Senior Research Associate, The People Lab, Harvard Kennedy School

Job Summary

The Senior Research Associate (Sr. RA) will work closely with a diverse team of scholars at The People Lab (TPL) who are passionate about conducting collaborative, applied, data-driven research on key priorities in government. Projects range from: how to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, how to reduce burnout in front line workers, and how to increase take-up of anti-poverty programs. The vast majority of studies involve a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and direct collaboration with government agencies and other stakeholders.

This position is a term appointment ending June 30, 2025. This is a fully benefits-eligible position. 

Position Description

Duties & Responsibilities (included but not limited to):

• Serves as a primary point of contact for government partners.
• Develops and implements project timelines and management plans.
• Executes the design and implementation of rigorous research designs, including – but not limited to – randomized control trials (RCTs), survey experiments, and behavioral interventions.
• Conducts statistical and econometric analysis using Stata or R on administrative data sets and/or other incoming data, including developing preliminary analysis plans, cleaning data correctly, conducting analysis in accordance with analysis plans, and presenting and visualizing the results in various formats (tables/graphs, etc).
• Coordinates, conducts, and analyzes surveys, both online and in the field, and supports and executes design of surveys.
• Carries out research administration tasks, including data use agreements, data safety requirements and IRB protocols.
• Provides guidance to junior Research Assistants/Associates (RAs), where appropriate.
• Assists with the code review process.
• Supports authorship of academic papers, policy reports, grant reports, and other publications by conducting literature reviews, editing or drafting text, and preparing manuscripts for submission and publication.
• Other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, economics, statistics, or another closely related field.
• 5+ years of relevant post-baccalaureate research experience.
• Prior experience conducting applied research.

OR

• Graduate degree in public policy, economics, statistics, or another closely related field.
• 3+ years of relevant post-baccalaureate research experience.
• Prior experience conducting applied research.

Additional Qualifications and Skills

If you have some, but not all of the following, we encourage you to apply; we value employees with a willingness to learn:

• Demonstrated experience meeting project timelines across multiple projects and communicating with internal and external stakeholders in a productive, professional, and timely manner.
• Ability to work with streams of qualitative and quantitative data across multiple projects in a research setting.
• Experience supporting client relationships and communicating with internal and external stakeholders in a professional and timely manner.
• Experience handling sensitive data securely preferred.
• Experience supporting the design and implementation of randomized controlled trials and / or online surveys.
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative data analysis, including cleaning new data sets and presenting data in various formats.
• Strong interpersonal skills and communication skills, including exceptional writing skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work both independently and as a team member.
• Eagerness and ability to learn new skills quickly on the job.
• Experience working in the public sector or on public sector challenges.