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Research Assistant

The D.C. Policy Center is looking for a self-motivated and well-organized research assistant to work in a fast-paced think tank focused on the District of Columbia. Our main research areas include the economy, education, housing, workforce, and demographics and transportation. Additionally, we work on business conditions, public safety and criminal justice, poverty and economic mobility, and racial equity.
 
This is an entry-level position primarily focused on data collection and analysis, with additional research support duties. The ideal candidate will have strong quantitative and writing skills, excellent attention to detail, and a deep interest in D.C. and the metropolitan region. This position includes opportunities to author publications, steer research methods, and create new projects for the Policy Center.
 
Responsibilities
 


Research and data support (90%)

·        Conduct background research on various topics, such as housing, business conditions, and education.
·        Create and format tables, charts, maps, and data visualizations.
·        Pull, clean, organize, and analyze data.
·        Assist in writing and editing articles, reports, press releases, and other publications for internal and external audiences.
·        Prepare articles and reports for publication on the D.C. Policy Center website.
 


Administrative support (10%)

·        Assist with event planning, and support meetings and events.
 


Experience and skills required:

·        An interest in economic and social policy issues.
·        Experience pulling and cleaning data
·        Experience extracting and analyzing state-, city-, and tract-level data from national data sources, such as the American Community Survey.
·        Experience in analytical research and statistical analysis.
·        Experience in mapping and data visualization (e.g., GIS, Tableau), and interest in expanding these skills.
·        Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint).
·        Familiarity with statistical packages and/or programming languages (e.g., SAS, Stata, R, Python), including experience working with large-scale datasets, and a willingness to develop these skills.
·        Excellent time management skills, with an ability to take initiative, work independently, and meet multiple deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.
·        Clear and concise writing skills.
 


Preferred:

·        Coding experience, especially as it relates to webscraping or other methods of collecting new data, as well as cleaning and joining datasets
·        Education or experience in economics, business, public policy, education, public health, statistics, demography, or related fields.
·        Analytical research skills and experience in econometrics and statistical analysis, especially experience working with large-scale datasets.
·        Experience analyzing and visualizing data with tools such as Stata, R, GIS, Tableau, and/or Python in an applied research setting.
·        Knowledge of D.C. government and policies.
 
 About the D.C. Policy Center | dcpolicycenter.org

The D.C. Policy Center is a non-profit (501(c)3) think tank focusing on local policy issues in the District of Columbia and the surrounding region. The mission of the D.C. Policy Center is to arm decision makers with fact-based, unbiased, and reliable research and analyses to help create a vibrant local economy that can maximize opportunities for residents, workers, and businesses in the District of Columbia.
 
The D.C. Policy Center is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status, or any other protected status under federal or District law. 



Application instructions

 
Send a resume, cover letter, and two writing samples as a single PDF to jobs@dcpolicycenter.org. Priority deadline for applications is May 1st. Applications received after that date will be evaluated as needed on a rolling basis.