Data Analyst

TITLE: Data Analyst DIVISION: Ontario Management

REPORTS TO: Sr. Demand Planner FLSA CLASSIFICATION: Exempt/Salary

Gold Star Foods is the leading food distributor to K-12 schools in the United States. We are a company devoted to providing our customers with incredible customer service. We know our employees make the difference! Join our team and find out what it is like to work somewhere where you enjoy getting up for work every day!

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Data Analyst, under the supervision of the Sr. Demand Planner, plays a crucial role in transforming company data into actionable insights that enable informed decision-making and strategic planning. Gather, clean, and analyze data from disparate sources across the business — sales, purchasing, inventory, and operations — to identify trends, answer business questions, and support data-driven decisions.

Effectively collaborate with departmental stakeholders to understand business goals, define metrics, and gather requirements. Translate those requirements into clear analyses, reports, and dashboards. Present findings and recommendations in a form that is easily understood by both technical and non-technical audiences, and support continuous improvement of the company's analytics and reporting processes.

PRINCIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Learn our data models thoroughly to produce foundational datasets and analyses.
• Meet with stakeholders to gather requirements and clarify business questions.
• Collect, clean, and validate data from multiple sources to ensure accuracy and consistency.
• Perform ad hoc and recurring analyses to identify trends, patterns, and business opportunities.
• Write efficient SQL and Python code to extract and transform data for analysis.
• Build and maintain reports and dashboards in AIT to track KPIs and business performance.
• Summarize and present findings, insights, and recommendations to stakeholders in clear, actionable formats.
• Maintain data integrity and ensure accuracy through data validation and QA.
• Troubleshoot data discrepancies, report issues and error messages; escalate system issues as needed.
• Keep assigned tasks up to date, with deadlines, roadblocks, dependencies, annotations, and status.
• Produce and maintain documentation of analyses, data definitions, and procedures.
• Maintain an organized and up-to-date JIRA work environment.
• Document reports, datasets, and other data objects in Confluence.
• Help users with reporting and data-related issues and questions.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Proficiency in Python for data analysis and automation.
• Working knowledge of TypeScript for building data tools and applications.
• Knowledge of AWS cloud services (e.g., S3, Lambda, Redshift, or similar).
• Familiarity with large language models (LLMs) and applying AI tools to analytics workflows.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and data cleansing techniques.
• Knowledge of foundational database concepts such as primary keys, ERD, schemas, and data relationships.
• Solid grasp of basic statistics and analytical methods (trends, variance, comparisons).
• Working knowledge of Jira for task and workflow management.
• Project management skills — planning, prioritizing, and tracking work to deadlines across multiple stakeholders.
• Knowledge of GitHub for version control and collaborative development.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Ability to explain technical and analytical concepts in simple terms to key stakeholders and peers.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience in software development is an added advantage.
• Experience with Python, AWS & Microsoft NAV
• Previous experience in food service distribution or supply chain analytics.
• Familiarity with data manipulation, cleansing techniques, and data type compatibility.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in Data Analytics, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Systems, Economics, or any applicable field preferred.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience in data analysis, business analytics, or a related field of data management.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Professional office environment. Primary office environment is ambient room temperatures, lighting and traditional office equipment as found in a typical office environment.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Individuals may need to sit or stand as needed. May require walking primarily on a level surface for periods throughout the day. Reaching above shoulder heights, below the waist, or lifting as required to file documents or store materials throughout the workday. Proper lifting techniques are required. May include lifting to 25 pounds on occasion.

Affirmative Action Statement:

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer, and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor under federal, state or local law.

Pay Rate $26-$28 per hour