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Position: Data Analyst, Labor Specialist

Work with California earnings data!

The California Policy Lab seeks a full-time data analyst to join a dynamic research team working on several policy-relevant projects focused on the unemployment insurance (UI) system, the labor market impacts of the pandemic, and others. Using administrative individual-level employment, earnings, and unemployment data from the State of California, the data analyst will clean and manage data, produce descriptive reports, and estimate quasi-experimental and predictive models. This position is open to US Citizens or permanent residents. The data analyst will work at one of CPL’s government partners on site in Sacramento, though the person may be asked to work remotely at times in accordance with state policies related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

About the California Policy Lab

The California Policy Lab (CPL) creates data-driven insights for the public good. Our mission is to partner with California’s state and local governments to generate scientific evidence that solves California’s most urgent issues, including homelessness, poverty, criminal justice reform, and education inequality. We facilitate close partnerships between policymakers and researchers at the University of California to help evaluate and improve public programs through empirical research and technical assistance. CPL’s UCLA site is a growing organization with 20 full-time employees, a half dozen graduate student researchers, and numerous faculty affiliates.

CPL recognizes the value of having a diverse staff at all levels of the organization. We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent and understand the diverse racial and ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational, socioeconomic, cultural, and disability backgrounds present in California. When you join our team, you can expect to be part of an inclusive and equity-focused community.

The Role

The California Policy Lab is seeking a full-time Data Analyst with a background in applied economics and experience using administrative individual-level data on employment, earnings, income, and/or job training programs. The Data Analyst will contribute to our organization’s proven track record of bridging the gap between academic researchers and government policymakers at the local level in Los Angeles, and at the state level in California. The California Policy Lab has unparalleled access to administrative data that is being used to help analyze the impact of what has been the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.

We are seeking candidates with a master’s degree or PhD with prior work experience, but are open to candidates with a BA and at least four years of relevant work experience. The successful candidate will have exceptionally strong skills in data manipulation, wrangling, and cleaning; database queries; and experience running, testing, and interpreting a variety of linear models including OLS, logit, negative binomial, Poisson, and proportional hazards. Candidates will preferably have experience coding in Stata, though SQL or R are also desired. Experience coding in SAS preferred but not required; some on-the-job-training in EDD systems will be provided. This position requires an individual who is able to work in small research teams running multiple projects concurrently. We seek highly organized individuals with superior written and verbal communications skills and excellent time management ability. Finally, we seek candidates who are passionate about finding innovative solutions to labor market problems facing California policymakers and citizens.

To apply, please send a CV and short statement of interest to ucla@capolicylab.org. Please be sure to indicate your statistical programming experience. Expected salary range at EDD is $70,000 - $95,000 depending on experience. Feel free to contact ucla@capolicylab.org with any questions.