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Research Professional – Damon Jones (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)

Chicago, IL

Job Title: Research Professional (RP)

Location: Chicago, IL

Salary Ranges: $55,000–62,000 annual salary with additional $2,000 professional development fund

Terms: Seeking a Research Professional for a period of at least one but ideally two years

Projects: Projects include understanding the inequalities across socioeconomic groups

Expected Start Date: 8/15/2025

 

Job Summary:

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) is seeking to hire a full-time Research Professional to work with Damon Jones, Associate Professor. Successful candidates will work directly with Prof. Jones and co-authors as a part of Socieconomic Inequalities Initiative and BFI’s Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP). Professor Jones conducts research at the intersection of three fields: public finance, household finance, and labor economics. The position entails collaboration on new and ongoing research on inequality in household financial outcomes, guaranteed income programs, labor markets, and racial equity. Part of the job entails working with administrative data sets and implementing and analyzing large-scale randomized controlled trials. This is a unique opportunity to learn how to work with such data and methods. 

The program is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. Applicants must have completed a Bachelors degree by July 2025 and have strong quantitative and programming skills. Candidates with research experience are strongly preferred, especially those with experience in Stata, R, Python or Matlab. The ideal candidate would begin on August 15, 2024 and work for BFI for one or two years before applying to graduate school in Economics or another quantitative social science. BFI offers competitive salary and employee benefits.

Unit-specific Responsibilities:

  • Write programs in Stata, R, Python to analyze large datasets
  • Construct maps, figures, and tables for economics papers
  • Identify new data sources
  • Conduct literature reviews
  • Help administer surveys
  • Editing tasks
  • Other duties as assigned

Unit-preferred Competencies:

  • Desired (but not required) skills include advanced familiarity with numerical optimization and package development in R and/or Python, and the ability to use Stata to manage and analyze large datasets. Although previous experience with any specific language is not essential, familiarity with at least one scripting language is encouraged.
  • Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Strong academic writing/communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

Education

  • Bachelor's degree in economics, computer sciences, engineering, or related STEM fields is highly desirable.

Experience

  • Relevant research experience as a research assistant.

Technical Knowledge/Skills

  • Knowledge of R and/or Python preferred
  • Knowledge of Stata preferred

Required Documents:

  • Resume/CV
  • Writing sample
  • Transcripts (unofficial is ok)

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