Associate Director of Data Systems

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DATA SYSTEMS

The Role

Reporting directly to the COO, the Associate Director of Data Systems will lead Friends in developing, elevating, and enhancing data systems that will help communicate Friends’ work with internal and external stakeholders and measure progress and impact toward strategic initiatives and park opening. The Associate Director of Data Systems will oversee a variety of data collection and analysis initiatives, collaborating across departments to ensure data quality and cohesion in data use and reporting.

About Friends of Waterfront Park

Friends of Waterfront Park (Friends) is a 501c3 non-profit. Through a public-private partnership with the City of Seattle, Friends is leading fundraising and programming, deepening public safety investments, and ensuring long-term stewardship of Waterfront Park now and for generations to come. The organization works closely with the City of Seattle, through Seattle Center, which provides park maintenance and public safety services. This model of a nonprofit managing and ensuring the success of a park is common across major U.S. cities, including Friends of the Highline and Brooklyn Bridge Parks Conservancy in New York, and Friends of the Underline in Miami.

Over 15 years in the making, the Waterfront Park project represents a grand community vision for reimagining Seattle’s waterfront in the footprint of the old viaduct, a 1950s infrastructure; creating a new kind of civic and cultural space. Seattle is a city known for innovation and Waterfront Park represents that spirit – it is so much more than simply a park. Waterfront Park is creating 20 acres of green space, inviting locals and visitors to reconnect with the water, the mountains, and each other. It will run from Belltown to Pioneer Square and has a large urban footprint for programming, activation, and other park uses. Opening in 2025, Waterfront Park will serve as a fresh cultural anchor for downtown, offering free public programming co-curated with communities from across the region.

Friends’ vision goes far beyond the park’s 20 acres. Alongside the City of Seattle, we envision a common space that is truly safe and welcoming to everyone; a space that is centered in equity. Friends have an opportunity and an inherent responsibility to disrupt patterns of exclusion and serve as a model for public spaces in Seattle and around the country. We have already made progress by working to establish strong community ties and trust and delivering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community-led programs at Pier 62, the first piece of the park to open to the public in 2020.

Land Acknowledgement

Waterfront Park is situated on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, who have resided here since time immemorial and continue to thrive. With respect and humility, we acknowledge the history of the waterfront, the dispossession of land from the Coast Salish people, and, most importantly, the strength and resilience of Native people and their culture through this history and to the present.

Equity Commitment

Friends recognizes and acknowledges historic and existing systemic racism embedded in our city. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization by prioritizing racial equity within the organization and in the public spaces we operate.

Responsibilities

Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion + Community

Center and embed the Friends’ diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) values and goals into every aspect of data systems
Contribute to an inclusive workplace culture; adhere to and help evolve Friends’ Community
Propel a culture of inclusion while collaborating cross-departmentally within
Participate in DEAI workshops and help lead regular DEAI discussions with staff, leadership, board, and partners.
Bring a community-centric lens to data systems work to foster belonging and community creativity to the waterfront.

Leadership & People Management

Be the organizational leader for data systems and strategy: managing and tracking, coaching, inspiring, problem-solving, ensuring alignment, and being a point of strength and stability across departments.
Work alongside external partners for data management, tracking, and analysis.
Participate in and contribute to weekly Senior Leadership team meetings.
Inform and support implementation of organizational priorities and cross-departmental data strategy alignment, in line with Friends’ values and capacity.
Provide Board support: prepare Board report updates; present at meetings upon CEO’s request; support onboarding of new Board members
Support COO and CEO in cross-departmental coordination/communications and ongoing organization planning
Develop and manage annual data budget and workplan in alignment with Friends priorities and operating budget
Work with the COO and People & Culture to identify and recruit/procure resources required to meet the organization’s data collection and analysis needs.
Foster a positive and collaborative team culture: set and evaluate priorities, bring clarity, provide feedback, and help the team develop the competencies and skill sets necessary to navigate their day-to-day work.

Data Strategy

Partner with the Senior Leadership team to strategize on and develop data solutions that support the organization’s vision and strategic plan, including the creation of a data master plan.
Help guide friends to improve business processes and efficiency in Salesforce and other systems. This includes gathering, documenting, and analyzing requirements around business challenges and then producing data-driven solutions.
Lead data analysis, monitoring, and visualization efforts across the organization, serving as a general expert in these areas across the organization
Work with peer organizations to identify intersecting data collection efforts and develop partnerships where appropriate (e.g. collating visitation data from DSA, tourism data from Visit Seattle, economic data from local businesses).
Plan and implement strategies around quantitative and qualitative data collection efforts, processing, storytelling, and analysis.
Oversee collection of data required to ensure compliance with Central Waterfront Oversight Committee (CWOC) performance standards.
Lead decision-making process for new data system needs.

Systems Development

Build and maintain public-facing intake forms and other data collection systems (primarily FormAssembly), integrating data with CRM database (Salesforce).
Implement new tools and systems as needed to improve the streamlined collection of and reporting on data.
Manage third-party integrations with Salesforce including FormAssembly, Mailchimp, and Classy.
Develop dashboards (using Tableau or a similar data visualization tool) to demonstrate Friends’ impact and progress toward goals.

