Food Assistance Research Analyst
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a strategic policy organization that informs and shapes public policies to reduce poverty, promote equity, and build opportunity. It has a national reputation for conducting rigorous research and analysis, developing policy ideas and strategies, shaping policy debates, and influencing policy outcomes at the federal and state levels on a broad array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income people.
The Center is seeking a Research Analyst to work with a team of highly skilled national food policy analysts to safeguard and strengthen the nation’s primary food assistance programs. The Food Assistance team works primarily on critical issues related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and Child Nutrition Programs (National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program), including related poverty and unemployment issues. The Food Assistance team works at both the state and federal levels to strengthen federal food assistance programs, by analyzing proposed changes in government policies, designing and sharing new ideas to improve the programs, providing technical assistance to policymakers, conducting research on the programs, and working with federal and state nonprofits on these issues. The Research Analyst is part of a two-person team who work together to produce analysis and undertake the research tasks for the team.
Responsibilities:
- Update and fact check the Center’s reports, blogs, and other products for accuracy.
- Prepare tables, graphs, and other data visualizations to present analytic findings.
- Write programming code (in Stata or R) to extract, transform, clean, and perform advanced manipulation of quantitative data.
- Model legislative and administrative proposals using large datasets, including household survey microdata, administrative data, and state and local unemployment data, and contribute to analyses of policy options and their impact on different populations, including families with children, low-income workers, and communities of color.
- Assist in developing efficient and replicable data management processes.
- Assist team members responding to information requests from policymakers, the media, and other national and state-level organizations, often on tight deadlines.
Qualifications:
- Minimum of four years’ relevant work experience; or master’s degree in a relevant field (economics, statistics, public policy, sociology, mathematics, data science, computer science, or another related field) and minimum of two years’ relevant work experience.
- Strong quantitative skills. Proficiency in Excel and demonstrated experience with one or more software packages or programming languages used for data analysis (such as Stata, SAS, R, Python).
- Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize large amounts of data.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Demonstrated commitment to accuracy, strong attention to detail, and a high degree of organization.
- Strong ability to prioritize and work on multiple tasks both independently and as part of a highly collaborative team under strict deadlines.
- Familiarity with graphics and visualization applications (such as Adobe Illustrator or Tableau) is also an advantage, as is experience with mapping software (such as ArcGIS).
- Familiarity with U.S. nutrition and poverty-related programs, policies, and concepts is an advantage but not required.
- A commitment to the Center’s mission to improve the well-being of low- and moderate-income people and advance racial equity as part of the Center’s work.
This position reports to the Director of Research for Food Assistance Policy.
Terms of Employment: Full-time, exempt position.
Bargaining Unit Status: This is a bargaining unit position.
Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience; excellent benefits including health insurance, dental and vision care, life and long-term disability insurance, retirement, MERP, DCAP, and generous vacation leave, sick leave, and holiday schedules.
Bringing diverse perspectives to public policy debates. To expand the diversity of voices that speak with authority in policy debates, we welcome highly motivated candidates — with particular attention to candidates who have experience with communities that are underrepresented in policy debates and who have familiarity with low-income and diverse communities and issues of racial equity.
Please include a cover letter with your application. In your cover letter, please include a discussion of what draws you to the mission of the Center.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values and welcomes diversity in the workplace and strongly encourages all qualified persons to apply regardless of race, color, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, credit information, pregnancy or parental status, family responsibilities, personal appearance, creed, military or veteran status, religion, ancestry or national origin, union activities, disability, or other status protected by applicable law.