Research Consultant

Optimal Solutions Group (?Optimal?) is a leading policy research and data analytics firm that conducts studies and provides technical assistance on workforce development, entrepreneurship, education, government procurement, and related subjects. Our mission is to provide policymakers with rigorous and timely studies that enable our clients (including federal, state, and local government agencies... as well as private foundations) to make evidence-based decisions.

Optimal is seeking a graduate, post gradute and/or consultant with demonstrated experience using statistical programming languages (i.e., STATA, SAS, R), conducting quasi-experimental studies, including regression discontinuity design, instrumental variables, propensity score matching, and other matching methods (i.e., nearest neighbor matching, kernel matching). Eligible candidates must have current Special Sworn Status and in using the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) and other restricted-use Census datasets. Optimal has contracts from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct three (3) quasi-experimental studies that examine the business outcomes (revenue, profitability, number of employees, tenure, survival) among businesses that have and do not have access to business networks and assistance/training programs.

The graduate intern will assist senior researchers in data cleaning, analysis, and report writing. The intern is also expected to substantively contribute to research manuscripts, journal articles, and presentations at research conferences (i.e., American Economic Association [AEA]; Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management [APPAM]). The position is immediate hire for 1 to 3 months.

Responsibilities:

? The research assistant will use SAS, STATA, and/or R to complete specific programming tasks assigned by the project principal investigators.

Education and Experience:

? Graduate student (preferably Ph.D.) in economics or a related discipline.

? Strong interest in using LBD and/or other micro-Census datasets for dissertation and/or post-doctoral research.

? Extensive experience with statistical and econometric programming.

? Must be eligible for Special Sworn Status from the U.S. Census Bureau and reside close to a Federal Statistical Research Data Center (travel expenses not covered).

? An ideal candidate will already be using an FSRDC for another project.

To Apply: Please submit your application, including your resume with a cover letter, to Optimal?s ADP WorkforceNow Portal

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