Description

The Cato Institute seeks qualified candidates for a full-time position located in Washington, D.C. as a research associate specializing in tax and energy policy. The ideal candidate will have exceptionally strong research skills; strong knowledge of economics, energy, and tax policy; and a commitment to advancing individual liberty. Successful candidates will be entrepreneurial, hard-working self-starters who want to contribute to a growing policy center.

This role is available through our two-year Research Associate program, where you’ll have the opportunity to learn from senior Cato staff and guest lecturers across academia and the policy community. With ample opportunities to attend educational sessions, network with peers and scholars, and gain mentorship from some of the nation’s foremost public policy scholars, successful candidates will be able to excel as leaders in policy, academia, government, business, and beyond.

About Cato 

The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization—a think tank. Since its creation in 1977, Cato has advanced the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.

Cato owes its name to Cato’s Letters, a series of 18th-century English essays that present a vision of a society free from excessive government power. Those essays inspired the architects of the American Revolution. The timeless principles of that revolution—individual liberty, limited government, and free markets—are even more powerful in today’s world of global markets and widespread access to information. Social and economic freedom is not just the best policy for a free people, it is the indispensable framework for the future.

The Cato Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Responsibilities

• Support the research of the Directors of Tax, and Energy and Environmental Policy Studies, as well as other scholars on an as-needed basis.
• Conduct general research and data analysis using Stata, R, and/or Excel.
• Help draft reports and other research products using original findings and peer-reviewed academic research.
• Edit, fact check, and/or review various research products. 
• Support the administrative and organizational needs and events of the team.
• Help in the selection and supervision of interns. 

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, political science, or public policy, or equivalent work experience in those fields. A master’s degree in a related field is a plus.
• An understanding of the fundamentals of economics.
• Ability to structure and write descriptive as well as persuasive material.
• A passion for Cato’s ideals, the skill to communicate these ideals, and a demonstrated ability to develop and nurture internal and external relationships. 
• Expertise with Microsoft Office suite. Familiarity with Stata, R, or another similar statistical package a is plus.
• Excellent verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills, with a keen attention to detail, quality, and accuracy.
• Reliability, a strong work ethic, and a positive, professional mindset.
• Problem-solving initiative and openness to learning new processes and skills.