They communicate key information clearly across multiple channels and establish feedback loops that promote open dialogue, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Additional Skills:

• Proficiency in Power BI, including building datasets, writing DAX measures, and designing clear, performant dashboards.
• Working knowledge of SQL to validate data, investigate discrepancies, and understand upstream transformations.
• Understanding of dimensional data modeling concepts and how they impact reporting and performance.
• Attention to data quality, documentation, and adherence to established BI standards and certified metrics.
• Ability to communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders and translate analytical needs into dashboards.
• Comfort working in a governed, federated BI environment with defined standards and review processes.

Required experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Analytics, Statistics, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, Economics, or a related field.
• Equivalent combinations of education and relevant experience will be considered.
• 3–5 years of professional experience in business intelligence, analytics, or reporting-focused roles.
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining dashboards in Power BI or comparable BI tools.
• Demonstrated experience writing and validating SQL queries to support reporting and data analysis.
• Experience working in an environment with defined data standards, governance processes, or centralized reporting models.
• Proven ability to manage multiple dashboard deliverables concurrently while meeting quality and timeline expectations.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Data Analytics, Business Analytics, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Experience supporting BI or analytics in a large, complex, or multi-region organization.
• Familiarity with Agile or sprint-based development methodologies for analytics or BI work.
• Prior experience working within a BI Center of Excellence or federated analytics model.
• Exposure to education, public sector, or mission-driven organizational data (K–12 preferred).
• Microsoft PL-300 (Power BI Data Analyst) or equivalent BI certification.
• Additional analytics, data visualization, or cloud-related certifications are a plus.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods working on a computer and in virtual meetings
• Ability to travel domestically via car and air travel
• Flexibility for occasional evening meetings to accommodate distributed stakeholders and sprint demos

What We Offer:

Compensation & Benefits:

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $74,700 and $87,100, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.

Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at

* IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

Application process:

Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Learn more about IDEA

At IDEA the Staff Experience Team uses our CoreValues to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: