Director, Economic Research; Economist; Washington, DC​/Hybrid

Work. Serve. Thrive. Imagine a place where your talent can make a meaningful difference in peoples' lives. Working at Feeding America is a uniquely rewarding experience in which our employees work together as vital parts of a much larger mission. We are innovative, mission-focused, diverse, collaborative, values-driven and focused on results.

Feeding America is the nation’s largest charity and the leading domestic hunger-relief charity in the United States. Our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

Learn more about Feeding America here.

This position is based out of Feeding America’s Washington, DC office. At Feeding America, we believe in offering a flexible work environment. Employees can be in the office an average of 2 days a week (when not travelling for work) and work from home on other days. Employees also have access to a 30-day “work anywhere” program during the course of each calendar year that can be combined with PTO and/or holidays.

The Director, Economic Research (Economist) will lead and conduct policy-relevant economic research within the Feeding America national organization, advancing the organization’s mission and strategy through rigorous, high-impact analysis. The Economist independently designs and executes complex studies using advanced statistical and econometric methods, collaborates across departments, and communicates findings to diverse audiences—including partner food banks, policymakers and academic stakeholders.

Here at Feeding America national organization, equity is central to our mission and is an integral part of our compensation policies and structures. Historically, systemic racism and sexism in all aspects of our society, including compensation practices, has led to pay inequities that negatively impact people of color, women, and especially women of color. These practices include basing salary offers on previous compensation and negotiating salary offers.

As such, we maintain transparent salary ranges and clearly defined practices for how our team, including new hire salary offers, moves through these ranges. You can expect us to offer the best salary up front based on these clearly defined pay practices with little room for negotiation. The salary range listed below represents the starting to mid-point salaries for positions and comparable roles at this level at our organization and candidates should expect to be offered a salary near the starting point of the range that is listed on the job posting.

We make exceptions for highly experienced (multiple years of at-level experience) new hires in accordance with our pay practices. Once hired, employees have the opportunity to progress through salary ranges via regular merit increases and step promotions.

Salary Range: $134,000 - $139,000 Based on Experience

• Designs, implements, and leads advanced quantitative economic research (e.g., econometric modeling, simulation, forecasting, policy evaluation) on topics such as food insecurity, charitable and federal nutrition programs and the economic and societal impacts of key social determinants of health (e.g., food insecurity) and food assistance programs.
• Leads research projects from conception through data collection and management, analysis, interpretation and dissemination (e.g., reports, presentations, publications, policy briefs) in partnership with the Vice President of Research & Insights.
• Develops and oversees research processes that reflect the highest professional and ethical standards—ensuring transparency in methods, rigor in execution and responsible use of data to inform decisions at all levels, including resource allocation and strategic direction.
• Mentors and trains staff, peers and contractors in quantitative methods and builds internal capacity for rigorous and innovative economic research.
• Establishes and maintains strategic relationships with key academic researchers, institutions, donors, government agencies and nonprofit partners to advance Feeding America’s research agenda and strengthen analytical…