What: The Budgeting for Results Unit seeks a Program Analyst with applied program performance evaluation experience and strong facilitation skills to conduct assessments of state programs. The Program Analyst will report to and be supervised by the Director of the BFR Unit. The addition of a Program Analyst to the BFR Unit positions the state to more aggressively apply data-driven analysis to inform the budgeting process in Illinois.
The Program Analyst will contribute to program-specific data collection and cleaning to articulate evidence-based best practices in program design and delivery. This position will aid in informing stakeholders regarding the degree to which Illinois’ programs are designed and implemented with fidelity to best practices. The work product of the Program Analyst will support assessment of state agency programs, the evaluation of program concepts, and the promotion of transparency of Illinois’ budgetary and expenditure data.
GOMB seeks a self-directed individual able to work in a small team environment responsive to evolving requests. The Program Analyst must be able to engage in multiple projects simultaneously with minimal supervision. The position offers the opportunity to work directly with state agencies, leading national policy researchers, and legislative stakeholders.
Job duties include, but are not limited to:
- Leading BFR efforts to conduct, interpret and apply program-specific literature reviews;
- Collecting, compiling and cleaning state agency and secondary data regarding state agency programs and program initiatives;
- Assisting with data validation to promote understanding and accuracy of work products among diverse stakeholders; and
- Articulating written results of program assessments through reports and presentations to various stakeholders including state agency leadership, legislators, policymakers, constituency groups and academic researchers.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Master’s degree candidate in program evaluation, public administration, economics, or equivalent field, plus 1-2 years in practical experience is preferred. Undergraduate degree holders with sufficient practical experience may be considered.
Required education and experience includes:
- Ability to work discretely with sensitive and confidential data;
- Applied experience in program design, delivery, implementation or evaluation within the public sector;
- Training and professional experience in program evaluation;
- Familiarity with the federal Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART) or Results First benefit-cost model created by the Pew Charitable Trust and MacArthur Foundation is preferred.
- Training specific to public sector methodologies for tracking and evaluating program performance;
- Basic understanding of state government operations and the use of public resources through program allocations;
- Strong written and oral communication skills to effectively dialog with diverse stakeholders;
- Ability to manage multiple deliverables, articulate issues impacting scheduling, and meet agreed-upon deadlines; and
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- This position is based in Springfield; occasional overnight travel is required.
Salary and position classification will be determined based on the level of experience when a job offer is made. Individual salary offers are computed based on an applicant’s current position and experience level in comparison to the posted title as well as internal equity of staff in the organizational unit.
Submit resumes by mail, fax, or e-mail. E-mail: jobs.omb@illinois.gov
Data Analyst
The Budgeting for Results Unit seeks a Data Analyst with strong research, methodological, and statistical/programming skills to support program assessment and applied data analytics. The Data Analyst will report to and be supervised by the Director of the BFR Unit. The addition of a second Data Analyst to the BFR Unit positions the state to more aggressively apply data-driven analysis to inform the budgeting process in Illinois.
The Data Analyst will contribute to data collection and cleaning and the use, development and implementation of statistical models. The work product of the Data Analyst will support assessment of state agency programs, the evaluation of program concepts, and the promotion of transparency of Illinois’ budgetary and expenditure data. GOMB seeks a self-directed individual able to work in a small team environment responsive to evolving requests. The Data Analyst must be able to engage in multiple projects simultaneously with minimal supervision. The position offers the opportunity to work directly with state agencies, leading national policy researchers, and legislative stakeholders.
Job duties include, but are not limited to: • Collecting, compiling and cleaning state agency and secondary data regarding state agency programs and program initiatives; • Assisting with, conducting, interpreting and applying literature reviews; • Assisting with data validation to promote understanding and accuracy of work products and stakeholder engagement; and • Articulating written results of applied models for reports and presentations for various stakeholders include state agency leadership, legislators, policymakers, constituency groups and academic researchers.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
A Master’s degree candidate in economics, statistics or equivalent field, plus 1-2 years in practical experience is preferred. Undergraduate degree holders with sufficient practical experience may be considered.
Required education and experience includes:
- Ability to work discretely with sensitive and confidential data;
- Background in applied statistical modeling of large datasets;
- Applied experience conducting quantitative analysis with Excel, R, Stata, EViews, SPSS or similar software; and
- Familiarity with the Results First benefit-cost model created by the Pew Charitable Trust and MacArthur Foundation is strongly preferred.
- Training and professional experience in program evaluation;
- Experience with Tableau or comparable software for data presentation and reporting;
- Basic understanding of state government operations and the use of public resources through program allocations;
- Strong written and oral communication skills to effectively dialog with diverse stakeholders;
- Ability to manage multiple deliverables, articulate issues impacting scheduling, and meet agreed- upon deadlines;
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- This position is based in Springfield or Chicago; occasional overnight travel is required.
Salary and position classification will be determined based on the level of experience when a job offer is made. Individual salary offers are computed based on an applicant’s current position and experience level in comparison to the posted title as well as internal equity of staff in the organizational unit.
Submit resumes by mail, fax, or e-mail. E-mail: jobs.omb@illinois.gov