Senior Data Analyst

Summary:

Overview

Every year, millions of animals enter shelters across the United States -- and the data behind their stories has the power to transform how shelters and communities care for them. As Senior Data Analyst at Shelter Animals Count (a Program of the ASPCA), you'll be at the center of the nation's most comprehensive effort to collect, analyze, and share animal sheltering data. Your work will put credible, well-documented data into the hands of shelters, researchers, media, and national partners -- and help ensure the quality and integrity of the dataset behind the field's most important estimates and insights. If you're a highly organized analyst who loves working with real-world data and wants your skills to drive real-world impact for animals and the communities that serve them, this is your role.

The Senior Data Analyst reports to the Senior Manager, Data Science, and will work closely with other members of the Shelter Animals Count (SAC) and broader Strategy team. They will serve as the point person and end-to-end owner of SAC's data request pipeline -- leading the intake, scoping, execution, and delivery of data & analysis requests from internal stakeholders and external partners -- while leading data quality investigations and contributing to machine learning, statistical modeling, and analysis projects. They will serve as the key point of contact for a diverse group of stakeholders, external partners, interns, contractors, and vendors to prioritize and execute on insights and data requests, providing prescriptive analytics to numerous animal welfare topics. They will bring a high level of organization, accuracy, and integrity to data analysis and reporting.

Who We Are

Shelter Animals Count (SAC) is a nationally recognized brand dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing data on animal sheltering across the United States and Canada, and will join the ASPCA’s Strategy Team. The Strategy department has five verticals: Strategy and Planning, Research, Impact Measurement and Data Science, Project Management Office, and SAC. The Strategy team uses strategic and data-driven processes to guide organizational direction, drive effective decision-making, and deliver actionable, evidence-based insights to shelters and communities. Strategy serves as a thought partner to ASPCA departments; facilitates collaboration among departments; and connects the dots to maximize efforts to drive our goals forward.

Shelter Animals Count, established in 2012, is dedicated to collecting and sharing reliable shelter data to improve welfare and outcomes for animals and communities. By serving as a neutral, industry-wide data collection entity, Shelter Animals Count provides valuable insights into shelter operations, trends in animal welfare, intake and outcomes, and the challenges faced by shelters, rescues, and communities. Shelter Animals Count collaborates with organizations of all sizes to encourage data submission, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the state of animal welfare. This data-driven approach supports evidence-based decision-making, ultimately helping to improve welfare and outcomes for animals, guide policy, and increase transparency within the animal welfare community.

What You’ll Do

SAC's Research & Data Science Team works across three core focuses: Analytics & Insights (answering internal and externals and translating SAC data into reports, dashboards, and stories that describe what is happening in sheltering), Data Quality & Observability (working closely with our technology systems and data pipelines to ensure the data behind those answers is accurate, stable, and ready for use), and Research, Prediction & Measurement (causal inference, experimentation, forecasting, and building generalizable knowledge for the animal welfare field). Every member of the team contributes to each focus, with this role centered on the first two.

You will be the subject matter expert for SAC's insights capabilities -- owning the pipeline of data requests from media, partners, researchers, member organizations, and internal teams from intake through delivery, ensuring every request is tracked, scoped, and fulfilled with timely, accurate statistics and clear methodology. Your role will be critical in translating complex datasets into actionable insights that inform national policy, shelter operations, and public awareness. Additionally, you will lead efforts to monitor and improve the quality of SAC's national database and support the improvement of machine learning and of forecasting models led by the Senior Manager, Data Science, and help translate complex datasets into actionable insights that inform national policy, shelter operations, and public awareness. This role involves hands-on work with Shelter Animals Count's database (for example, frequent analysis of datasets including 20M+ animals, many parameters) and day-to-day ownership of structured intake and project tracking systems. The ideal candidate is exceptionally organized, comfortable owning and prioritizing a high volume of concurrent requests, and rigorous about accuracy, documentation, and reproducibility. They serve as a subject matter expert of animal welfare data and software.

The Senior Data Analyst reports directly to the Senior Manager, Data Science and has 0 direct reports.

Where and When You’ll Work

This remote-based position (which requires travel, as described below) is open to all eligible candidates based within the United States. The schedule for this position is generally Monday-Friday 9am-5pm (flexibility needed, as some early mornings, evenings, and weekends will be required.) Ability and willingness to travel up to 10% annually as needed.

What You’ll Get

Compensation

Benefits

At the ASPCA, you don’t have to choose between your passion and making a living. Our comprehensive benefits package helps ensure you can live a rewarding life at work and at home. Our benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Affordable health coverage, including medical, employer-paid dental, and optional vision coverage.
• Flexible time off that includes vacation time, sick and bereavement time, paid parental leave, 10 company paid holidays, and paid personal time off that allows you even more flexibility to observe the days that mean the most to you.
• Competitive financial incentives and retirement savings, including a 401(k) plan with generous employer contributions — we match dollar for dollar up to 4% and provide an additional 4% contribution toward your future each year.
• Robust professional development opportunities including classes, on-the-job training, coaching and mentorship with industry-leading peers, internal mobility, opportunities to support in the field, and so much more.

