Data & Automation Engineer

Full-time

Description

DEPARTMENT: Professional Services

REPORTS TO: VP OF STRATEGIC INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS

LOCATION: Chicago IL

FLSA CLASSIFICATION: EXEMPT

THE ORGANIZATION

Through clinical services education and research The Family Institute at Northwestern University is one of the nations leading relationship-based behavioral health organizations committed to strengthening and healing children and adolescents couples families and individuals. When you join The Family Institute you are joining a team of over 230 collaborators comprised of clinicians educators researchers therapists-in-training partners and administrators across three service sites. We are a strong independent organization focused on advancing the world of behavioral health.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a Data & Automation Engineer to join the Analytics team at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. This role designs and implements scalable data and workflow automation to support education programs clinical services and shared services (HR finance facilities and IT). The ideal candidate will have deep experience in Power Platform (Power BI Power Automate Power Apps Microsoft Lists) a strong understanding of data architecture and a proven ability to translate organizational needs into actionable tools and insights in a HIPAA/FERPA-constrained environment.

This position will increase operational efficiency enable data-driven decisions and reduce manual work across departments. The engineer will report to and partner closely with the VP of Strategic Insights & Analytics to prioritize projects and deliver solutions with enterprise-level impact.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Data Architecture & Reporting

1. Design scalable governed data architectures to support education clinical and shared services reporting.
2. Build optimize and maintain Power BI semantic models and report suites; enforce consistent metric definitions via shared datasets and certification.
3. Implement data quality checks (e.g. anomaly detection completeness referential integrity) and lineage & documentation (e.g. dataset descriptions field definitions).

Workflow Automation & Process Improvement

1. Lead the automation of high-volume or manual workflows using Power Automate and Copilot agents to intelligently route tasks summarize inputs and recommend next steps based on historical patterns.
2. Develop and maintain Power Apps Microsoft Lists and Microsoft Forms to streamline data collection and operational processes.
3. Collaborate with HR Finance Facilities and IT (shared services) to design cross-departmental automation pilots that increase efficiency and reduce redundancies.

Solution Governance & Compliance

1. Establish solution lifecycle standards (design - build - deploy - maintain) to ensure automations and reports are sustainable documented and supportable.
2. Apply security and compliance best practices including data loss prevention (DLP) role-based access and least-privilege principles across Power BI Power Platform apps and related data sources; ensure compliance with HIPAA FERPA and TFI policies.
3. Maintain clear documentation (data flows dependencies ownership) and handoff guides to reduce risk and enable continuity.

Collaboration Intake & Data Governance

1. Run a transparent intake and prioritization process (request app SLAs scoring) with the VP of Strategic Insights & Analytics to manage the project pipeline.
2. Partner with stakeholders in Clinical Operations Education HR Finance Facilities and IT to map processes and deliver sustainable high-impact solutions.
3. Contribute to data governance by defining metrics ownership and review cadences and by promoting consistent definitions across departments.
4. Develop training and adoption resources (quick-start guides FAQs Copilot assistants office hours) to drive self-service and long-term solution success.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

1. Stay current with Power Platform Power BI Microsoft Fabric and emerging AI capabilities; recommend approaches that incorporate Copilot agents to improve scalability usability and cost-efficiency.
2. Create quick-start guides embedded help and short how-to videos; enable super-users/champions and host office hours.
3. Perform other duties as assigned by manager for business necessity

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Knowledge and Skills

1. Extensive experience with Power BI including building optimizing and troubleshooting semantic models and reports.
2. Proficiency in Power Automate Power Apps Microsoft Forms and Microsoft Lists.
3. Experience with ETL processes integrating data from multiple sources including cloud-hosted applications and APIs.
4. Familiarity with SQL or other data querying languages.
5. Proven ability to develop workflow automations and streamline operational processes including leveraging AI and/or leveraging Copilot agents to enhance decision-making reduce manual effort and intelligently guide users through complex workflows.
6. Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
7. Demonstrated project management skills including scoping execution and delivery of analytics or automation projects.
8. Ability to work independently and prioritize multiple initiatives.
9. Experience in healthcare education or nonprofit settings preferred.
10. Knowledge of data warehousing (e.g. Azure Synapse Amazon Redshift) and data governance best practices preferred.
11. Advanced analytics skills (Python R or SAS) preferred.
12. Experience with machine learning or predictive analytics preferred.
13. Relevant certifications (e.g. Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate Power Platform certifications Certified Analytics Professional) preferred.
14. Perform other duties as assigned by manager for business necessity.

MINIMUM HIRING SPECIFICATIONS

• Bachelors degree in Data Science Computer Science Information Systems or related field or equivalent work experience; Masters degree preferred.
• 5-7 years of experience.

Requirements

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Must be able to compose written reports clearly and effectively
2. Must be able to be in a stationary position due to attention to computer screen
3. The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations
4. The ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer) to perform work-related duties
5. Must be able to apply established protocols in a timely manner
6. Must be able to determine solutions to problems
7. Must be able to operate successfully while handling multiple projects

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The Family Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race color ancestry religion sex national origin sexual orientation age citizenship marital status disability gender identity Veteran status or any other protected class. We strive to create a working environment that is free of all forms of discrimination and one that promotes human dignity and mutual respect among all staff. We believe every member of our organization enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world to identify challenges and to discover design and deliver solutions.

If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete this application please direct your inquiries to the Recruiter.

Compensation is based on a number of factors including but not limited to: scope and responsibilities of the position; a candidates applicable work experience key skills and qualifications as well as internal and external market considerations. The pay range for this full-time exempt position is $105297.00 - $144727.00/year. The Family Institute provides competitive benefits including health a 403(b) retirement savings plan generous time off and professional development. For a more inclusive list of benefits please visit our Careers page at