Join the Economics, Justice and Society (EJS) Department at NORC at the University of Chicago as a Research Scientist. Bring your expertise in a socio-economic content area (e.g., , labor and workforce dynamics, household finance, income and poverty, well-being, wealth and assets, energy and the environment, data science, and research methods) and methodological knowledge to this role along with your passion for mentorship and collaboration.

While our main office locations are in Chicago, IL and Washington DC area, we will consider qualified candidates who prefer to work remotely.

The Economics, Justice, and Society delivers actionable research on critical social programs and issues, timely socio-economic trend data, and evidence-based solutions across a wide variety of topics from business dynamics to household formation. The department is home to NORC’s Center for Public Safety and Justice, Center on Behavioral Economic Analysis and Decision-Making, and three long-running flagship surveys – the General Social Survey, the Survey of Consumer Finance, and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We provide insights into communities, households, businesses, and the nation through our expertise in income and poverty, household finance, youth development, victimization, law enforcement, religion, traffic safety, data governance, and other topics. We engage in policy analysis and evaluation research relating to social programs and issues, the economy and the labor force, transportation and traffic safety, and crime and law enforcement. We work with a diverse set of clients and partners, including policy-makers and data users in national, state and local governments, academia, and the press.

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative data collection, or source extant data.
• Design program evaluations in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and program partners.
• Serve as project or task leader on large projects, overseeing staff responsibilities, monitoring budgets, and coordinating schedules.
• Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Review, synthesize, and describe existing evidence.
• Guide programs and policymakers in using evidence to make decisions.
• Author white papers, briefs, and reports; submit articles for publication in refereed journals.
• Synthesize and present research findings to policy, practitioner, and researcher audiences at professional meetings.
• Engage in business development activities including idea generation, outreach, grant writing, and responding to requests for proposals (RFPs)
• Occasional travel to client meetings and conferences.

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Social Sciences, or other relevant discipline is required; PhD strongly preferred.
• At least 7 years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility in research or related field (or equivalent education) including at least 3 years of social science project management as well as experience with the design and execution of social science research and in publishing research results, with a strong career-appropriate record of peer-reviewed technical publications.
• Familiarity, understanding, and/or experience with socio-economic content areas such as income, poverty, welfare, TANF, labor and workforce dynamics, household finance, and well-being.
• Experience with the design and execution of social science research and in publishing research results, with a strong career-appropriate record of peer-reviewed technical publications
• Experience working for the federal government or a federal contractor is preferred
• Advanced quantitative and/or qualitative skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including an ability to translate complex research methods and findings for a practitioner and policy audience.
• Strong problem solving, project management, relationship management skills.
• Ability to manage time to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience in survey development, administration, and analysis.
• Experience in mixed method research, including interviews, observations, and document analysis.
• Some experience in client communications and relationship management; solid technical writing skills.
• Strong proficiency with statistical analysis packages such as such as SAS, SPSS, STATA, or R.
• Outstanding interpersonal and critical reasoning skills.

• Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
• Dental and vision insurance
• A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
• Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

For over 80 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.

NORC is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values and actively seeks diversity in the workforce. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other legally- protected characteristics.

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