Data Scientist - Learning Program Analytics

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Technical 406

Pay Range: $95,900.00 - $143,800.00

Job Description

 

Can your code help students graduate? 
At WGU, we believe it can. As a Data Scientist on our Learning Program Analytics team, you'll apply your technical skills to a mission that matters: making higher education more accessible, equitable, and effective. You'll design models and tools that optimize curriculum, personalize learning pathways, and improve outcomes for learners nationwide—at a scale few organizations can match. 

About Institutional Analytics and Research
The Institutional Analytics and Research (IAR) team supports and enables most university teams, departments, and colleges to make data-informed decisions that lead to better student outcomes. Our analysts, scientists, researchers, and managers are distributed across several teams: Institutional Research, Institutional Metrics & Insights, Outreach Analytics, Faculty Analytics, Learning Program Analytics, and Student Success Analytics.

 

About the Learning Program Analytics Team

We use WGU's rich data assets to build models, run experiments, and support continuous improvement. Our focus is clear: empower great curriculum through rigorous, cutting-edge data science. We combine statistical rigor with meaningful impact and believe every model and experiment should make WGU's courses and programs stronger. 

What you'll do: 

• Clean, preprocess, and validate data using SQL and Python/R to ensure model inputs are accurate and analysis-ready
• Build predictive models using Python or R, applying machine learning, generative and agentic AI techniques, and advanced statistical techniques
• Analyze course-level performance and identify key trends and equity gaps
• Support experiment design and A/B testing frameworks that assess the impact of interventions and curriculum changes
• Support model monitoring and evaluation efforts, tracking performance over time and flagging unexpected changes
• Collaborate across engineering, product, and program development teams to support data-powered curriculum improvements, including assisting with pipeline development and documentation efforts
• Communicate findings clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders

What you bring: 

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• 3+ years of experience building predictive models using machine learning methods. 
• Expert proficiency in Python or R and advanced proficiency in SQL
• Experience working with large, structured, and unstructured datasets. 
• Experience building and working with Generative and Agentic AI

 

Bonus points if you have: 

• Familiarity with GitHub, CI/CD pipelines, and MLOps best practices. 

 

Work Location: 

• This is a full-time, in-office position at WGU’s headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT. You’ll work side-by-side with a multidisciplinary team of analysts, researchers, and educators committed to data-informed innovation.

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Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.