Established in 2010, Nazarbayev University is the flagship research-intensive academic institution for Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region. Kazakhstan is linked to Asia and Europe and has a mission to develop a knowledge economy, based on strong and robust institutions, including Nazarbayev University.

NU is an autonomous English language university with a mandate for world class research. International faculty from 60 countries and international students from 30 countries create a strong and ambitious scholarly community, willing to take leadership roles.

The University offers doctoral, masters and bachelor’s programs to over 6,100 students in Sciences and Humanities, Business, Education, Engineering and Digital Sciences, Medicine, Mining and Geosciences and Public Policy.

The University hosts the most advanced scientific research laboratories in the region, with over 70 laboratories and a data centre.

Job Duties of the Employee:

The employee will be based in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Job Description:

Job title: Head of Institutional Research (Office of the Provost)

Reports to: Provost

Key and functional tasks of the department:

1.        The Office of the Provost provides system-wide oversight and system-wide academic interventions to ensure the quality, relevance, function and standards of the Academic mission of the University

2.        The Office of the Provost supports Schools of the University by providing interventions and support to enhance the delivery of education.

3.        The Office of the Provost provides oversight and leadership for the research mission of the University both in the Schools and in Research centers.

Key and functional tasks of the position

The Head performs the following duties and responsibilities:

1)       designs a university-wide institutional research strategy, and is responsible for the ongoing review and implementation of this strategy;

2)       supports Deans, faculty and staff of NU Schools and Research Centers to ensure an evidence-based approach to academic decision making;

3)       undertakes  evidence-based targeted interventions to enhance the educational experience of NU students;

4)       supports local requirements for institutional research and improvements in academic matters;

5)       develops NU as a national center of expertise in the area of institutional research, and contributes to the sharing of the NU experience with Kazakhstani and regional higher education institutions;

6)       uses institutional research to support university accreditation and the NU Quality Framework;

7)       shares NU institutional research experience within NU and with other universities in Kazakhstan and the region;

8)       initiates institutional research projects, with the approval of the Provost, consistent with the strategy of NU;

9)       mentors local staff and students to develop institutional research capacity;

10)  develops own research interests and scholarly activities;

11)  undertakes professional development consistent with the role, as well as professional development for members of the Analytical Talent Network (ATN);

12)  coordinates, mentors, develops and appraises direct reports;

13)  timely and properly executes the tasks of the line manager and the University’s management;

14)  reviews and approves administrative surveys;

15)  undertakes the production of the Institutional Monthly-Friday Fact (IR-MFF);

16)  observes the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Employer`s internal documents;

17)  is responsible for exercising the labor and performance discipline;

18)  is responsible for ensuring the integrity of official documents, and prevention of the disclosure or leakage of confidential and business information, as well as information of restricted access in accordance with the legislation, Charter and internal documents of the Employer;  

19)  in case of dismissal, is responsible for timely transfer of all paper documentation, digital information, inventory to another employee as instructed by the line manager (to be certified by the act of acceptance-transfer).

Education: Master’s degree (a doctoral degree preferred)  preferably from a higher education institution with English as the language of instruction, in a field with a strong quantitative component, such as Business and Economics, Public Policy, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Education, and Social Sciences.

Work experience: A minimum of 7 years (or 5 years for those holding a doctoral degree in a relevant field) of work experience preferably in higher education, with at least three years (two for doctoral degree holders) managing people and implementing analytics projects.

Knowledge: 

- High level of understanding of the role of institutional research and of analytics in higher education;

- A comprehensive knowledge and understanding of international accreditation, evaluation, assessment, and rankings;

- High ability to design and implement innovative projects, procedures and practices that address specific problems;

- Substantial knowledge of and experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods and designs (including survey design and implementation);

- High ability to analyze data (quantitative and qualitative), synthesize findings, draw conclusions and make evidence-based recommendations to the University leadership;

- Academic program review and the evaluation and development of policies and practices in higher education settings;

- Knowledge and appreciation of the strategic issues relevant to modern international higher education in the region and beyond;

- Familiarity with recent trends in data analytics and visualization;

- Understanding of staff professional development needs and ability to design training programs to enhance analytical capacity within and beyond the team; 

- Proficiency in the use of statistics packages (such as STATA, R and/or SPSS) and of the Microsoft Office suite, and basic familiarity with programming languages (such as SQL, Python, or R).

- Knowledge and understanding of ethical standards relevant to data management within a higher education context.

Skills:

- Strong planning and organizational skills;

- Project and team management skills;

- Supervision and mentoring (and an influencer of people);

- Outstanding analytical skills and critical/creative thinking;

- Excellent communication and presentation skills;

- Exceptional attention to detail;

- Tact and understanding;

- Ability to work in diverse teams and settings

Recruitment and selection process
Recruitment and selection at Nazarbayev University include the following process: preliminary selection based on experience and qualifications, assessments (e.g. technical skills/capabilities, aptitude, personality, work samples, in-basket exercises, and informal interviews), and motivation.

Formal interviews form the final stage of the selection process.
They are typically based on organizational values and behaviors and conducted in English.
You are encouraged to share your views and values  to identify how they fit into  Nazarbayev University core values