Director, Optimization Analyst

College Board’s Operations division is a best-in-class digital assessment delivery and customer engagement function that supports millions of students and thousands of test centers, annually. The Operations team is also leading exciting work to advance customer experience using innovative solutions, products, and technology to enhance the end-to-end delivery of digital assessments and all aspects of customer support. Within Operations, the Assessment Delivery Operations (ADO) team is responsible for the successful execution of digital assessments like the SAT and Advanced Placement examinations, working closely with partners across College Board, the education sector, and beyond to improve testing technologies, customer experience, and outcomes. ADO’s analytics function powers this work with the data, insights, and decision support that drive efficiency, cost savings, and a stronger customer experience.

The Director, Data Analytics builds predictive and optimization models that improve how Assessment Delivery Operations delivers digital assessments. Reporting to the Senior Director, Data Analytics, you will turn the analytics strategy into working models and decision-support tools. This role is critical to advancing digital transformation at College Board and in the Ops division, building predictive and decision-oriented analytics models. This includes forecasting, modeling, cost assessment, optimization, and decision support. You will own the hands-on development, validation, and deployment of these models, partnering with colleagues across Operations, Product, Program, and Technology to embed your analysis in day-to-day operational decisions and surface opportunities to reduce cost and friction while supporting our mission.

In this role, you will:

Build and deliver analytics models and tools (40%)

Own the Assessment Delivery Operation’s demand-forecasting and capacity-optimization models end to end, from methodology choices through deployment, serving as the team’s technical authority in these areas

Develop, validate, and deploy forecasting, optimization, and simulation models that reduce operational cost and friction

Build demand-forecasting pipelines for assessment, improving both accuracy and turnaround time

Develop real options and capacity optimization models that minimize committed costs while preserving the ability to scale to student demand

Build and validate models that estimate the operational and fiscal impact of potential policy changes across programs

Drive continuous improvement and innovation (25%)

Deliver analytics reporting and dashboards that give stakeholders continuous visibility into key operational metrics and support faster decisions

Research, evaluate, and adopt modern analytic tools and methods (e.g., AI-assisted coding, data synthesis) to increase the speed and scale of your work

Strengthen the reliability and reusability of models so analysis can be rerun and trusted as operational conditions change

Partner across functions to embed analytics (25%)

Partner with colleagues across Product, Program, Operations, and Technology to embed your analysis in operational decisions and surface opportunities to reduce cost and friction

Work with Program and customer-experience partners to model and reduce cross program pain points in the customer flow analysis

Coordinate with Finance and Program on budgetary assumptions, cost drivers, and variance tracking so models reflect real fiscal constraints

Translate analytic findings into clear recommendations that directly shape operational decisions in Product, Program, and Operations

Contribute to analytics strategy and direction (10%)

Shape the analytics roadmap by identifying high-value modeling opportunities and advising the Senior Director on technical feasibility, sequencing, and tradeoffs

Connect your analysis to Assessment Delivery Operation’s broader priorities and College Board’s operational data ecosystem

Translate ambiguous operational problems into structured analytic approaches where no established playbook exists

Identify emerging analytic needs and propose new models or approaches that could improve operational outcomes

About You

You have:

A combination of education and experience equal to 5-7+ years of practical data analysis experience, including leading analytics work in a professional setting.

An undergraduate in business, engineering, economics, or another quantitative field (required). master’s degree in a quantitative or equivalent field (preferred)

Advanced data analytic skills in forecasting, statistical analysis, and cost assessment.

Experience with predictive modeling, statistical analysis, optimization, forecasting, cost assessment, or decision support is strongly preferred.

A proven track record of driving operational excellence and delivering measurable results.

Experience applying analytics to operational, customer experience, or process-improvement challenges in government, education, technology, or service-based industry.

The ability to travel 4-6 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business.

All roles at College Board require:

A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work

Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.

Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal

A learner’s mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.

A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.

A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success

Authorization to work in the United States

Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.