Database Administration

Provide continuous Salesforce optimization according to organizational needs and priorities. This includes planning and execution of project-based work, configurations, integrations, automation, and reports to improve the organization’s use of Salesforce
Coordinate ongoing data hygiene activities; coordinate general list management and audience segmentation
Work with external consultants on the implementation of larger projects and long-term development of Salesforce. Ensure time and cost efficiency for the use of a consultant Evaluate and maintain data integrity throughout Friends’ data environment, ensuring privacy and confidentiality protocols

Reporting and Analytics

Fulfill ad-hoc data requests including complex reporting (multi-step/multi-object) and provide solutions for reporting challenges.
Create and maintain internal- and external-facing reports, visualizations, and dashboards that track progress toward organizational goals, and inform strategic planning.
Author the mid-year and annual performance standards reports to CWOC.

Training and Support

Onboard and train new employees on various Salesforce Provide regular refresher pieces of training during the year.
Document data processes and procedures; maintain user guides and knowledge base
Maintain cross-departmental relationships through regular check-in meetings and regular availability.
Support the development of departmental data efforts, ensuring cohesion of systems across the organization.

Minimum Qualifications

Deep interest in understanding a range of diverse cultural differences and the ability to work effectively with people from a range of social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds
A commitment to incorporating the practices and ethos of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) in all facets of your work
At least 3-4 years of database management experience (preferably Salesforce)
Proven management skills including the ability to develop, manage and maintain the department budget, and strong leadership skills including the ability to develop and implement long-term projects and strategies.
Strong analytic skills, including knowledge of, and proficiency with, quantitative analytical concepts, database structures, and relational databases
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-departmental teams and external partners. Excellent time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines
High attention to detail, ensuring data integrity and system performance. Proactive in identifying and implementing improvements to data systems.
Ability to handle sensitive information in a confidential manner
Ability to be an innovative and resourceful problem-solver, eager to take initiative to handle requests and resolve issues
Ability to work collegially across departments to help ensure coordinated, integrated, and efficient workflow
Proficiency with data collection, manipulation, and reporting tools, including FormAssembly, SyncApps, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Apsona, Tableau, and Microsoft Excel.
Ability to pass background check and provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination

Desired Qualifications

Experience working in a non-profit organization and/or a park.
Certified Salesforce Administrator Familiarity with a range of data visualization, reporting, UX design, and PR analytical systems and tools (e.g. Eventbrite, Tableau, DoveTail, MailChimp integration, Stripe/e-commerce)
Experience with project management tools (e.g. Asana)
Demonstrated ability to clearly and effectively present ideas and complex research insights, using a variety of mediums (including written reports, presentations, data visualizations, and proposals) to audiences with diverse knowledge and areas of expertise
Ability to develop processes that enhance the quality and integrity of data which informs organizational decision-making
Ability to drive a collaborative approach to measure, monitor, and enable understanding of data quality best practices across the organization.
Demonstrated analytic skills, including knowledge of, and proficiency with, quantitative analytical concepts such as statistical methods.

Other Requirements 

This position is contingent on passing a criminal background check.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position with a salary range of $115,000 to $130,000. Paid time off and transit pass are provided. Defined contribution retirement plan with a 3% match available.

Medical, dental, life, and disability insurance are also provided.

Work Location

This role is based in Seattle, WA. Friends has office space located at Pier 56.
This position is a flexible, hybrid role with at least 60% of the work being in-person at Friends’ office, in Waterfront Park, or in the community. Administrative offices are open Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Weekend and evening work is required depending on season and events; staff flex their work schedule to accommodate while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
Friends follows King County Public Health guidelines regarding COVID-19.

The physical requirements of this role listed below are representative of those that may need to be met by an employee in this role:

Operating a computer and other office equipment.
Ability to work in an open office format with a fluctuating noise level – Friends' office is an open floor plan and teams often meet in person to collaborate. Noise levels can be low to moderate.
Occasionally lifting up to 20 pounds; however, assistance with lifting or moving items can be provided.

How to Apply

Click the Apply link to submit your application. You will be asked to upload a resume and answer the following 3 questions as part of your application:

What led you to where you are in your career? What interests you in exploring and analyzing data?
How do you collaborate across departments to ensure consistent data use? Discuss how you have used data to analyze, monitor, and illustrate impact in previous projects and organizations. What is your approach to data reporting and benchmarking?
How do you incorporate DEAI values into your work? Can you provide an example of how you’ve improved a data system to better align with DEAI values?

Friends is committed to improving hiring practices to be more inclusive and anti-ableist. We have reviewed the job requirements and only include physical abilities when completely necessary. During the interview process, we email the panel questions ahead of time. We are also able to provide captioning and/or interpretation (e.g., ASL) if requested. If you need assistance and/or accommodations during the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please email our People & Culture team at dei@waterfrontparkseattle.org.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.