Research Assistant​/Associate, Federal Fiscal & Immigration

Research Assistant or Research Associate, Federal Fiscal Policy Immigration Policy

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that advances federal and state policies to help build a nation where everyone — regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ZIP code, immigration status, or disability status — has the resources they need to thrive and share in the nation’s prosperity.

CBPP combines rigorous research and analysis, strategic communications, and effective advocacy to shape debates, affect policy, and inform effective implementation both nationally and in states. It works closely with a broad set of national, state, and community organizations to design and advance policies that promote economic justice; improve health; broaden opportunity in areas like housing, health care, employment, and education; and lower structural barriers for people of color and others in communities that continue to face systemic barriers to opportunity.

CBPP promotes policies that will build a more equitable nation and fair tax policies that can support these gains over the long term. CBPP also shows the harmful impacts of policies and proposals that would deepen poverty, widen disparities, and worsen health outcomes.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is seeking to hire a Research Assistant or Research Associate (RA) to work with a team of highly skilled national policy analysts on a range of spending and tax policies and immigration policies, especially policies that affect people with low incomes. The RA will be part of the Federal Fiscal team and work on a range of federal tax and budget policies alongside other RAs, supporting the team’s senior experts.

The RA will also work closely with the Immigration team on a range of policy areas, especially those at the intersection of immigration policy and economic and health security policy. The ideal candidate is extremely organized, detail-oriented, and a self-starter with an interest in honing their analytic skills in a collaborative environment.

This RA role will be managed by our Director of Federal Tax Policy, with support and project supervision from our Vice President for Immigration Policy.

• Analyze data, including using Excel and software packages/programming languages, to assess policy proposals, including their cost and distribution.
• Help prepare reports and analyses that pertain both to current policy debates and to longer-term challenges facing the U.S. economy and immigration policy.
• Contribute to written analyses and graphic presentations of findings.
• Evaluate pending legislative proposals and policy options.
• Summarize existing research and develop written memos and other documents on relevant findings.
• Draft and create content to share research and policy updates through social media.
• Conduct careful reviews of data used in policy analysis reports, often on a time-sensitive basis.
• Respond to analytical requests about policy proposals from external partners, congressional staff, and media.
• Collaborate with Federal Fiscal and Immigration team members to bring an equity lens to all facets of the work, including public products as well as the processes we use to do our work.
• Provide support for key projects and discussions, such as developing agendas, scheduling, and facilitating meetings.
• Perform other job-related duties within the role’s scope as assigned to support the team’s goals.

• Research Assistant:
  Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, statistics, or any field that requires strong quantitative skills and a minimum of zero to one year of professional experience in a related field.
• Research Associate:
  Advanced degree in economics, public policy, statistics, or any field that requires strong quantitative skills or at least two years of experience in a related field.
• Strong quantitative and writing skills, and the ability to work on multiple tasks both independently and as part of a highly collaborative team, often on a time-sensitive basis.
• Familiarity with one or more software packages or programming languages used for data…