Associate Research Scientist

The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at the Columbia University School of Social Work focuses on poverty and social policy issues in New York City and the United States more broadly. The Center produces actionable research to advance our understanding of poverty and the role of social policy in reducing poverty and promoting economic security, opportunity, and well-being in New York City and the United States. The Center’s Research Director will be a member of the leadership team who is responsible for developing the research agenda in collaboration with Center leadership, managing the execution of that agenda, supervising the Center’s research analysts, working with funders to ensure the goals of the Center’s grants are met, and seeking funding to grow the Center’s capacity. The incumbent will bring together extensive quantitative research experience and expertise, skills in organizational strategy and management, and knowledge of the policy landscape to ensure that the Center’s research is responsive to and informative for policymakers and the policy community. The incumbent will work across all Center portfolios, which cover national-level, state-level, and local-level policy issues.

REAPPOINTMENT IS CONTINGENT ON FUNDING AVAILABILITY.

Responsibilities:

Strategy and Leadership

• Collaborate with Center leadership to develop the short-term and long-term research agendas for the Center that are responsive to pressing policy questions and the requirements of various grants supporting Center activities.
• Develop research plans for projects across all CPSP portfolios (identifying pressing research questions, appropriate methods, and designing analysis plans) and managing their execution. This includes projects examining the effects of antipoverty policies on poverty and related outcomes in large U.S. household survey datasets, examining historical trends and/or present-day policy analyses, and analyses of the New York City Poverty Tracker data, among others.

Management and Supervision

• Oversee the Center’s research agenda to ensure deliverables are produced on time and in full compliance with project objectives. This includes deliverables for the Center’s New York City, state-level, and national-level projects.
• Supervise the Center’s research analysts by coordinating project and task assignments, overseeing intermediate and final deliverables, and ensuring the accuracy and quality of analysis plans, code, results, and written materials (e.g., memos, briefs, and papers) before they are disseminated to the wider team and Center leadership.
• Train research analysts in analysis, programming, and datasets, as well as research methods.
• Act as the central resource for analysts, addressing questions across active projects, coordinating responses, and elevating complex methodological or meaningfully consequential questions to Center leadership when needed.
• Lead internal staff meetings and project meetings related to broader Center agenda.

External Relations

• Contribute to management of relationships with funders and other external partners, including participating and preparing materials for meetings and grant reporting, and liaising with program officers.
• Present findings from various Center research projects to various external stakeholders.
• Develop projects and lead grants proposal development in response to funding opportunities from foundations and other funders in areas of individual and Center-wide expertise.

Other

• Remain current on emerging research methods, analytic techniques, and relevant data sources to strengthen the Center’s research portfolio.
• Manage the hiring of new research analysts.

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD in public policy or social sciences.
• Minimum of six years of experience conducting research in social science or related fields strongly preferred.
• Extensive experience with Stata and/or other statistical programming software.
• Extensive experience with policy analyses and/or microsimulation modeling.
• Experience applying econometric and causal inference techniques to research questions related to social policy and poverty.
• Extensive experience working with the American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, and longitudinal datasets strongly preferred.
• Intimate familiarity with anti-poverty research and programs, including but not limited to tax credits, food assistance policies, and housing assistance policies.
• Intimate familiarity with the measurement of poverty, income, and economic well-being in the United States.
• Strong interpersonal, analytical, and organizational skills.
• Strong writing and communications skills, particularly in writing for a policy audience and experiences translating academic research for policy audiences. Experience managing and supervising research projects, including junior-level analysts and students carrying out such projects.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.