Institute for Defense Analyses

Position ID: IDA-RESEARCHANALYST1 [#16457]
Position Title: Economist
Position Type: Government or industry
Position Location: Alexandria, Virginia 22311, United States [map] sort by distance
Application Deadline: 2020/10/30 11:59PMhelp popup finished (2020/10/09, finished 2021/05/01, listed until 2021/04/09)
Position Description:    

*** this position has been closed and new applications are no longer accepted. ***

Overview:

The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an independent, non-profit, federally-funded research and development center that provides objective analyses to the Department of Defense and other federal government agencies. Economists at IDA support senior defense leaders by applying economic theory and analytic methods to issues of National Security policy and resource management. As needed, we apply proven tools to new problems and data, develop new models, and generate new theory.

Recent examples of our work: Training machine learning models to predict individual’s career events using a rich set of administrative personnel records Estimating causal effects of staffing levels on mission effectiveness Designing and conducting a multi-year personnel retention experiment impacting thousands of service members Designing a trial of alcohol market interventions for use on military bases to learn whether such intervention can prevent harmful behaviors associated with alcohol misuse Architecting a collaborative data-hosting analytic platform to facilitate timely and secure analysis of sensitive Department of Defense information assets across a diverse community of users Exploring alternative organizational structures and delivery methods for educating and training military medical personnel, in order to reduce costs and streamline management Identifying opportunities to transfer positions among active and reserve military personnel, federal civilians, and contractors in order to reduce costs and concentrate military personnel in more operational (vs. administrative) positions

Economists at IDA work on a variety of projects. For each project, we are responsible for choosing and using the right tool, whether a familiar standby or a cutting-edge technique. When the right tool is new to us, we learn it. When the right tool doesn't yet exist, we create it (see https://github.com/IDA-HumanCapital/fife).

We take pride in the high caliber and timeliness of our analyses, our independent thinking, and our objective results. We value strong teamwork and communication skills. Work at IDA is conducted in a team environment and often involves a multi-disciplinary approach with physicists, engineers, psychologists, and other social scientists. Researchers work closely with and are in frequent contact with government sponsors. Consequently, strong communication skills are greatly valued.

We will consider job market candidates preparing to graduate, recent graduates, and mid-career individuals.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in Economics is required, with preference for the fields of computation, industrial organization, applied econometrics, labor, health, and public finance Demonstrated research excellence and a strong interest in applied research is required Ability to relocate to the Washington, DC area and work on-site at IDA's headquarters in Alexandria, VA as needed is required Experience with machine learning techniques and large data sets is preferred Experience in DoD or other branches of government is preferred

Application requirements: Required: resume and transcripts (unofficial is acceptable) Three letters of recommendation: If at the time of your application you do not upload three letters of recommendation, we will ask you for the documentation later in the process. Optional: cover letter

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, IDA will not attend the 2021 AEA meetings.


Application Materials Required:
Submit the following items online at this website to complete your application:
And anything else requested in the position description.

Further Info:
https://chu.tbe.taleo.net/chu01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=INSTITUTEDA&cws=39&rid=1741
 
IDA