Consulting Data Support Specialist, Analysis Group, Boston, MA

Posted March 13, 2016

Summary: 

This Data Support Specialist will work closely with the Manager of Consulting Data to organize, manage and support effective use of the firm’s data resources in support of its economics, financial and strategy consulting practices. The position requires a combination of domain knowledge, technical expertise, customer service, and administration. 

The Data Support Specialist will be responsible for handling time-sensitive data support requests from consulting case teams.   Key aspects of this role include:

• Identifying potential data sources to address analytical issues
• Coordinating and supporting access to data
• Advising consultants on efficient use of databases
• Performing basic queries and preparing presentation-quality reports from data sources
• Assisting in the development of proprietary Healthcare databases
• Ensuring compliance with data usage terms 

Criteria for success include knowledge of the content, application and restrictions of various data resources; technical skills required for effective use of the data resources; and a commitment to delivering high quality support services to AG’s consulting and administrative staff.

The successful candidate will also oversee parts of the data acquisition process, including communicating with data companies to purchase data; coordinating with the legal team to review and negotiate contracts for data acquisitions; keeping track of  deadlines, expirations and renewals; and updating data vendor information.  This position also involves partnering with the Manager, Consulting Data to assess our mix of existing data products/services and determine whether data products/services should be retired or added.  Finally, this role supports the firm’s activities in monitoring compliance with data contracts and other agreements.

We seek a highly organized self-starter with knowledge of financial and healthcare databases, technical skills for querying databases, excellent customer service skills, and a high attention to detail.  As many of our data requests are time sensitive, the ability to multi-task and to resolve issues rapidly is important.  We are looking for a candidate who is equally effective collaborating with colleagues and working on self-directed projects.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:

• Provide research assistance to case teams as needed, and respond to time-sensitive research inquiries from case teams. This will include locating sources for data and articles, providing advice on the best sources of data and scholarly articles for a given inquiry and designing and running simple queries and preparing presentation-quality reports. Coordinate aspects of the data contracts process, including reaching out to data vendors to purchase data; keeping track of deadlines, expirations and renewals; and updating vendor information.
• Assist consulting teams with database access, including ID and password management.
• Coordinate with the legal team in their review of the legal terms of use for data contracts, as needed.
• Provide training and assistance to consulting teams in the usage of data services.
• Assist in the development, documentation and support of proprietary databases.
• Maintain the Research Resources information page on the firm’s intranet.
• Assist the Manager, Consulting Data in monitoring AG’s data products mix and determining whether certain services should be added or retired.
• Coordinate with the legal team on maintenance and storage of contracts within the contract management system. Coordination will include migrating historical data contracts and information about those contracts into the system, collecting the necessary information about data contracts in order to include it in the system, and loading new contracts into the system.
• Process invoices from data vendors and coordinate with the client finance team to ensure appropriate pass-through cost allocation to clients for certain data services. 
• Assist with the administration of certain data security tasks, such as semi-annual audits of data access permissions. 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and four to six years of professional experience required.  Degree in Library and Information Science preferred.
• Technical understanding of and familiarity with research databases.  Prior experience with financial databases (e.g., Bloomberg, ThomsonOne, S&P Capital IQ), legal databases (e.g., LexisNexis, Docket Navigator) and scholarly article databases (e.g., EBSCO, JStor, Medline) is preferred.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and database query languages (e, g,, SQL),
• Must have strong customer service skills, attention to detail and superior written and oral communication skills.
• Must be able to organize and work on multiple projects simultaneously, prioritize projects, meet deadlines, and be flexible in order to respond to shifting demands from case teams and administrative colleagues.
• Accuracy, attention to detail, and problem solving ability are critical.
• Interest in economics and legal issues.
• Must exhibit a desire to learn, participate, and take ownership of one’s work and workload.

Physical Demands:

• Engage in office work using a computer and telephone.

Nothing in this job description restricts Analysis Group Inc.’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to the position at any time.  The position is at will, which means that it can be terminated by the employee holding the position or by Analysis Group, Inc.  at any time, with or without cause or notice.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities.  

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.  However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Application Process:

To be considered for the position, please visit the careers section of our website (www.analysisgroup.com) and apply directly online.  You must upload a resume and cover letter.  You can review the status of your application status by revisiting the Careers section of the website.  Click on ‘edit application’ and log in using your email address and password that you originally created.  If we are interested in pursuing your candidacy, we will reach out to you directly.