Research Associate Professor or Research Professor (Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise)

UNC-Chapel Hill • Chapel Hill, NC

3d

About The Position

The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise seeks a Research Associate Professor or Research Professor with expertise in applied economics, economic forecasting, regional economics, labor economics, public policy, or related fields to contribute to the North Carolina Advanced Economic Forecasting Initiative (the Initiative). The faculty member will provide intellectual leadership in economic forecasting methodologies, applied economic research, and public-facing analysis for North Carolina. Responsibilities include conducting and disseminating research, developing forecasts and analytical products, communicating findings to academic, business, government, and community audiences, and contributing to the Institute’s mission of translating research into actionable insights. The successful candidate will collaborate with faculty colleagues, research staff, students, and external partners to advance understanding of North Carolina’s economy and support evidence-based decision making. This position will serve as the Senior Research Economist for the Initiative, and in this role they will lead the development, refinement, validation, and interpretation of economic forecasts, nowcasts, scenario analyses, and related applied research products. Additionally, the Research Associate Professor or Research Professor will work closely with the Executive Director, Director of Research Data Strategy and Analytics, data analysts, faculty affiliates, communications staff, state and local partners, and other Kenan Institute teams to ensure that the Initiative’s economic methodologies and research outputs are rigorous, transparent, actionable, and accessible to both technical and nontechnical audiences. The role will translate complex economic data and forecasting results into practical insight for policymakers, county leaders, economic developers, business organizations, community colleges, workforce partners, researchers and other stakeholders. The Research Associate Professor or Research Professor will help determine appropriate modeling approaches, evaluate forecast accuracy, communicate uncertainty and limitations, prepare written research products, brief stakeholders, and identify emerging economic issues that warrant additional county-level analysis. The Research Associate Professor or Research Professor reports to the Executive Director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise ( KIPE ) and will work in close coordination with the Executive Director, who will lead the Initiative’s strategy, operations, partnerships, stakeholder engagement and public-facing growth. This position may supervise or provide functional guidance to economists, analysts, research staff, students or contractors working on forecasting models, economic analysis, research briefs, county profiles, dashboards or stakeholder deliverables. The position requires strong technical expertise in applied economics, econometrics, forecasting, regional economics, labor economics, public policy or a related field. The successful candidate will help make the Initiative a trusted, objective, and methodologically sound source of economic intelligence for North Carolina. This position is contingent upon the continued availability of funding.

Requirements

• Expertise in applied economics, economic forecasting, regional economics, labor economics, public policy, or related fields
• Strong technical expertise in applied economics, econometrics, forecasting, regional economics, labor economics, public policy or a related field

Nice To Haves

• Experience with county-level, regional, state or local economic data
• Experience developing or maintaining forecasts, nowcasts, scenario models, economic indicators, composite indexes or regional economic dashboards
• Experience with GDP, employment, wages, industry composition, workforce skills, housing affordability, tax revenue, migration, business formation or other state and local economic indicators
• Experience communicating economic analysis to policymakers, local government officials, business leaders, economic developers, workforce partners, media or community audiences
• Experience working with public data sources such as BEA, BLS, Census, ACS, QCEW, LAUS, Zillow, Freddie Mac, Lightcast, state administrative data or similar datasets
• Experience evaluating model performance, forecast accuracy, confidence intervals, revisions, scenario ranges or uncertainty communication
• Experience managing analysts, mentoring junior economists or leading cross-functional applied research teams
• Familiarity with North Carolina’s economy, regional differences, rural and urban economic development issues, workforce trends, housing markets or local government decision-making
• Ability to balance academic rigor with practical usefulness for stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Conducting and disseminating research
• Developing forecasts and analytical products
• Communicating findings to academic, business, government, and community audiences
• Contributing to the Institute’s mission of translating research into actionable insights
• Collaborating with faculty colleagues, research staff, students, and external partners
• Leading the development, refinement, validation, and interpretation of economic forecasts, nowcasts, scenario analyses, and related applied research products
• Translating complex economic data and forecasting results into practical insight for policymakers, county leaders, economic developers, business organizations, community colleges, workforce partners, researchers and other stakeholders
• Determining appropriate modeling approaches
• Evaluating forecast accuracy
• Communicating uncertainty and limitations
• Preparing written research products
• Briefing stakeholders
• Identifying emerging economic issues that warrant additional county-level analysis
• Supervising or providing functional guidance to economists, analysts, research staff, students or contractors working on forecasting models, economic analysis, research briefs, county profiles, dashboards or stakeholder deliverables

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed