Research Associate, Data Analyst, Data Scientist

Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m.

- 5:00 p.m. This is not a remote position.

VP Area

VP Area Academic Affairs

Department

Department 01599 - The Policy Institute

Location

Location Campus

City

City Salt Lake City, UT

Type of Recruitment

Type of Recruitment External Posting

Pay Rate Range

Pay Rate Range $55,000-$75,000

Close Date

Close Date 08/24/2026

Priority Review Date (Note - Posting may close at any time)

The University of Utah’s Kem

C. Gardner Policy Institute is seeking a demographic data analyst. This individual will play a critical role in the daily operations and future growth of this area.

This position will primarily provide technical support for Utah’s subcounty (city and small area) annual population estimates program. This includes gathering demographic, housing, and construction data from internal and external resources, incorporating knowledge of local context and conditions, geocoding and analysis with GIS software, implementing existing demographic models with programming scripts, and assisting with a local review process. The successful candidate will be able to research and troubleshoot when data, assumptions, or models require adjusting.

Additionally, the demographic analyst will work with other team members to create original content that summarizes demographic findings with written reports, data visualizations, and other duties as assigned. They will accurately communicate verbally and in writing to technical and non-technical audiences.

The Kem

C. Gardner Policy Institute subscribes to five commit table core values. We call them commit table values because we make serious personnel and project decisions based on these values. We call them core because we integrate them into everything we do. They are internal values, but are reflected externally in the products and services we provide to the community. Taken together, our commit table core values define who we are, how we conduct ourselves, and what comprises our work culture.

• Responsibility to the community – The Kem
  
  C. Gardner Policy Institute exists to serve Utah and help our state prosper. While we make a contribution to regional, national and international public policy issues, we focus on assisting communities of interest within our state make informed decisions.
• Research integrity and relevance – The Kem
  
  C. Gardner Policy Institute adheres to ethical principles and professional standards essential for responsible research. We value independent, relevant, meaningful, and understandable work.
• Accountability – The Kem
  
  C. Gardner Policy Institute holds employees responsible for being continually productive in the work setting, being fiscally responsible, and delivering high quality products and services to the community, university, Eccles School, donors, and clients.
• Collaboration – The Kem
  
  C. Gardner Policy Institute actively partners with people and organizations on campus and in the community to achieve our vision and mission. We believe teamwork among our staff will provide the best research and foster success.
• Positive and passionate – The Kem
  
  C. Gardner Policy Institute employs people who are deeply committed to their craft and contribute to a positive and respectful work environment. We seek a congenial workplace where individual differences are both respected and celebrated, and we have fun along the way.

• Responsible for technical support of subcounty population estimates program.
• Acquires, compiles, and analyzes data from a variety of sources.
• Supports the research efforts of the demography team.
• Utilizes analysis, writing, and visualization skills to produce demography team products.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to work on multiple projects at a time.

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalency) in in demography, sociology, economics or related field and 1-2 years of relevant experience (one year of graduate education is equivalent to two years of experience).
• Experience with data and data analysis in programs such as R, SAS , Stata, Python, or Tableau.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and GIS products.
• Experience…