BASIC FUNCTION

The Data Analyst is an integral member of an interdisciplinary team of data engineers, analysts, statisticians, and data scientists supporting the Credit Risk and Portfolio Management Group at Cognition Financial.
The group manages a data warehouse to support the underwriting, operational management, analytics, and reporting of student loan portfolios. The Data Analyst will be primarily responsible for building and maintaining the data pipelines that support our data-driven decisioning processes. This includes generating performance reports and ad-hoc analysis of credit risk and performance data in collaboration with the Finance, Product, Marketing, Credit Risk, and Portfolio Management groups. Credit bureau data is at the core of our data modeling efforts and the Data Analyst will support predictive model development by analyzing credit bureau and performance data and providing datasets for model building and model performance monitoring.
The Data Analyst will be involved in the full analytics life-cycle based on agile and iterative development methodologies as well as data management best practices. Responsibilities also include business requirements gathering, design and maintenance of data pipelines, and finding and implementing alternative datasets to support new insight into the student loan ecosystem.
The ideal candidate for this position has prior hands-on experience working with data from consumer reporting agencies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) as well as some experience with data transformations and SQL databases, embraces data-driven decision making, is smart, efficient, and driven to help our business succeed. The candidate must love working with disparate data and be able to write efficient SQL/SAS/R code against large data sets. This role rewards creative multi-disciplinary thinking and willingness for life-long learning.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS*

• Build and maintain complex data load and transformation processes
• Implement data transformations and data enrichment to unlock new insight in a variety of internally and externally sourced datasets
• Work with individual business units to provide sustainable solutions to their data needs
• Analyze credit bureau datasets for model building and monitoring
• Work with data management team to architect effective and efficient data solutions
• Develop an intimate knowledge of the data warehouse’s varied data sources and assist in fixing data quality issues and developing enhancements
• Providing quality assurance support for data management project implementations
• Design and enhance data models, data marts, and meta data

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Other duties and responsibilities as assigned to support operational and analytical needs in the areas of Credit Risk, Portfolio Management, and Finance.

QUALIFICATIONS
Preparation, Knowledge, Previous Experience:
• At least 2 years of progressive experience building data transformation processes
• Experience with SQL RDBMS (SQL Server 2008 or newer preferred) and programming languages (SQL, SAS, R, Python, …)
• Experience with code development and quality assurance testing concepts
• Exposure to consumer and tradeline-level consumer reporting agency data (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) a strong plus
• Experience with consumer credit decisioning systems a plus

Skills, Abilities, Competencies:
• Data-driven and analytics approach to problem-solving
• Knowledge of statistics fundamentals
• Prior experience with SQL, SAS, Python, or R code for data processing
• Track record of continuing education via webinars, conference attendance, or local technology support group involvement
• Excellent analytical ability, consultative, communication skills, strong judgment and the ability to work effectively with both business and technical staff
• Highly organized self-starter who can own projects and act with limited supervision
• Ability to remain focused in a high-pressure, “open office” environment
• Financial services data management experience, particularly in student/consumer lending or mortgage finance, is a plus

Level of Education Required:
Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Engineering, Science, or analytical discipline; alternatively, at least 4 years of experience as a data analyst with a proven track record of advancement

Working Conditions & Physical Demands
Office environment working with personal computer for extended periods of time