For more information on our benefits offerings, visit our website.

Responsibilities:

Responsibility buckets are listed in general order of importance, and include but are not limited to:

Analytics & Insights

• Subject matter expert and owner of end-to-end insights pipeline for internal and external data requests, from scoping with stakeholders through execution and delivery. Ensure timely response, accurate statistics, clear methodology explanations, and actionable insights. Demonstrate intellectual curiosity by proactively exploring data for additional insights beyond initial inquiries when appropriate.
• Own and orchestrate request intake and project tracking systems (Zendesk, HubSpot, Asana), ensuring requests are logged, assigned, statused, and resolved on schedule.
• Serve as the point person for the broader SAC program and other ASPCA teams on media and partner data requests, leading conversations with requesters to clarify scope, define deliverables, and set realistic timelines.
• Conduct descriptive and exploratory analyses of SAC sheltering data to fulfill insights requests, applying consistent definitions, business rules, and documented caveats and limitations.
• Lead the creation of bespoke insights for press, internal ASPCA data requests, peer-reviewed publications, and seasonal reporting, distilling complex behavioral insights (intake seasonality, adoption journey timelines, etc.) for non-technical audiences.
• Create clear documents, summary tables, and data visualizations for communicating findings to multiple stakeholder audiences (member organizations, researchers, media, funders).
• Develop and templatize analytical scripts (SQL/Python/R) and maintain documentation of standard request types to improve consistency and reduce turnaround time for bespoke requests.
• Design self-service dashboards and automate data analysis workflows to make insights accessible and timely.
• Build strong, supportive working relationships across teams, departments, and external partners to advance shared goals.

Data Quality & Observability

• Own development of reports, dashboards, and monitoring tools to foster data quality, integrity, and observability of our analysis pipelines. Independently investigates data quality events and anomalies.
• Monitor incoming reported data for completeness, consistency, and anomalies. Own quality triage workflows and escalate to key stakeholders to resolve anomalies before they reach reporting.
• Partner on work that improves the performance and integrity of our machine learning models. Take responsibility for data preparation, validation, model runs, and results summarization. Serve as the subject matter expert on model estimates for insights requests and identify areas for improvement.
• Uphold and promote data governance policies, business rules, and definitions to ensure consistent program evaluation and measurement.
• Own and adhere to data governance practices that directly impact insights fulfillment and data requests. Support the SAC team in implementing improved data governance processes, including workflow design, business rules, role permissions, quality assurance, approval, and publishing protocols.
• Integrate and evaluate third-party data (e.g., macroeconomic, demographic, and community data) to provide broader context on animal welfare trends.
• Streamline and automate manual processes to ensure the most current data is readily available to business users.
• Document data quality issues, decisions, and known limitations so they are transparent to internal and external data users.

Qualifications

• Self-motivated individual capable of working independently; leading and prioritizing multiple, concurrent programs and initiatives; and remaining curious about the data to stretch beyond questions asked.
• Exceptionally organized and detail-oriented, with experience and demonstrated ability owning and prioritizing a high volume of concurrent requests and projects with a high level of accuracy and integrity.
• Experience communicating and presenting to both technical and non-technical leaders and audiences.
• Experience in the animal welfare field working with sheltering data required, including experience with sheltering data in shelter management software (e.g., PetPoint, Chameleon, Shelterluv, ShelterBuddy, or similar).
• Experience managing structured intake and project tracking systems; familiarity with Zendesk, HubSpot, and Asana strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of and experience with SQL and either Python or R.
• Knowledge of and experience with data visualization and dashboard tools (Tableau, Power BI, or similar)
• Familiarity with statistical techniques -- including descriptive and inferential methods -- and willingness to grow modeling skills; experience improving supervised learning and forecasting models a plus.
• Experience with or enthusiasm for using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, Copilot) to accelerate analytical workflows.
• Ability to exemplify ASPCA’s core values and behavioral competencies
• Experience with Shelter Animals Count data strongly preferred.

Education and Work Experience

• Advanced degree in statistics, data science, data analytics, or related quantitative field preferred, or equivalent work experience.
• 4+ years of experience in data analysis, data management, data reporting, or applied research within non-profit, enterprise, academic research, or related fields required.
• Experience with animal welfare data collection, animal sheltering software, and animal shelter data analysis is required.
• Experience working with large-scale datasets (millions of records) and deriving meaningful insights from complex, multi-dimensional data preferred.
• Experience with data analysis and visualization tools required: SQL; Python or R; and Tableau, Power BI, or code-based dashboarding such as Plotly or interactive

Language:

English (Required)

Education and Work Experience:

Bachelors (Required)