Research Assistant, Economic and Technology Policy

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)—the world’s top-ranked technology and economic policy think tank—seeks an economic and technology research assistant to work on a wide range of issues related to technological innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. The research assistant will identify, collect, and analyze data (it is a highly data-intensive position); conduct scholarly literature reviews; engage in case-study, qualitative research; and draft reports, blog posts, and op-eds. The position will be based in Washington, DC, reporting to ITIF’s president.

The ideal applicant will be a detail-oriented, intrinsically motivated self-starter who can work both independently and within a team and who is inquisitive, industrious, and thoroughly enjoys finding, organizing, and analyzing complex data sets. The successful candidate will be a quick study and highly productive researcher, writer, and thinker. He or she will be expected to write reports and articles under the supervision of other team members and also assist other team members in data collection and quantitative analysis.

The successful candidate is adept at both quantitative and qualitative research and is able to explain advanced technical concepts to non-experts clearly and concisely.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Conduct case analyses, literature reviews, and research memos to actively contribute to policy reports, articles, and wider research projects.
• Locate, extract, manipulate, find patterns, and draw conclusions from public and private datasets.
• Compile and analyze data from national and international statistical economic databases. 

Qualifications:

• A master’s degree, or equivalently developed professional skills, in economics, public policy, international economics, international trade, or a related field.
• Strong background in Excel, with an understanding of statistics, data analytics, and data visualization. (Proficiency working in R would be a plus.)
• Demonstrated success as a careful researcher who detests errors.
• Exceptional writing skills—especially an ability to write clearly, succinctly, logically, and persuasively for policymakers and lay stakeholder audiences alike.
• Keen interest in technology, competitiveness, and related policy.
• Working familiarity with the federal statistical system also would be a significant plus, including the data sets available from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and others.
• Highly proactive and flexible, with an ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects in a dynamic, rapidly moving environment.
• Highly productive and efficient.
• Experience with statistical and visual programs such as R, Stata, and Tableau a plus.

Salary Range: 

$50,000 - $70,000

Application Process:

To apply for this position, please submit the following: 

• Resume.
• Cover letter stating why you want to apply for this specific position and why your qualifications are a good fit. Note that resumes submitted without a tailored cover letter will not be considered.
• A writing sample of 2-3 pages, ideally on a related topic. 

Applications will be considered until the position is filled.