Senior Research Associate

The Poverty Research Unit (PRU) of the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity publishes the NYCgov poverty measure for New York City that is a nationally recognized metric for evaluating and targeting policies intended to reduce poverty. The NYCgov poverty measure has become an important tool for evaluating policies, assessing the progress the city has made over time in reducing poverty, and designing new policies to reduce current levels of economic deprivation. NYC Opportunity also releases an annual brief on the economic condition of immigrants in New York City, connecting economic outcomes to legal status.

We are seeking a Senior Research Associate to collaborate on annual production of the poverty report, conduct analysis of poverty data and join a team focused on policy initiatives to reduce poverty and inequality.


  Responsibilities

The Sr. Research Associate will work on both data management and data analysis tasks. Data analysis will be related to poverty metrics, anti poverty policies, and equity issues. The Sr. Research Associate will be primarily responsible for maintaining and advancing NYC Opportunity’s poverty metrics, estimating immigrant populations and poverty rates, and assisting in production of the NYCgov poverty measure. The Senior Research Associate's responsibilities will include:

Maintain data for the Poverty Research Unit.

  • Structuring and cleaning data and managing version control.
  • Streamlining production of poverty research data to ensure fast access to metrics.
  • Documenting research databases including description of content, context, and changes; enhancing ability to promote discovery through use of data.
  • Reviewing annual releases of American Community Survey for data changes, implementing compatibility with existing data and code, advising on potential impact in production of poverty metrics.

Contribute to production of the NYCgov Poverty Measure and use of the measure by City agencies.

  • Responding to rapid data requests.
  • Contributing to annual production of the NYCgov poverty measure.
  • Supporting modeling of policy alternatives and their comparative outcomes (anti-poverty impacts and distributional consequences).
  • Exploring disparities in economic well-being across population cohorts.

Develop estimates of immigrant populations and poverty in New York City using our existing methodology for the purpose of improved poverty estimates.

  • Requires knowledge of immigrant communities and immigration data, at the national and preferably New York City level.
  • Results are published in an annual briefing or similar data release.
  • Requires collaboration with and data assistance for Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

  Skills We're Seeking

We understand that candidates may not have all of the skills we are seeking below. We encourage those interested to apply even if they do not meet all of them. We are looking for talented individuals to join our team.

Commitment to the mission of advancing greater equality and opportunity.

Experience working closely with communities who are engaging with public services and programs and/or has lived-experience engaging with public services and programs.

Experience in policy, government or non-profit, in particular with low-income and vulnerable youth and families is a plus.

Familiarity in analyzing administrative and survey data. Experience with census data such as American Community Survey microdata are particularly relevant.

Strong knowledge of applied statistics including experience with semi parametric modeling and missing data imputation are particularly desirable.

Proficiency in at least one of the following languages is required: R, Stata or SPSS.

Familiarity with anti-poverty policies and benefit programs at the federal, state or local level such as SNAP, the Earned Income Tax Credit or housing assistance programs.

Must be able to work both independently and in a collaborative setting.

Excellent verbal and written skills.

  Education and Experience

Must have a completed master’s degree from an accredited college in economics or another social policy related field with research experience. Substantial progress towards a doctorate or extensive experience in data analysis is strongly preferred.

  Benefits and Compensation

This is a permanent, full-time position offering competitive salary and benefits. The salary range for this position is $97,138 - $111,000 commensurate with experience and qualifications.

To learn more about the New York City's Employee benefits, visit the NYC Office of Labor Relations.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to provide sponsorship to prospective employees.

  How to Apply

Please fill out the application form. The form will prompt you to upload a resume and cover letter.

In addition to the application form, candidates will have to complete a separate application on the NYC job portal (Job ID: 544306).

Due to the volume of applications received we may not be able to respond to every application.

 

 

This position will require work from our office in Downtown Manhattan. Please note that as of September 13, 2021, NYC government employees are no longer working remotely.

All new staff are required by the City of New York to be vaccinated against Covid-19.