Research Assistant

Harvard University • Cambridge, MA

33d • Onsite

About The Position

The mission of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School is to support current and future public sector leaders in improving the governance of states, counties, and cities. The Taubman Center and its affiliates, including the Government Performance Lab, Harvard Impact Labs, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, are generating solutions to pressing state and local government challenges through teaching, academic research, hands-on projects with governments, and convenings that bring together policy makers and thought leaders to engage with faculty, staff, fellows, and students. The Research Assistant will work directly with Professor Liebman on a variety of projects related to social policy, economic policy, and government performance. Specific topics may include early education, alternative 911 response, homelessness, social security reform, health care, budget policy, and government innovation. The ideal candidate will have strong programming and quantitative skills, and a long-term interest in pursuing research in economics or public policy.

Requirements

• College background in economics and statistics
• Strong programming skills evidenced by experience with statistical and programming languages such as Stata, R and/or Python

Nice To Haves

• Outstanding achievement in coursework involving advanced quantitative analysis and economic concepts
• Ability to learn new statistical programming languages quickly
• Experience with statistical and programming languages such as STATA, R, and/or Python
• Excellent writing, research, and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently, including on multiple projects at the same time
• Prior research experience from undergraduate thesis research, previous positions, internships, or practicums and/or college coursework is a plus
• Understanding of causal inference methods – randomized controlled trials, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and related approaches is a plus

Responsibilities

• Analyze, manage, clean, and create datasets
• Conduct statistical analyses using languages such as Stata, R, and Python
• Review literature and summarize findings
• Maintain documentation of datasets and analyses
• Help prepare manuscripts for publication and slides for conference presentations
• Help prepare teaching materials

Benefits

• Generous paid time off including parental leave
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one
• Retirement plans with university contributions
• Wellbeing and mental health resources
• Support for families and caregivers
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree