Research Analyst

Recurring Reports & Research Support (Entry Level)

Common Sense Institute AZ | Full-time | In-person (Phoenix, AZ)

Common Sense Institute Arizona (CSI) is a nonpartisan, free-enterprise oriented research organization dedicated to protecting and promoting Arizona’s economy. We examine the fiscal and economic impacts of policies, initiatives, and proposed laws so that Arizonans are better informed on issues that affect their lives.

The Research Analyst supports CSI’s research agenda by (1) independently producing simpler and recurring research products (e.g., regular updates, dashboards, trackers, and short briefs) and (2) providing direct analytical and data support to senior staff on major reports. The role reports to the Director of Policy and Research.

• Own recurring products: Update defined indicator sets, refresh data, maintain templates, and draft short, reader-friendly narratives.
• Support major research projects: Conduct literature/background research, assemble datasets, build exhibits, and assist with modeling and sensitivity checks.
• Build and maintain CSI data assets: Clean/reshape datasets, document sources and methods, and create reusable spreadsheets or code workflows.
• Quality assurance & transparency: Track sources, validate figures, ensure reproducibility, and support internal peer review before publication.
• Legislation and policy monitoring: Track priority bills/ballot measures, summarize key provisions, and provide timely analytical support to staff.
• Communications support: Help translate findings into charts, short summaries, presentations, and brief talking points for release.
• Team & operations support: Maintain research workflows and basic updates in tools like Airtable/SharePoint; assist with events and briefings as needed.

You'll regularly work with public datasets such as:

• U.S. Census Bureau (ACS, CPS, population and housing data; APIs where applicable)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (CES, CPS, QCEW; APIs)
• Bureau of Economic Analysis (GDP, personal income, industry accounts)
• Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) and other integrated series
• IPUMS, similar microdata products (as needed for deeper analysis)
• Arizona and federal budget documents, fiscal notes, and legislative data

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, statistics, data science, finance, or a related field.
• Strong analytical reasoning and quantitative literacy (comfortable working with rates, growth, deflators, per-capita measures, and basic statistical concepts).
• Excel proficiency (intermediate+): pivot tables, charts, XLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, data validation, and building repeatable templates.
• Comfort acquiring, cleaning, and organizing demographic and economic data from major public sources (e.g., Census, BLS, BEA, FRED, IPUMS).
• Clear writing and synthesis skills: able to translate technical findings into neutral, accessible prose.
• Strong attention to detail (source tracking, footnotes/citations, and QA on published figures).
• Professional communication and collaboration; receptive to constructive feedback and iterative editing.

• Experience with at least one statistical and analytical tool beyond Excel (Python, R, Stata, or similar) for data cleaning and analysis. STATA preferred.
• Data visualization experience (Excel beyond basics; Flourish/Power BI/Tableau; or charting in Python/R).
• Experience working with larger datasets, crosswalks, or geographic data (e.g., counties/metros, NAICS/SOC, CPI series).
• Verifiable interest in free-enterprise policy and comfort presenting findings in a nonpartisan, fact-first manner.

In the first 60 - 90 days, a successful analyst will typically:

• Independently refresh at least two recurring research products end-to-end (data pull → cleaning → exhibits → draft narrative) about employment, inflation, housing price growth, etc.
• Create or improve a reusable dataset/template with clear documentation of sources, assumptions, and update steps.
• Support senior staff by producing clean exhibits/tables and verifying numbers for a major report.
• Demonstrate reliable source…