[Hiring] Insights Analyst @NPR

Role Description

You will be critical to building a new, leaner, audience-centric, data-driven app that serves NPR and partnering stations in multi-modal formats. As the Insights Analyst, you will support data-informed decision-making for NPR’s digital ecosystem. Central to this role is hands-on SQL expertise—writing complex queries against massive, unaggregated datasets, translating raw digital behavior into actionable product insights.

In this role, you will be the main point of contact to create measurement plans, implement and QC analytics tags, build automated dashboards, and perform deep-dive analyses across app, web, and video platforms. Working closely with digital product teams, the newsroom, and member station leaders, you will apply a blend of data curiosity and technical pragmatism to expand weekly audiences, increase listening hours, and deepen daily habits.

This role reports to the Audience Insights Director, Digital Insights. This is a union-represented role covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with NABET-CWA DMU.

Responsibilities

• Advanced SQL Analysis & Querying: Independently write, optimize, and streamline complex SQL queries across app, video, and web datasets; regularly handle raw event data, including unnesting nested arrays and struct fields (e.g., BigQuery GA4 export).
• Tagging Implementation & QC: Develop and manage measurement plans for NPR's owned and operated platforms using Google Tag Manager; conduct quality control (QC) and validation of tracking tags across releases.
• Data Infrastructure & Automation: Maintain and optimize scheduled queries, data summaries, and automated reporting pipelines to support sustainable backend data hygiene.
• Stakeholder Consultation & Dashboards: Partner closely with Product and Data Products teams to design, build, and maintain interactive dashboards (e.g., Looker) and establish self-service analytics frameworks for internal stakeholders.
• Product Optimization Insights: Support product analytics needs for the NPR App, website, and video platforms, extracting actionable user habit and audience retention insights.
• Data Quality & Troubleshooting: Diagnose, investigate, and resolve data discrepancies, tracking errors, or underlying schema issues across reporting tools.
• Documentation & Best Practices: Write clear technical guides, tagging specifications, and documentation for app, video, and website analytics standards.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product managers, editorial teams, and technical groups to translate business questions into technical measurement plans and data infrastructure updates.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on SQL experience: Demonstrated proficiency writing complex queries from scratch, working with relational databases and enterprise data warehouses (e.g., BigQuery, Dataform).
• Raw Data & Array Manipulation: Proven experience querying large-scale, raw digital event datasets (such as GA4 raw exports), including demonstrated skill in unnesting arrays and handling complex record structures.
• 2+ years of App & Digital Analytics: Direct experience with app and web event tracking (Firebase, GA4, or similar platforms) and understanding the full tracking lifecycle from tag firing to analysis.
• Tag Management Expertise: 2+ years of experience creating measurement plans and testing/QCing tracking implementations via Google Tag Manager (GTM).
• Data Visualization & Tools: Experience building reports and dashboards in Looker (or similar BI tools) alongside advanced spreadsheet modeling capabilities (Google Sheets/Excel).
• Cross-Functional Communication: Proven ability to collaborate with technical and non-technical teams, translating stakeholder needs into structured data infrastructure plans.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within news media, public broadcasting, or digital content platforms.
• Experience modeling or analyzing data using statistical scripting languages (R or Python).
• Familiarity with building sustainable data governance or self-service analytics systems.

Required Skills/Competencies

• Advanced SQL & Raw Data Querying: Fluent in writing efficient SQL queries against high-volume, event-level and unaggregated data.
• Tagging & Analytics Implementation: Technical competence in digital analytics architecture, Google Tag Manager deployment, Firebase event tracking, and data QA protocols.
• Data Visualization & Storytelling: Proficiency in transforming raw SQL query outputs into intuitive Looker dashboards and clear spreadsheets for stakeholder decision-making.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Strong partner capable of bridging the gap between digital product managers, software engineers, and editorial teams.
• Analytical Problem-Solving: A self-starter mindset dedicated to identifying root causes of data anomalies, writing clear documentation, and iteratively improving data systems.

Work Location & Requirements

This is a remote-permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, D.C. office, but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves. You will have the option of working (a) remotely from a location of your choosing within the United States that is supported by NPR; (b) on-site at an NPR facility, based on the availability of desks and approval from NPR; or (c) a combination of both. Regardless of where you choose to work from, you may be expected to travel to other locations from time to time to perform the duties of your position.

Job Type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

The U.S.-based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $91,276.23 to $98,294.51 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

Benefits

• NPR provides comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents.
• Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options.
• Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being.
• Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.

Company Description

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal – to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.