What are the responsibilities and job description for the Research and Strategic Analysis Intern position at New York State Housing Finance Agency?
New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) is the State’s affordable housing agency, with a mission to build, preserve, and protect affordable housing and increase homeownership throughout New York State.
Under the leadership of Governor Kathy Hochul and Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, HCR is a vibrant, innovative agency that integrates and leverages New York State’s housing resources. We have offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Syracuse, and employ a diverse workforce of professionals who are hard-working and committed to serving low- and moderate-income families. Our mission is far reaching, encompassing single and multifamily housing finance, home improvement, rent regulation, housing subsidies, and community development. We partner regularly with a variety of public and private stakeholders.
Achieving this mission requires a wide range of skills and backgrounds in public policy, administration, real estate, architecture, finance, law, and many other areas of expertise. We seek to provide a workplace environment that is productive, flexible, accountable, ethical, and caring. Our employees are empowered to make a difference where they live and work. We offer competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package, including paid leave, health, dental, vision, retirement, and family-friendly policies.
Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Office of Research and Strategic Analysis (ORSA) provides crosscutting support to HCR’s executive and program leadership in advancing the agency’s mission to build, preserve, and protect affordable housing, and increase homeownership in New York State. Created in late 2017, the ORSA team consists of data scientists, analysts and policy specialists who, using quantitative and analytical research methods and strategies, provide data-driven guidance on high-priority initiatives and answer questions that are critical to the success of the agency and component programs and offices.
Internship Summary
Reporting to the Assistant Director and/or Principal Economist and collaborating with other ORSA staff, the intern will work on a range of housing policy topics. Examples of these topics include Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), rent stabilization, Opportunity Zones, and housing market metrics. The intern’s tasks generally involve:
- Downloading, cleaning, assembling, and analyzing quantitative data. This includes accessing a variety of public and proprietary data sources, and processing data using (and learning) statistical programs such as R, Stata, Microsoft Excel
- Visualizing various data, using (and learning) Tableau
- Geospatial analysis, which entails geo-locating and summarizing spatial data using (and learning) ArcGIS and AGOL
- Writing and presenting on various findings, in the form of PowerPoint slides, memos, and reports.
This internship is an opportunity to gain technical skills, as well as exposure to the policymaking process, contextual housing debates, and working at a public agency. The internship may involve working with other units within HCR, as well as entities external to the agency. The internship will culminate in the completion of deliverables and presentation of findings.
Qualifications
- Interest and/or experience in housing and urban policy
- Excellent oral, written, and communication skills
- Exceptional problem-solving abilities
- Ability to quickly and clearly synthesize information
- Ability to use data to make decisions
- Expertise in the use of Microsoft Office products, specifically Excel and Access
- Demonstrated experience with quantitative research designs and statistical analysis techniques a plus
- Ability to work in a flexible, fast paced, mission driven environment
