The Organization: Merit America

The American economy is broken. Today, 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. These talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time boot camp programs don't offer enough flexibility, and online courses don't have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: We start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we support our learners in their job search, helping them connect with a broad constellation of local and national employers such as JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to land higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $24k three months or more after completing the program. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. Since our founding in 2018, we've generated a projected $1 billion in near-term wage gains for our learners.

About the Role:

The primary mission of the Data Scientist is to transform Merit America's data into actionable insights that directly improve learner outcomes and scale our impact. The Data Scientist partners with key functions (Growth, Sustainability, Communications, Policy, etc.) to improve operational effectiveness and impact. This role blends applied data science, analytics, and close collaboration with teams to answer critical questions like: what makes learners successful, and how can we adapt our program to scale impact? We seek a collaborative individual who is comfortable with ambiguity, is service-oriented, and is eager to look and think cross-functionally in their work.

The Data Scientist is an exempt role and will sit on the Data & Engineering team and will report directly to Merit America's Head of Data & Technology.

What You'll be Doing:

The responsibilities of the Data Scientist will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Collaboration with the key functional areas across the organization (40%)

Build trusted relationships with teams and help scope data projects with maximum strategic impact
Contribute to the organization's and functional teams' planning process by identifying high-ROI opportunities
Educate stakeholders on data inputs, data responsibility, and data interpretation
Drive data-informed decision making across all organizational functions

Analytics and dashboarding (40%)

Define, track, and analyze key metrics to gauge the success of key organizational functions
Build dashboards and automated reports to enable self-serve analytics
Work with the Data & Engineering team to identify, instrument, and ELT new data into a centralized warehouse
Create compelling data visualizations and narratives that drive action across teams

Advanced analysis and data science (20%)

Partner with teams to launch and analyze experiments that measure and amplify our impact
Identify and tackle potentially abstract topics like the qualities that make for effective coaches
When appropriate, build exploratory or decision-support models to improve learner engagement, prospect management, and outcomes

What Makes a Successful Candidate:

We recognize that some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don't meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Please don't let that discourage you from applying! We value the unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that each applicant brings, and we encourage you to apply if you believe your background demonstrates the required skills and competencies:

Must Haves for all roles at Merit America:

Committed to Merit America's mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
Committed to continuous learning and growth in advancing inclusive excellence and closing gaps across lines of difference
Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity

Must Haves for this role:

Technical Expertise: 2+ years of SQL experience; proficiency in R or Python for data analysis; proficiency in at least one BI tool (Hex, Tableau, Tableau, etc)
Communication: Exceptional ability to translate technical insights for non-technical stakeholders with strong stakeholder empathy
Delivery: Proven track record delivering both strategic analyses and self-service solutions

Nice to Haves:

Experience with DBT
Demonstrated ability to support cross-functional teams as they become more data-oriented
Demonstrated ability to proactively work with stakeholders to identify organizational problems/opportunities that can be addressed with data

Other Logistics

This position is full time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
Location: Remote
Salary: $110,210

Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach which means that we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits (please note that some of the benefits do not apply to temporary employees):

4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
Education & personal development reimbursement
Catalog of courses for professional learning and development
Short and long-term disability
Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
11 federally recognized holidays
1 week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
2 week holiday office closure in December/January
401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
Discount perks at work program
Phone/technology stipend
Home office setup stipend
Affinity groups and community building via virtual, in-person, and/or regional meetups
Eligibility for some benefits may vary based on employment status, full-time or part-time. Eligibility will be outlined during the hiring process.

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.

Fair Chance Ordinance

Applicants who have arrest or conviction records and are in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will be considered in accordance with the state's fair chance ordinance law. Employment under the ordinance includes part-time work, seasonal work, contract work, contingent work, work on commission, and work through the services of a temporary or employment agency.

E-Verify Statement

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.

Merit America

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