Day in the Life: Q&A with Senior Technical Program Manager Drew McDermott

How would you describe your role on the Analyst Team?  

As a Senior Technical Program Manager within our Data Science division, I lead complex project work and support the technical capacity of the division. I'm a member of the Analytic Systems Functional Group on the Analyst Team, where I lead efforts to improve the tools and processes we use to produce and deliver data insights efficiently and at scale. 

On the project side, my work often involves using data systems, like an Enable Data Union (EDU) implementation or previously, the CORE data system, to produce data insights for our partners. I still regularly write analysis code while also supporting the technical work of other analysts, data engineers, and researchers through collaboration and review. I also work closely with our Implementation & Services Team leaders to represent technical considerations in scoping deliverables and ensuring that projects stay on track. 

Outside of project work, I’m responsible for skill development within the division, including socializing effective coding norms and developing systems-related best practices. I also lead our DevOps function, improving our technical infrastructure to ensure it continues to meet the evolving analytic needs of the division.

What interested you in working at EA?  

My path to EA is interesting as this is my second stint with the organization. Previously, I had a fellowship at EA while I was in graduate school during a much earlier phase in the organization’s development. Both then and now, I’m drawn to EA’s dedication to one of our organizational values, Service Orientation. This value is evident in our work with partner organizations as we strive to collaboratively develop solutions in support of students and educators. EA’s innovative, technically-sound, and community-of-practice approach, across both process and technology, is a significant part of what brought me back.

We know that every day is different, but what would a typical day at EA look like for you?  

During a typical day, I move between project meetings where we discuss project status and determine key decisions that still need to be made, to more technical-focused work, such as reviewing colleagues’ code and collaboratively problem-solving analytic challenges. Day-to-day, I greatly value the opportunity to connect with colleagues in different roles and contribute to a variety of projects at different stages. 

I also appreciate that I continue to have regular opportunities to make hands-on contributions to analytic work—for example, developing a new analytic pipeline in R or data models in SQL. 

What skills do you possess that you find helpful in your role?  

My role requires that I strike a balance between my close attention to detail and my ability to step back, see the full picture, and prioritize work accordingly. I’m also a deliberate, strategic thinker, which helps in situations where there isn’t a single path forward and where upfront planning leads to more robust, scalable solutions. I’m a good listener and have developed a practiced ability to translate partners’ requests and questions into concrete, feasible technical solutions. 

What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?  

The staff at EA are an amazing group of dedicated, intelligent, curious, and funny people—getting to engage with these folks is a special part of working here. Much of my work involves contributing alongside a large team spanning a variety of functional disciplines. It’s incredibly rewarding to be involved in work that evolves from a partner’s question about data in multiple source systems to analytic insights that are displayed intuitively in a dynamic dashboard. It’s gratifying to see how the pieces of work from each internal contributor fit together to support the final product. 

What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on at EA?  

One ongoing project that’s been exciting is collaborating with our IT Team and Internal Analytics Team to maintain and improve our internal environment and technical infrastructure for conducting analytics. This across-team resource includes multiple compute servers, Posit Workbench, R and Python environments, and centrally maintained internal and external packages.   

One recent initiative we’re working on is developing a new framework for making regular updates to the internal compute environment, including building a more robust system for reviewing and vetting changes. I greatly appreciate my cross-team collaborators in this work as I’m able to learn from their technical specialties that differ from my own. Maintaining this shared environment is both challenging and validating, as it supports production-scale and consistency while facilitating innovation, including through new package development. 

If you had to choose a different team to work on at EA, which team would you pick and why?  

This is a tough question as there are several teams doing interesting technical work at EA that would be exciting to dig in to. For an out-of-the-box answer for me, I’ll say our Administrative Services Team given how much I appreciate their role in our organization and how outside of my comfort zone their work is. They truly keep EA moving from maintaining our wonderful office space in Madison to planning and facilitating all-staff meetings and gatherings. Their focus areas provide critical cohesion for an organization of folks doing lots of different things, and the creativity and attention-to-detail they bring into planning these events is astonishing. 

What changes do you anticipate in your field next year?  

2025 was a year that generative AI took off in data science and data analytics, and I see that trend continuing this year. I’m very curious to see how the use of large language models (LLMs) in coding and data science continues to mature, and where efficiency gains are realized. I’m planning to continue to explore different AI-supported workflows myself, and I’ll be keeping close tabs on the tools and approaches that are being most widely adopted in the broader field. 

What is something you enjoy in your free time?  

I love to read–I’m a big fan of more classically-themed mysteries, and I avidly read a bit of everything. A few of my recent favorite reads are Atmosphere, Run for the Hills, and Barn 8. I also feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place (the Pacific Northwest) and I love being active outside in all seasons. This includes hikes into the Cascade Mountains, cross-country skiing in the Methow Valley, swimming in our many local bodies of water, and biking around town. Recently, I’ve been seeing how many kids we can fit on our paddleboard and training for a half marathon that’s quickly sneaking up on me. 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?  

I had a lengthy cowboy phase when I was very little. My fascination with the frontier continues to this day as I’m still captivated by well-written, thoughtful western novels or films. But generally growing up, I didn’t have too much clarity on a path I wanted to pursue. However, my mom was an English teacher, so I’ve always had an insider connection to education and the highs and lows of being an educator. 

What is something that you would tell your younger self about your career? 

At each step, there’s never just one path, and careers inevitably wind. No need to overthink each professional decision. At the same time, stay empowered to make a change and try on something new, especially if the current gig isn’t working. 

In finding the right fit, focus most concretely on the people you’ll be working with and the skills you’ll be building.