Research Assistant​/Associate; Junior​/Assistant​/Associate Specialist - California Policy Lab

Department Overview

The California Policy Lab (CPL) generates research insights for government impact. Through hands‑on partnerships with government agencies, CPL performs rigorous research across issue silos and builds the data infrastructure necessary to improve programs and policies that millions of Californians rely on every day. We work on California’s most urgent issues, including homelessness, poverty, criminal justice reform, and education inequality. CPL‑Berkeley is a center within the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE).

The Research Assistant/Associate is a critical member of CPL research teams working on policy issues such as criminal justice, education, employment, health, and the social safety net. The Research Assistant/Associate will apply a variety of data analysis and statistical modeling approaches to large datasets in real‑world settings. They will collect and clean and prepare data for analysis, collaborate in research design and model development, and implement studies via advanced data analysis, all while working on multiple research projects concurrently.

Specifically, the Research Assistant/Associate will be responsible for preparing and analyzing large datasets, primarily from government sources; applying knowledge of multiple statistical software packages and statistical analysis methods; helping to design and implement rigorous research designs, including randomized control trials (RCTs) and quasi‑experimental studies; preparing graphs, tables, and other displays of research results; preparing reports and presentations; and developing other policy‑relevant deliverables, including academic publications.

The Research Assistant/Associate will contribute to a growing practice of advanced analytical solutions to provide data‑driven research and technical assistance to governmental partners. We seek applicants who are confident bridging the gap between academic researchers and government policymakers, and who want to carry out joint research agendas with CPL partners. The position works directly with leading social policy researchers at UC Berkeley and UCLA, state and local government agency staff, as well as the leadership team at CPL.

Responsibilities include:

• Analyzes sensitive individual‑level administrative data; prepares and summarizes information; recommends and implements statistical approaches.
• Cleans, links, and prepares data sets, primarily from government sources, for analysis, using STATA or another, similar language (e.g., SAS, R, SPSS, Python).
• Communicates with government partners about data requests and other data issues.
• Collaborates on the design, documentation, testing and implementation of research studies, largely using quantitative methods and methods designed to assess causal impact.
• Prepares graphs, tables, and other displays of the results of research and analysis. Assists with preparation of manuscripts and presentations, including gathering references, copyediting, and confirming internal consistency.
• Researches and summarizes academic and applied research.
• Assists the Executive Director and Research Director with administrative aspects of research projects and execution of the Lab’s other activities.

This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.