FASB Post-Doctoral Fellow

position summary:

the fasb seeks a highly motivated ph.d. Graduate (current or within the past two years) to serve a one-year, competitively paid, term as its post-doctoral fellow. The ideal candidate will bring academic research and skills, and the ability to work effectively with teams, to contribute to the fasb's accounting standard setting. This position has four major areas of responsibility:

• directly engage in project-specific research activities;
• integrate identified research results into staff analyses that are used as a basis for board decision-making and broadly educate the board and staff on the nature and use of empirical research;
• identify rigorous, empirically-based research of general relevance to accounting standard setting
• liaise with the academic community and encourage/stimulate relevant research by others on issues important to the fasb.

in carrying out those responsibilities, the post-doctoral fellow will be an assigned member of certain project teams. The post-doctoral fellow also will serve as an ad-hoc advisor on other projects. In addition, as requested by the deputy director, fasb staff, this position may undertake or assist with research activities in other areas, such as the post-implementation review of an accounting standards update (asu).

activities consistent with this responsibility generally would include:

• identifying and critically evaluating existing rigorous research findings that are relevant to the issues in a project or potential project, preparing written research syntheses that clearly communicate the research findings and their implications to fasb board and staff members. The activity of identifying relevant research is expected to be undertaken continuously throughout the various stages of a project, including the pre-agenda evaluation of potential new projects, the development of proposed and final asus, and during the implementation of recently issued asus.
• facilitating staff efforts to gather data during outreach in the pre-agenda research phase or in active projects, such as assisting in the development of surveys and questionnaires, designing field tests, framing questions to be included in exposure drafts and discussion papers, and evaluating the empirical data generated from these activities.

while the primary focus of these research activities is to aid board decision-making, subject to approval of the deputy director, fasb staff, the publication of research syntheses or other research results in a top-tier, peer-reviewed academic journal is both possible and encouraged. Additionally, the fellow will have some flexibility to work on their own research.

activities consistent with this responsibility generally would include:

• helping staff to understand the implications of the research findings and to incorporate those research findings and implications into their broader analyses and recommendations. In some cases, the post-doctoral fellow may be responsible for preparing or reviewing the staff analysis contained in a board memorandum.
• leveraging data analysis skills to help staff incorporate empirical data about financial reporting into their analyses where appropriate, including identifying relevant datasets, applying sound analytical and statistical techniques, and translating the results into clear, decision-useful insights that strengthen staff analysis, and working with staff to build their own data analysis capabilities so they can more independently source, evaluate, and apply empirical data in future projects.
• participating in meetings of the board (both decision-making meetings and education and small group meetings) to support the team's work and the board's decision-making process or to explain research findings or respond to questions about the research and its implications.
• leading professional development sessions with the board and staff to improve their understanding of the strengths and limitations of empirical research and to familiarize the board and staff with best practices in conducting and consuming empirical research.

activities consistent with this responsibility generally would include:

• supporting an overall…