Director of Institutional Research and Analytics, Strategy and Delivery Office, Nazarbayev University

Job Description

The Director of Institutional Research and Analytics provides strategic leadership for the university data analytics, institutional effectiveness, and advancing institutional rankings performance and global reputation. This executive role drives data-informed decision-making to support strategic planning, quality assurance, accreditation, resource allocation, and continuous improvement.

The Director works closely with senior leadership, schools, administrative departments, quality assurance teams, IT, finance, admissions, and student services.

1. Institutional Research & Strategic Analytics

1. lead the development of a comprehensive institutional research and analytics function.
2. collect, validate, analyze, and interpret institutional data.
3. develop dashboards and associated reports for senior leadership and university stakeholders.
4. provide data-informed recommendations and implement interventions for performance improvement against strategic targets and rankings indicators.
5. identify opportunities to improve student recruitment, retention, progression, completion, employability, research performance, and operational efficiency.
6. provide data and analysis to support strategic and operational planning, institutional policy development, budgeting, and resource allocation.

2. University Rankings

1. provide strategic oversight of the university’s rankings performance, developing a comprehensive rankings strategic framework, aligning institutional priorities, data collection, and improvement initiatives with the university's target rankings outcomes.
2. provide expert advice and guidance to leadership on targeted interventions and high-impact initiatives to drive sustained improvement in rankings performance and enhance the university’s global profile.
3. assume overall responsibility for institutional data submission, scenario modeling, and outcome evaluation across Times Higher Education, QS, and other relevant global ranking systems.
4. maintain a comprehensive statistical data repository and evidence base.
5. ensure the accuracy, consistency, and verifiability of statistical data rankings submissions.

3. Strategic Performance Management

1. support the monitoring of university KPIs and strategic objectives.
2. lead the development performance dashboards.
3. provide early-warning analysis on areas requiring management attention.
4. translate complex data into clear recommendations for senior decision-makers.

4. Data Governance & Quality

1. establish institutional standards for data definitions, ownership, quality, and reporting.
2. implement processes for data validation, reconciliation, and quality assurance.
3. work with IT and data owners to improve data systems and reporting infrastructure.
4. ensure appropriate confidentiality, privacy, and data security practices.

5. Accreditation, Quality Assurance & External Reporting

1. provide institutional data and analysis for accreditation and external quality reviews.
2. support national regulatory and statutory reporting requirements.
3. coordinate data and evidence for institutional audits and reviews.
4. ensure consistency between institutional data, accreditation submissions, and rankings submissions.

6. Research & Sector Intelligence

1. analyse demographic, economic, student, labour-market, and sector trends.
2. produce strategic intelligence reports for university leadership.

7. Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

1. lead, develop, and manage the institutional research and analytics team.
2. build strong relationships with senior leaders and academic and professional services teams across NU, supporting their work as required.
3. share experience across Kazakhstan and the wider region, in alignment with the Societal Impact mandate of the NU Strategy 2026-2031.
4. promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making and effective performance measurement across the university, including through the provision of training and guidance to staff, faculty and senior leaders.
5. represent the university in relevant professional and sector networks.

Qualifications

Master’s degree (a doctoral degree preferred) from a higher education institution with English as the language of instruction, in a field with a strong quantitative component, such as Business and Economics, Public Policy, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Education, and Social Sciences.

A minimum of eight years (or five years for those holding a doctoral degree in a relevant field) of work experience preferably in higher education, with at least four years (two for doctoral degree holders) managing people and implementing analytics projects.

Additional Information

Candidates should possess the following knowledge/skills:

1. high level of understanding of the role of institutional research and of analytics in higher education;
2. a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of international accreditation, evaluation, assessment, and rankings;
3. high ability to design and implement innovative projects, procedures and practices that address specific problems;
4. substantial knowledge of and experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods and designs (including survey design and implementation);
5. high ability to analyze data (quantitative and qualitative), synthesize findings, draw conclusions and make evidence-based recommendations to the University leadership;
6. academic program review and the evaluation and development of policies and practices in higher education settings;
7. knowledge and appreciation of the strategic issues relevant to modern international higher education in the region and beyond;
8. familiarity with recent trends in data analytics and visualization;
9. understanding of staff professional development needs and ability to design training programs to enhance analytical capacity within and beyond the team;
10. proficiency in the use of statistics packages (such as STATA, R and/or SPSS) and of the Microsoft Office suite, and basic familiarity with programming languages (such as SQL, Python, or R).
11. knowledge and understanding of ethical standards relevant to data management within a higher education context.
12. strong planning and organizational skills;
13. project and team management skills;
14. supervision and mentoring (and an influencer of people);
15. outstanding analytical skills and critical/creative thinking;
16. excellent communication and presentation skills;
17. exceptional attention to detail;
18. tact and understanding;
19. ability to work in diverse teams and settings.

Language requirements: English

Recruitment and selection process
Recruitment and selection at Nazarbayev University include the following process: preliminary selection based on experience and qualifications, assessments (e.g. technical skills/capabilities, aptitude, personality, work samples, in-basket exercises, and informal interviews), and motivation.

Formal interviews form the final stage of the selection process.
They are typically based on organizational values and behaviors and conducted in English.
You are encouraged to share your views and values  to identify how they fit into Nazarbayev University core values.

Application deadline: until filled.  

Recruitment and selection process
Recruitment and selection at Nazarbayev University include the following process: preliminary selection based on experience and qualifications, assessments (e.g. technical skills/capabilities, aptitude, personality, work samples, in-basket exercises, and informal interviews), and motivation.

Formal interviews form the final stage of the selection process.
They are typically based on organizational values and behaviors and conducted in English.
You are encouraged to share your views and values  to identify how they fit into  Nazarbayev University core values

Company Description

Nazarbayev University is a leading research university in Central Asia, located in Astana, Kazakhstan, and committed to advancing scholarship, innovation, and academic excellence through education and research.

The Strategy and Delivery Office (SDO) provides institutional leadership in strategic planning, performance management, quality assurance, risk management, and institutional research. The Office supports the achievement of the University's strategic goals by developing and monitoring strategy, coordinating international rankings and accreditation activities, delivering data-driven analytics and insights, and overseeing institutional quality frameworks to promote continuous improvement and operational excellence.