Director, Strategic Analytics & Reporting

This position is based in Norman, Oklahoma with hybrid work options. Local candidates in the Norman/Oklahoma City metro area are preferred. 

OU Education Services (OUES) is a nonprofit corporation established to manage and expand online learning for the University of Oklahoma System. As a growing education technology organization, we partner with the University to design, market, enroll, and support innovative online programs that expand access to high-quality education and improve learner outcomes. 
 
At OUES, we believe the best decisions are informed by trusted data, thoughtful collaboration, and a relentless focus on student success. As our organization grows, analytics is becoming a strategic capability that influences every stage of the learner lifecycle and every major organizational decision. 

OU Education Services is entering a new stage of growth. As our portfolio expands and organizational complexity increases, leaders across every function depend on timely, trusted insight to guide decisions that shape learner success, operational effectiveness, and long-term strategy. 
 
Analytics is no longer simply about reporting what happened. It is about enabling better decisions by helping leaders understand why it happened, what is likely to happen next, and where the organization should focus its time, resources, and investment. 
 
The Director, Strategic Analytics & Reporting will establish and mature this enterprise capability. Working alongside executive leadership, this role will build and develop OUES' analytics function, beginning with direct leadership of the Business Analyst while establishing the governance, infrastructure, and organizational capabilities that enable data-informed decision making across OUES. 
 
Success will not be measured by the number of dashboards produced. It will be measured by better decisions, stronger organizational performance, improved operational efficiency, and better outcomes for the learners we serve. Success in this role depends as much on building trust in the organization's data as it does on building the analytics that use it. 
 
This is an opportunity to shape how OUES measures success, allocates resources, evaluates strategic opportunities, and uses data as a competitive advantage to advance the University's mission. 
 
Reporting is the foundation. 
Enterprise performance is the mission. 

• Develop and mature the enterprise analytics roadmap aligned with organizational priorities. 

• Establish enterprise KPI frameworks and a trusted source of truth for organizational performance. 

• Standardize enterprise metric definitions, reporting methodologies, and governance while serving as steward of organizational data definitions. 

• Develop deep fluency in university data structures, learner lifecycle data, academic and operational systems. 

• Partner with executive leadership to define meaningful measures of success for strategic initiatives. 

• Evaluate emerging technologies including AI-enabled analytics and predictive modeling. 

• Establish and mature the enterprise analytics function through governance, operating models, standards, and scalable processes. 

• Design executive dashboards, enterprise scorecards, and operational reporting solutions. 

• Build scalable reporting architecture using Power BI and related technologies. 

• Partner with Technology to design and evolve scalable data models, integration processes, and analytics infrastructure. 

• Partner with Technology and functional leaders to ensure analytics accurately reflect both technical architecture and business processes. 

• Automate reporting, expand self-service analytics, and improve reporting usability while maintaining strong governance. 

• Analyze performance across the complete learner lifecycle including marketing, enrollment, student success, retention, finance, and operations. 

• Develop predictive models supporting forecasting, capacity planning, and executive decision making. 

• Perform scenario modeling and strategic analyses. 

• Identify emerging risks and opportunities before they materially impact performance. 

• Measure ROI of strategic initiatives and technology investments. 

• Translate complex analyses into clear executive recommendations. 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive and functional leaders. 

• Present findings with integrity, even when insights challenge assumptions or require difficult conversations. 

• Support strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, and enterprise performance reviews. 

• Influence enterprise strategy by embedding analytics into planning, prioritization, and organizational performance discussions. 

• Build trusted relationships that position analytics as a strategic partner rather than simply a reporting function. 

• Evaluate AI-enabled analytics and emerging business intelligence technologies. 

• Identify opportunities to automate reporting and operational workflows. 

• Partner with Technology to strengthen analytics infrastructure. 

• Stay current on trends in higher education analytics, AI, and organizational performance measurement. 

• Build, lead, and scale a high-performing analytics function. 

• Lead, coach, and develop the Business Analyst. 

• Foster a collaborative culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement. 

• Assess and evolve the analytics function, capabilities, and organizational structure as OUES grows. 

• Strategic Thinking 

• Business Acumen 

• Executive Communication 

• Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Analytical Curiosity 

• Continuous Improvement 

• Change Leadership 

• Student-Centered Decision Making 

• People Development 

• Data Stewardship & Integrity 

• Enterprise KPI framework adopted across departments. 

• Increased executive reliance on analytics for strategic decisions. 

• Trusted single source of truth established. 

• Improved learner lifecycle visibility and forecasting accuracy. 

• Reduced manual reporting through automation. 

• Improved organizational trust in data through governance. 

• Bachelor's degree in Analytics, Data Science, Information Systems, Statistics, Finance, Business Administration, or related field. 

• 7+ years of progressive experience in analytics, business intelligence, strategic planning, or decision support. 

• Expertise with Power BI (or comparable BI platform), SQL, data modeling, and relational databases. 

• Experience developing enterprise KPI frameworks and executive reporting. 

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders through data-driven recommendations. 

• Experience leading, coaching, mentoring, or developing technical or analytical professionals. 

• Master's degree in a related discipline. 

• Experience in higher education, online education, or an OPM environment strongly preferred; experience in healthcare, SaaS, consulting, or another data-intensive industry will also be considered. 

• Experience leading analytics through organizational growth or transformation. 

• Experience with predictive analytics, machine learning, or AI-enabled BI. 

• Experience establishing or significantly maturing an enterprise analytics, BI, or data function.