Associate Data Systems Engineer (Data Systems Engineer I)

We believe, and research shows, that student and stakeholder feedback matters for school improvement and student success. That’s why, in 2008, we created YouthTruth – to help educators harness student and stakeholder feedback to accelerate improvements. We’ve heard from over two million students as well as hundreds of thousands of family and staff members across 39 states. When you join YouthTruth, you join a small and collaborative team that has a big impact on schools across the U.S. and the education sector.

As one of the go-to technical experts in the room, the Associate Data Systems Engineer will be instrumental in projects that improve the organization’s use of data, identify and drive efficiencies in our processes, and work closely with staff to maintain and upgrade our in-house online reporting system. To that end, the Associate Data Systems Engineer will build and develop cloud-based data pipelines and architecture while maintaining and improving back-end Python applications for this system, which are used to develop and deliver YouthTruth’s student survey reports to schools, districts, and networks nation-wide and the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP’s) assessment tools to foundation leaders.

This position is available in either our San Francisco, CA or Cambridge, MA office.

In this role, you will lead and execute a variety of tasks, including:

• Developing and maintaining (debugging, improving, testing, and deploying) Python scripts Ensuring smooth functioning of our development, quality assurance, and production environments Supporting the creation and rollout of our cloud-based data ingestion and translation architecture Building integrations applications and solving integrations issues Creating and executing unit test plans based on system and validation requirements Documenting changes in software for end users Maintaining and building upon our relational databases Serving as a thought partner with colleagues and internal stakeholders about the feasibility and time intensiveness of proposed projects

As an integral part of CEP’s tech team, your time will be spent on CEP’s technology infrastructure, touching both the YouthTruth and Assessment and Advisory Services teams’ projects.

The Ideal Candidate:

• You exhibit excellent judgment and have the ability to work with low direction to support your data and client analyst colleagues in a fast-paced environment while being thorough and results-oriented. You take pride in your work and employ the necessary steps to ensure the production of reliable and sustainable code. You have exceptional communication skills. You are collaborative and excited to work cross-functionally while building relationships and generating influence across the company. You bring an aptitude for continuous improvement within processes and disciplines, helping to evolve from the current state into leveraging new mindsets and approaches. You are tolerant of ambiguity and have the desire to create structures, evolve systems, and build new capabilities to better serve our customers.

Your Background, Experience, and Interests:                  

• Experience with the following languages: Python and SQL At least 2 years’ experience as a software developer, data analyst, engineer, or similar, in a full-time role. Experience using Python with datasets Experience with SQL language and tools to help build data transformation models Understanding of cloud architectures and their applications within a data-driven environment Integration among different applications through APIs

Experience with code management and review such as Github A degree (or related practical experience) in computer programming, or related field Knowledge and practice of common SDLC process methodologies (e.g., AGILE, SCRUM, Waterfall) to job function Experience with AWS, data modeling and implementation, and/or Ruby on Rails a plus but not necessary

Benefits:

Our nonprofit model is central to our identity: our bottom line is impact, not profit. Yet even as a nonprofit, we successfully compete for top talent across both the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits, including:

• A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The annual base salary for this position is $113,636 (Cambridge)/ $125,000 (SF). In addition, this role is eligible for a competitive Performance Based Incentive Compensation.
• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans.
• Generous paid time off plan, including up to 15 holidays, three weeks of accrued vacation, and two personal days per year.
• 401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation.
• Generous annual personal professional development allowance.
• Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans.
• Life insurance covered 100% by the organization.

We believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation, and we actively seek out candidates from many types of diverse backgrounds to apply for this exciting role.

About CEP:

For more than 20 years, CEP has led the movement to improve philanthropy through a powerful combination of dispassionate analysis and a passionate commitment to improving lives. Today, over 350 foundations have used CEP’s assessment tools to gather honest feedback from their stakeholders in an effort to learn how to be even more effective. CEOs and trustees have come to rely on our research for insights into foundation effectiveness on a wide range of topics, from assessing performance to developing strategy to managing stakeholder relationships. Our highly regarded programming—including our biennial conference—gives foundation leaders an exclusive and unprecedented opportunity to connect with their peers. YouthTruth harnesses student and stakeholder feedback to help school leaders, school system leaders, and funders accelerate improvements. Through our validated surveys and tailored advisory services, we help schools, districts, states, YouthTruth partners with schools, districts, and funders to enhance learning for all students. Since 2008, YouthTruth has surveyed over 2.6 million students and nearly 600,000 family and school staff members across 39 states. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect. CEP is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California.

Location:

We have offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. The YouthTruth team resides alongside staff in other departments at The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), YouthTruth’s parent nonprofit. This role can be based in either our Cambridge, MA or San Francisco, CA office.

We strive to balance in-person time with flexibility and the needs of each person, their team, and the larger organization. We believe culture, communication, trust, training, and certain kinds of creative work benefit from in-office interactions – and we believe that the flexibility of remote work also has many advantages. Moving forward we expect to ask staff to be in the office one to two days per week, and everyone will enjoy the option to work fully remotely from anywhere four weeks per year.

Our Process:

Our rolling process includes three interview rounds: an initial phone conversation, a skills assessment, and a team interview round. Our process also includes the checking of references in final stages. Check out CEP’s careers page to learn more about how we hire.

To Apply:

Please fill out our application for employment and attach a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position.

If you have any questions, please contact Leaha Wynn, Senior Manager, People and Culture; Diversity and Inclusion Strategist or Alyse d’Amico, Vice President, People & Culture at jobs [at] cep[dot] org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

We believe that a diversity of thoughts, experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and identities helps us think bigger and better, and enables us to reach our goals more effectively. We are committed to building a diverse staff and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Once a candidate begins our process, we discourage outreach to our staff for interviews or conversations that are outside our standard interview process. We have worked hard to design a process that is fair and rigorous and achieves a good match between candidates and CEP.

CEP evaluates candidates based on their merits. We strongly discourage unsolicited references. We will ask for references if and when a candidate reaches a finalist stage.