RTI's (CAES) has an immediate opening for a Entry Level Economist to support our work in the economic evaluation of existing and emerging innovations and research and innovation programs, and in advising public- and private-sector organizations managing investments to generate social and economic impact. This individual would take a lead role in the Center's portfolio of work advising clients on funding strategies, program management, and impact analysis for efforts that support science, technology, and innovation in the United States and other countries. This position is open to candidates based near RTI's headquarters location in Durham, North Carolina; in the Washington DC metropolitan area; or working as a full-time telecommuter.

The Center conducts numerous short- and long-term projects on a shifting variety of topics to generate data-driven analyses and solutions. Sponsors and clients of our work include the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Australian Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization, and an array of other international and philanthropic research funders.

CAES has an immediate opening for an applied economist or quantitative policy analyst to support our work assessing the impact of innovation support programs, technology commercialization, and scientific research infrastructure and ecosystems. Our work articulates the social return on investments in improving the human condition across a wide range of applications, including advancements in materials, aerospace research and travel, health and nutrition, energy and environment, and cybersecurity. Recent projects relevant for this job include:

- Quantifying the social return on investment of new technologies and research programs

- Evaluations of philanthropic programs and alternative funding models to accelerate progress in science and engineering

- Evaluating biomedical innovation accelerator program performance and outcomes

- Assessments of the economic implications and scientific and technology outputs associated with signature research infrastructure in the United States and globally

- Evaluating the efficiency and impact of innovative global vaccine delivery programs.

Core responsibilities include:

* Creatively applying an appropriate mix of economic, qualitative, and statistical approaches, using a variety of methods and techniques (e.g., econometrics, market analysis, benefits transfers, revealed preference methods, survey assessments, expert elicitation, literature review, and bibliometrics) to a variety of research questions.

* Supporting the execution of analysis tasks over the life cycle of a project.

* Completing tasks in data collection, processing, management, and analysis.

* Participating in primary data collection activities, including survey implementation and interviews with subject matter experts and stakeholders.

* Supporting the development and writing of concise technical reports and slides to present research details for client audiences and professional and academic outlets.

* Communicating and collaborating effectively with RTI team members and partner organizations.

* Supporting the development of grant, cooperative agreement, and contract proposals.

* Contributing to the capture of follow-on work through successful completion of projects while optimizing quality, timeliness, cost/efficiency, and client satisfaction.

* Adopting a "team player" mindset where flexibility, respect, humility, communication, and collective success is prioritized.

Minimum qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in economics, statistics, data science, public policy, business, or related social science field.

* Broad interest in science and innovation, and in conducting evaluations of policies and programs in the areas of basic and applied research and development.

* Foundational knowledge in public economics and valuation of social benefits.

* Proficiency in statistical programming tools such as Stata or R.

* Ability to work across multiple projects and tasks simultaneously in a matrixed organization.

* Experience working collaboratively in teams to develop project deliverables.

* Exemplary oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills. If selected to interview for the position, writing samples will be required.

* The candidate must be authorized to work in the United States and must not now or in the future require sponsorship.

The following skills are of interest, but are not required to apply:

* Knowledge of any of the following topics: innovation support programs, technology commercialization, and scientific research infrastructure and ecosystems.

* Experience with the preparation of and delivery on research proposals and projects.

* Familiarity with benefit-cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and/or real options analysis.

* Familiarity with a variety of regression models and statistical estimation techniques.

* Familiarity with survey design, structured interview design and related analysis.

* Familiarity with bibliometric/scientometric analysis.

* Some working knowledge of relational databases, SQL, and/or Python or a comparable scripting language to perform machine learning tasks (such as text analysis) or automated processes (such as web-scraping).

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For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available .

The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States.

RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.

At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.