Development Business Analyst

OVERVIEW:

The Development Business Analyst at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis works primarily on-site and is a member of the Data team who serves as the primary business intelligence and analytics development partner for Advancement, while supporting data needs across the museum. The analyst designs, builds, and maintains reports, dashboards, datasets, and analytical tools that transform CRM and enterprise data into reliable information for decision-making. The incumbent develops and maintains practical predictive analytics and machine learning models where appropriate. They work closely with the fundraising team to develop and maintain scalable technical solutions and ensure that analytical products are accurate, documented, and aligned with shared data standards. The analyst is an active contributor to museum-wide data and CRM governance and helps strengthen data quality and consistency across organizational systems.

The Children’s Museum is building and sustaining an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates differences. We believe that collaboration and open dialogue among people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives best support our vision and mission.

REPORTS TO: Business Intelligence Data Architect, IIT

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Designs, builds, maintains, and enhances reports, dashboards, and self-service analytics for Advancement and other museum departments using CRM, data warehouse, and related enterprise data sources.
2. Translates business questions into analytical requirements, measures, data definitions, and technical solutions; develops ad-hoc queries and analyses to answer complex operational and strategic questions.
3. Develops, validates, and maintains predictive analytics and machine learning models for use cases such as donor propensity, segmentation, retention, upgrades, campaign response, forecasting, and other museum priorities.
4. Builds projections, forecasts, and scenario analyses using historical and current data, and partners with Advancement leaders and analytics staff to ensure outputs are understood and usable for planning and decision-making.
5. Develops working knowledge and assists with integration between Development and Finance systems to ensure records are reconciled accurately.
6. Performs quality assurance on analytical products, investigates anomalies and data issues, and maintains documentation for business logic, calculations, data definitions, model assumptions, and reporting processes.
7. Collaborates with IIT, the Data team, and museum departments to incorporate data from CRM, finance, web, marketing, retail, and other platforms into integrated reporting and analytics solutions.
8. Serves as an active member of the Data and CRM governance teams, helping establish and maintain shared definitions, data standards, documentation, access practices, and policies that support trusted museum-wide reporting.
9. Partners with CRM stakeholders to improve data capture and business processes that affect reporting and analytics, and provides technical guidance and training on the effective use of analytical tools.
10. Maintains strong working relationships with colleagues in advancement and other stakeholders, prioritizes analytical requests in coordination with the Data team, and communicates technical findings, limitations, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent work experience.
2. Three (3) years of experience in business intelligence, reporting, data analysis, analytics, or a related field. Experience with nonprofit fundraising or membership data is preferred.
3. Strong SQL skills and experience working with relational databases; experience with data warehouses and integrated enterprise data is preferred.
4. Demonstrated experience designing and building dashboards and reports using Power BI, Tableau, or similar tools, including data modeling, metric definition, visualization, and quality assurance.
5. Experience with Python, R, or similar analytical tools and practical experience building, validating, or maintaining predictive analytics or machine learning models.
6. Experience with CRM systems and a working knowledge of fundraising, membership, marketing, or constituent data. Experience with Tessitura or another nonprofit-specific CRM is preferred.
7. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business questions into technical requirements and explain results, assumptions, and limitations to non-technical audiences.
8. Demonstrated ability to use generative AI and large language model (LLM) tools effectively and responsibly to support analytics, coding, research, documentation, and other work processes, with appropriate attention to data privacy, accuracy, validation, and organizational policies.
9. Proven commitment to data quality, documentation, governance, privacy, and responsible handling of highly sensitive confidential information.
10. Ability to work collaboratively with diverse individuals across the museum and community, manage multiple priorities, and work independently while knowing when to seek additional information or guidance.
11. Strong proficiency with Excel and standard Microsoft Office applications; experience with version control, APIs, ETL/data integration, or other modern data tools is a plus.

ADA REQUIREMENTS:

1. Must be able to perform work in indoor environment, review detailed documents, and view computer monitor.
2. Must be able to communicate extensively via telephone, one-on-one conversations and public presentations in planning and execution of work.
3. Must be able to handle heavy keyboard and calculator use, and process large volumes of paperwork.
4. Requires the ability to sit or to stand for extended periods of time, lift up to 30 lbs; and tolerate dust in the environment and negotiate local and regional travel.