Senior Research Specialist

Ellora Derenoncourt (Princeton University) is seeking one Senior Research Specialist to work on research projects on inequality and occasionally support programming and events at the Program for Research on Inequality. The main research tasks may include collecting and harmonizing novel long-run datasets on inequality and working with proprietary administrative data on income, wages, and financial well-being.

The ideal candidate has training in economics and data science. Interest in economic history and the study of inequality is a plus. Applicants must have strong programming and quantitative skills. Excellent grades are required, including econometrics or statistics. Previous experience is desirable with empirical research or comparable private-sector work, with preference given to these and related skill sets: coding (especially Stata and Python), advanced econometrics, digitization of archival documents, working with large datasets, and writing research papers.

This is a one-year term position with the possibility of an additional year renewal. This position has a preferred start date of July 1, 2026. End date is dependent on start date, which may vary.

Note that this is a remote position, but the individual must be located and eligible to work in the US (please see https://www.nber.org/hiring-research-assistant for details with regard to the requirements). This position is not eligible for relocation.

Responsibilities include:

• Independent data collection, cleaning and analysis with little to no supervision
• Project management (organizing logistics of experiments & data collection)
• Developing experiment designs and data collection tools independently
• Admin support for academic programming of the Program for Research on Inequality
• Survey implementation, organizing focus groups on your own
• Running and editing interviews independently
• Writing summaries of research, performing literature searches and reviews, and posting/retrieving information from the web

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

• BA/BS in Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or Statistics, or a related field.
• Fluency with statistics, econometrics, and probability theory
• Good programming skills in python and R -- experience participating in open source projects a big plus, especially experience with test-driven development

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Experience with programs such as SAS, Matlab, and Python.
• Experience with LaTex, Unix/Linux.
• Master's degree is desirable but not required

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.