Data & Policy Analyst

The School and State Finance Project (schoolstatefinance.org) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy organization that works collaboratively with policymakers, communities, and other key stakeholders to develop data-driven solutions that ensure all public school students receive equitable education funding that supports their learning needs.

Our Mission: To eliminate racial and economic disparities in Connecticut education funding.

Our Vision: All Connecticut students have equitable funding, access, and opportunities — no matter their race, socio-economic status, learning needs, or zip code.

Since our founding in 2015, we have secured an additional $770 million in need-based funding for Connecticut students, directly engaged nearly 15,000 community members, and led the effort to implement a comprehensive, student-centered funding formula.

We are an independent and trustworthy source of high-quality research and accessible analysis, and serve as a bridge between those who demand equity for all students and the elected leaders who are charged with making policy.

Although not a member-based organization, the School and State Finance Project actively works with a diverse group of stakeholders and communities across Connecticut. The School and State Finance Project aims to serve as a trusted resource for state and local policymakers, school district officials, community leaders, and all people looking for transparent, accessible, and approachable information about education funding and state finance.

The School and State Finance Project is a fiscally sponsored project of TSNE (tsne.org).

Reporting to the Director of Data & Analysis, the Data & Policy Analyst will analyze and help develop policy proposals that advance the Project’s goal of creating a more equitable, transparent, and unified school finance system, and address the State of Connecticut’s longstanding state fiscal and budgetary challenges.

The ideal Data & Policy Analyst will have outstanding research and analysis skills, a familiarity with public finance and education policy, and the ability to make complex information easily digestible to broad audiences. The individual must be tactful and able to work with individuals and organizations who have diverse perspectives that may not always align. The Data & Policy Analyst should be passionate about fixing how schools in Connecticut are funded and the structural issues at the heart of Connecticut’s fiscal picture.

The role is designed to prioritize data analysis skills up front, allowing the analyst to build strong understanding of the data driving school finance before taking on deeper policy development responsibilities over time. The analyst will also work closely with the organization’s Policy team, under the Director of Research & Policy, to support the organization’s policy development and research efforts.

Essential Functions

• Modeling and analyzing the fiscal impacts of various policy proposals for both internal policy development efforts and for use during the state’s legislative session;
• Maintaining and updating internal data systems containing education, economic, and budgetary data series for use in research and policy efforts;
• Creating, maintaining, and updating data visualizations and other public-facing tools to communicate complex information to the public;
• Synthesizing large and complex datasets to identify key takeaways and communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders and audiences;
• Performing quantitative and qualitative analyses to develop equitable school finance policy solutions that could be successfully implemented in Connecticut;
• Working in collaboration with members of the organization’s Data and Policy teams to complete research projects from end to end, including: developing research questions and designs, collecting and cleaning data, analyzing data and policies, surfacing best practices, and presenting findings through written reports, presentations, web tools, and data visualizations;
• Supporting the Policy team through data analysis and fiscal modeling related to policy development and research;
• Executing and communicating well-defined analyses in an independent manner;
• Documenting tasks, methods, data, and findings to a high level of precision and ensuring accuracy and efficiency in all work;
• Providing analytical support to help nonprofit and governmental partners achieve their mission and goals by participating in organizational consulting work.

Special Requirements

• Valid driver’s license and access to car.
• Ability and willingness to travel throughout Connecticut.

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.

Don't meet all the qualifications? That’s ok! Studies have shown individuals — in particular those who are women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, or have a disability — are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single condition. Our organization is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive culture of belonging, so if you're excited about this role but your experiences don't match every qualification exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or another role in our organization!

• Candidates must hold a graduate degree in public policy, economics, business administration, statistics, or a related field from an accredited university, or have at least two years of experience in an environment related to public policy;
• Experience in quantitative or qualitative analysis of public policy, public finance, or education policy;
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, including the ability to communicate complex, technical information to non-expert audiences;
• Interest in education finance and a willingness to grow policy development and policy analysis skills over time;
• Commitment to credible and independent policy research and analysis, and attention to detail and accuracy;
• Strong Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills;
• Experience or willingness to learn cloud storage and computing tools;
• Willingness to learn and use data analysis and visualization tools & programming languages such as R, Python, SQL, Tableau, Shiny, or Leaflet.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described for this position are that of a typical office environment. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Ability to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time in front of a computer screen is an essential aspect of the position. There may be a need to lift and/or move materials or equipment. The job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards and the likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight. Additionally, environmental and work hazards are not present to a measurable degree.

Compensation and Benefits

Application Closing Date: May 26, 2026

Position Start Date: July 13, 2026

Position Location: Hybrid: remote or organization office at 316 North Main Street, Suite 3, Southington, CT 06489.

Position Schedule: Regular Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

Compensation: The salary for this position will be $70,000 - $80,000 dependent on experience and expertise.

Benefits: This position is eligible for a full benefits package.

• Generous Paid-Time-Off (PTO): 16 paid holidays, 3 weeks of paid vacation, 5 paid personal days, paid sick time, paid health leave, and paid volunteering time off;
• 80% employer-paid, offering some $0 deductible health insurance through Harvard Pilgrim along with several low-deductible plans;
• Low-cost Dental and Vision insurance;
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for health and dependent care;
• Employer-paid Life, Long- and Short-Term Disability Insurance;
• Employer contribution to pension plan through TIAA;
• ...and more!

The School and State Finance Project was founded with the mission to mitigate inequity in education funding and provide opportunities to Connecticut’s public school students no matter their race, ethnicity, community, or background.

We recognize that within this work, systemic racism plays a powerful and harmful role in the creation of inequitably funded school systems and the outcomes of students. We also recognize this same systemic discrimination is deeply intertwined in our state’s economic policies.

We are committed to explicitly addressing how systemic racism and racial injustice intersect with our work. We will consciously use the independence and self-acknowledged privilege of our organization to call for equity and fairness in all facets related to our mission, and will actively listen to — and collaborate with — the historically underserved and disenfranchised communities we are working to strengthen.

We continually work to ensure this commitment is reflected in the diversity of our staff, the data we analyze, the policies we develop, and the conversations we have with policymakers, stakeholders, and community members across Connecticut.

We know as an organization, and as individuals, we will always have learning to do, room to grow, and ways we can be better allies. We hope you join us in this commitment to build a more equitable state for Connecticut’s students, families, and communities.

TSNE/SSFP strives to achieve excellence through a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment that embraces all of our individual and collective differences. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Middle Eastern and North African, Bilingual and/or Bicultural candidates, and LGBTQ2SIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We value and honor the unique talents, learning styles, and lived experiences of each individual that enrich and strengthen our workplace culture, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

All employment conditions are based on an individual’s performance and job qualifications. TSNE/SSFP prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, creed, color, religion, native language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, race-based hairstyles, or any other protected characteristic stated by federal and state law. Regardless of any class’ protection under the law or lack thereof, TSNE/SSFP celebrates diversity and values the strengths that come with having a diverse team of employees. It is represented in our workplace culture, and it is who we are.

TSNE/SSFP's EEO statement extends to volunteers, interns, contractors, vendors, and clients.