Research Economist

Texas A&M • College Station, TX

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Texas Real Estate Research Center was founded in 1971 by an act of the Texas Legislature. The Center’s enabling legislation defines a broad mandate to “conduct studies in all areas related directly or indirectly to real estate and/or urban or rural economics.” In addition to research programs in residential, commercial, and rural land economics, the Center maintains administrative, data, and communications teams to support its research agenda. As a Research Economist, you will develop an in-depth research effort focusing on one or more real estate asset classes. Under the guidance of the research director, you will set an applied annual research agenda, develop findings through rigorous methods and disseminate them in writing (blog posts, articles, and reports), media interviews, and presentations to industry, community and government stakeholders. Through focused attention on current and emerging issues, use of appropriate and sophisticated methods, political neutrality, and the highest ethical standards, your work will benefit from, and enhance, the Center’s reputation as the authoritative voice on economic and real estate conditions in the nation’s leading state economy. You will have opportunities for individual and collaborative projects, influence the broader Center research agenda, and develop relationships with key institutions and leaders in the real estate industry. In short, this is a role that offers the chance to do fulfilling and impactful applied economic work in a dynamic and growing state.

Requirements

• PhD in economics, real estate, or related field.
• Seven years economic or market research, forecasting or analysis in an applied setting (such as private industry, consulting, or public policy) or in an academic role with a heavy outreach and engagement component.
• Proven ability to effectively communicate complex results to a variety of audiences in industry, government and the academy in writing and oral presentations.
• Experience with analytical software such as R, Python, or others.
• Ability to travel for presentations and events.
• History of effective collaborative research work and the ability to be an individual performer without day-to-day supervision.
• Ability to manage multiple, concurrent research projects.
• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.

Nice To Haves

• 10 years applied economic or market research, forecasting or analysis.
• Extensive, public speaking, media and policy engagement.
• Proficiency in advanced research methods (e.g., econometrics, time-series, Dif-in-Dif/synthetic control, segmentation, surveys, etc.) and analysis software (e.g. R, Python, SAS.)
• Experience in automating research workflows: including API-based ingestion, modeling, and generating recurring graphical and tabular outputs.

Responsibilities

• Propose research projects per the Center’s research agenda process, addressing the data and methodology requirements for each project.
• Complete approved research projects under guidance of the research director, and where appropriate, in collaboration with other researchers.
• Apply sophisticated research design, economic, and statistical methods to solve research problems.
• Monitor and assess the Texas implications of economic, financial, and real estate asset trends.
• Develop subject matter expertise in one or more real estate asset classes or crosscutting issues.
• Implement high level of integrity in data collection and maintenance.
• Maintain objectivity and neutrality in all aspects of research.
• Distill and translate research findings into their practical, and actionable implications for the Center’s industry, practitioner, and policy audiences.
• Draft written findings for a variety of channels including blog posts, qualitative articles, videos, and quantitative technical reports or papers.
• Prepare and deliver presentations to Center stakeholder audiences.
• Respond to assigned media and other external information requests.
• Assist research director to identify and define research projects and research resources (data, software, etc.)
• Collaborate with other researchers on projects as needed.
• Participate in staff meetings and events.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums
• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays
• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month
• Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Free exercise programs and release time
• All employees have access to free LinkedIn Learning training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more
• Employee Tuition Assistance and Educational Release time for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree