Data Science Manager

As part of the Department of State's 2025 reorganization, EducationUSA joined the Office of American Spaces to form the Office of American Spaces and Educational Advising (ECA/P/AS).

American Spaces: American Spaces serve as the U.S. government's primary information and cultural centers that promote American excellence, champion free speech, and showcase the unmatched strength of the United States as an innovation leader and economic power. With nearly 600 locations in over 140 countries, American Spaces provide access to the latest, in-depth information about the United States.

Hosted in embassies, schools, libraries, and other partner institutions worldwide, American Spaces are platforms where foreign visitors can connect and learn about the United States. They are operated through the cooperative efforts of various groups of practitioners:

• American Spaces staff working in American Centers (USG-operated) and partner Spaces (American Corners and Binational Centers, both operated independently of the U.S. government) primarily lead efforts to present programs and otherwise engage host nation publics.
• Post staff working in embassies and consulates primarily lead the oversight of programming direction and operation of all types of American Spaces. Post staff include American generalist public diplomacy officers and Locally Engaged (LE) staff.
• Regional Public Engagement Specialists (REPS) are Foreign Service Specialists with subject matter expertise in overseeing the Department's global network of American Spaces. REPS work in close consultation with ECA/P/AS to offer strategic direction and oversight to American Spaces and the posts that manage them. REPS are in 23 posts overseas, and each portfolio includes posts and Spaces in several countries. REPS serve as the representatives in the field of ECA/P/AS and consult with posts and Spaces to address challenges and ensure effective program implementation.
• The Office of American Spaces and Educational Advising provides primary support through REPS to posts and American Spaces on program implementation, through training, funding, operational and programming guidance, and data analysis tools.
• Regional Bureaus' press and public diplomacy offices take a strong interest in American Spaces and the support provided by ECA/P/AS and in some cases provide significant additional funding directly to posts to support Spaces operations.

EducationUSA: Through its network of over 360 EducationUSA Centers in over 170 countries, EducationUSA promotes merit-based recruitment of top international talent, assist U.S. HEIs develop competitive marketing strategies, convenes U.S. institutions with international networks and partnerships to advance research and innovation critical to U.S. national security, and advances America’s dominance in the educational services industry. EducationUSA programming and services are operated through the cooperative efforts of various groups of practitioners:

• EducationUSA Advisers: EducationUSA has nearly 500 advisers in the network EducationUSA advisers are Locally Employed Staff (LES) based at U.S. embassies and consulates, and non-LES staff who may be based in Binational Centers, bi-lateral Fulbright Commissions, American Spaces, and U.S. or receiving state-based NGOs and educational institutions.

• Post staff working in U.S. embassies and consulates oversee the in-country programming direction and operation of EducationUSA centers and advisers in alignment with annual strategic plans developed in collaboration with ECA. Post staff include American generalist public diplomacy officers and Locally Engaged (LE) staff.

• Fulbright Commission staff working at bi-lateral commissions oversee in-country programming direction and operation of EducationUSA Centers and advisers in alignment with annual strategic plans developed in collaboration with ECA.

• Regional Educational Advising Coordinators (REACs)/Regional Managers: Twelve Regional Managers (REACs) (who are not USG officials) are employed through a cooperative agreement from ECA and manage a regional portfolio at 12 locations abroad. REACs are U.S. and international education experts who work in close consultation with ECA program officers, posts, and Fulbright commissions to advise on student mobility and higher education trends, global marketing strategies, and institutional partnership opportunities, as well as on EducationUSA programming and best practices. They provide leadership, guidance, assessment, and training for EducationUSA advisers and their host institution supervisors through site visits, consultations, in-person and virtual workshops, and regular communication.

• The Office of American Spaces and Educational Advising (ECA/P/AS): The EducationUSA Branch within ECA/P/AS provides support and guidance to EducationUSA advisers, Regional Managers (REACs), cooperative partners, U.S. missions and Fulbright Commissions on EducationUSA programming and operations implementation.

• Regional Bureaus' press and public diplomacy offices consult with the EducationUSA Branch on programmatic strategic direction and support provided by ECA/P/AS.

ECA/P/AS requires the services of a Data Science Managers within its Strategy and Analytics Unit — one supporting primarily American Spaces and one supporting primarily EducationUSA — to oversee data science projects that support influence-oriented data collection and analysis. Both positions serve as subject matter experts in data science management, data visualization, and data analytics, recommending and/or developing data-driven solutions that shape strategy and decision-making related to their respective platforms as U.S. foreign policy tools. Both Data Science Managers offer senior technical support to the ECA/P/AS Strategy and Analytics Unit and coordinate closely with one another to ensure data science efforts mesh smoothly across both program areas.

The Data Science Managers will guide the continued OASIS implementation by the ECA/P/AS Training Unit as well as the continued integration of EducationUSA location, operational and personnel data into the ECA/P/AS Portal. This includes the following:

Technical Advisory and Implementation:

• Serve as senior technical advisor on all matters related to modifying and enhancing OASIS
• Serve as senior technical advisor on all matters related to customizing, ingesting data into, and enhancing the EducationUSA Training Application
• Liaise daily with the Training Unit Lead Project Manager and contract development team to resolve questions and ensure efficient progress
• With the EducationUSA Branch and implementing partner, obtain feedback and develop recommendations for system enhancements to maximize operability
• Recommend system improvements to simplify data submission and enhance reporting flexibility
• Develop and execute a technical transition plan
• Establish a technical support ticket system for users

Interoperability and Process Development:

• Recommend improvements to interoperability and efficiencies between systems within the American Spaces Portal, including OASIS
• Develop a process for field practitioners to recommend system improvements
• Assess utility and feasibility of proposed improvements and establish a priority-ranking system for planned improvements

EducationUSA Data Integration:

• Collaborate with the EducationUSA branch to resolve data integration questions
• Advise EducationUSA on a regular mechanism for data updates into OASIS

Policy and Compliance:

• Recommend to the Strategy and Analytics Unit Lead how the use of OASIS may be best reflected in revisions to the American Spaces Handbook, American Spaces Standards, and other policy documents such as descriptions of the Six Pillars, and the policy on what constitutes an ECA-supported American Space
• Recommend to the EducationUSA Branch how the use of the EducationUSA Training Application and OASIS may be best reflected in EducationUSA policy and operational materials.
• Ensure that all proposed visual interfaces, data visualization components, and data collection initiatives comply with relevant Department policies

Training and Communications:

• Create and deliver a communications and training strategy targeting American Spaces and EducationUSA practitioners

Improvement and Development of Dashboards and Reports

ECA/P/AS provides data reports using data visualization tools like Power BI to help staff, stakeholders, and other offices in the Department of State understand American Spaces’ and EducationUSA’s operations and outcomes. The Data Science Managers will manage existing Power BI reports such as the CPD using Power BI, SharePoint, and Excel and work on additions and improvements. The Data Science Managers will identify new data analysis and visualization needs for which Power BI or other tools might be a fitting platform, recommend options for using Power BI or other tools to meet those needs, and build the preferred tools.

Data Consultation and Special Initiatives

• The Data Science Managers will continue to advance the following data consultation and special initiatives, in conjunction with the EducationUSA Branch Chief, Strategy and Analytics Team Lead and other stakeholders.
• Work ECA/P/AS’ unit leads to link American Spaces and EducationUSA Center data to tell a cohesive story about the full footprint of the office's public engagement platforms.
• Collaborate with the ECA/P/AS Digital Content Strategist on analyzing the performance of American Spaces and EducationUSA using artificial intelligence tools.
• Identify opportunities to demonstrate the effectiveness of American Spaces and EducationUSA and respond to new needs based on administration priorities and strategic needs of ECA/P/AS.
• Recommend, develop, and deploy solutions for other data science and technology needs and priorities for ECA/P/AS, as determined by the Office leadership and the Strategy and Analytics Unit Lead, including data collection, organization, analysis, and visualization.
• Work with the Field Support and Strategy and Analytics Units to develop tools that will demonstrate the effectiveness of American Spaces Support Funds (ASSF) investments. In addition to work on OASIS itself, this task potentially includes:

1. Modeling whether there are correlations between funding and outputs or, better still, outcomes.
2. Recommending approaches to creating a fuller picture of American Spaces funding, beyond ECA-supplied American Spaces Support Funds (ASSF). This may include developing independent estimates of the costs required to successfully operate Spaces of various sizes, types, and longevities; developing and implementing for-attribution surveys that obtain objective information about funding; and/or improved tracking through OASIS of the funding being used by posts and Spaces from sources other than ASSF.

• Maintain a commanding knowledge of the interrelated nature of all ECA/P/AS data projects, so as to ensure that they all move forward in ways that are complementary to each other without leaving important gaps in their ability to meet American Spaces and EducationUSA practitioners' needs.
• Make presentations, either with other American Spaces, EducationUSA and/or Strategy and Analytics Unit members or alone, to audiences within or outside ECA on OASIS, CPD, and other ECA/P/AS data collection, management, and visualization initiatives.
• Advise the Strategy and Analytics Unit Lead on technology requirements and solutions for data analysis initiatives.

Requirements

• Experience in driving data science projects from start to finish, utilizing best practices and prior experience in creating an analytics plan, shaping customer questions, and leveraging existing efforts to speed up analytics projects. Proven creative, analytical, and critical thinking skills. Must have a minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience managing the development and implementation of data science projects.
• Experience in developing and delivering training to empower colleagues and end users of databases, surveys, and dashboards to effectively utilize such technologies. Must have a minimum of three years’ experience delivering training on data science projects to end users.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain a commanding knowledge of many complex and interrelated data science lines of effort, and to ensure that these multiple lines of effort move forward in ways that are seamlessly complementary to each other.
• Experience using oral and written communications to develop, negotiate, and defend recommendations; present briefings on sensitive and controversial subjects; and provide guidance and instructions.
• Continual updating of knowledge of the latest technological advancements.
• Ability to utilize analytic methods to conduct (1) database extraction and cleaning, (2) simplified data modelling in Excel, (3) oversight of data modelling by others in a variety of programming languages, and (4) analytical output design through visualization or dashboard development.
• Ability to understand and communicate with team members about the implications of data projects and data modeling for program and U.S. foreign policy goals.
• Ability to develop constructive relations with the full range of American Spaces practitioners, overcoming potential language barriers and cultural differences. Demonstrated ability to have a flexible, collaborative, team-oriented approach to work.
• Knowledge of and ability to use customer relations management services (such as Salesforce), collaboration software (such as SharePoint and Microsoft Planner); data analysis tools (such as Power BI); database technologies, including, but not limited to, query construction and data normalization; survey technologies (such as Qualtrics); Microsoft Office and G Suite applications; and a full range of devices, formats, platforms, and content.
• Demonstrated ability to work on tight deadlines. Proven organizational skills and multi-tasking abilities. Proven ability to work independently, with minimal supervision, and multi-task in a high volume, fast-paced work environment.
• A US Citizen
• Ability to work in the office 5 days a week
• A Secret Security Clearance

Benefits

Benefits Include:

• Covers 100% of employee benefit premiums, including Medical (PPO or HDHP Option), Vision, Dental
• Matching 401K
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Pet Insurance
• Professional Development/Education Reimbursement
• Parking and Transit Benefits for NY, NJ, ATL, and DC Metro areas

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Salary Compensation: $140,000-$150,000

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans