University of California, Los Angeles

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

The California Policy Lab creates data-driven insights for the public good. Our mission is to improve the lives of Californians by generating evidence that transforms public policy. We do this by forming lasting partnerships between government and California’s flagship public universities to harness the power of research and administrative data. We work on CA’s most urgent issues, including homelessness, unemployment, poverty, criminal justice reform, & education inequality. We facilitate close working partnerships between policymakers and researchers at the University of CA to help evaluate and improve public programs through rigorous empirical research and technical assistance. 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 CA.

This is an exciting role for a mid-or advanced-career researcher who wants to design and conduct policy-relevant research in partnership with state and local agencies in CA. The ideal candidate has expertise in one or more of these areas: homelessness, employment, workforce development, or the social safety net. The Researcher conducts independent quantitative research, including conceptualizing research questions and designs; overseeing the requesting, receiving, and cleaning of data files; creating & overseeing the implementation of analysis plans; conducting quality assurance reviews; summarizing results in documents for both academic and policy audiences; and generating replicability documentation. The Researcher can implement and defend multiple causal research designs, including randomized control trials, quasi-experimental designs, and non-experimental designs. The Researcher will write grant proposals to support research and contribute to grant reporting.

The Researcher will also supervise junior staff. A successful candidate has demonstrated experience managing research projects, supervising research teams, mentoring junior staff, and supporting professional development of team members. They will also participate and help lead CPL hiring and organizational development.

The position will report to the Faculty Director, and will work directly with leading social policy researchers at UC and beyond, state and local government agency staff, and CPL’s leadership team. Job title/campus title will be based on experience and qualifications.

Required Qualifications
Training & experience that clearly demonstrates qualifications.
Ph.D. in economics, public policy, or related social science field, or equivalent experience.
Fluency in data-analysis packages from commonly used programming languages like Python, R, Stata & SQL.
Post-Ph.D. experience overseeing deliverables.

Go to https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/ click on applicants and search for JPF07962