Quantitative Research Analyst, Policy and Regulatory Science Program (PRS)

RTI’s Policy and Regulatory Science Program (PRS) in RTI’s Health Practice Area performs surveillance, policy analysis, program evaluation, and regulatory science research in the area of public health, with an emphasis on tobacco use prevention and cessation. Our funding sources include a diverse set of contracts with the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, the National Cancer Institute, offices of Attorneys General, and various state and local health departments around the country. The overarching goal of PRS is to conduct objective, theory-driven research and evaluations to guide the development and implementation of programs and policies that improve public health. The position offers professional development opportunities at a leading research organization with nationally recognized experience in tobacco control research. Analysts in the Policy and Regulatory Science Program perform a wide range of tasks, including data management and quality assurance, descriptive statistical analyses, time series modeling, web survey programming, data visualizations, and contributing to reports, presentations, and peer-reviewed publications. Analysts support the evaluation of public health policies, behavioral health programs, and community interventions at the local, state, and national levels.

This position may be based remotely or out of any of RTI’s regional offices, with a preference for Research Triangle Park, NC. 

• Communicate effectively with team members and clients through professional and timely responses and by initiating discussions and meetings that advance project goals and initiatives.
• Manage and compile large, complex datasets from multiple databases (i.e., obtain data, organize, clean, construct analytic variables, quality check). Implementing and maintaining quality control measures is required such that errors and inconsistencies are minimized and serve to strengthen critical thinking skills.
• Work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team of researchers to solve problems using statistical data analysis, and document agreed-upon methods and analytic decisions. Draft initial analysis plans for internal review, incorporating ideas that reflect relevant peer-reviewed literature and accepted industry practices, and comprehensively respond to internal feedback.
• Write original code and work with legacy code to conduct both descriptive and quantitative statistical analyses for evaluating tobacco control programs and policies, public health interventions, and other research questions using Stata and/or R.
• Efficiently manage overlapping tasks and timelines for multiple project directors and demonstrate self-motivation.
• Effectively communicate results through presentations, reports, and data visualizations for internal staff, clients, scientific journals, and other publications.
• Review the public health and social science literature to contextualize research findings and maintain awareness of current best practices and advances in research areas.
• Support the development of junior staff and participate in internal staff development.
• Lead project tasks by working with senior advisors and analysts to determine research questions that address client priorities, consider methods that address the research question(s), and estimate required resources and time.

• Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree with at least 3 years of related work experience.
• Coursework completed in one or more of the following: Applied Data Analysis, Public Health (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Policy), Statistics, Econometrics, Empirical Economics, Health Economics, Quantitative Psychology or Sociology.
• Proficiency in statistical software, preferably Stata or R; a code sample will be requested.
• Professional or academic research experience conducting data analysis for research studies.
• Proficiency using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to create formatted reports, tables, and charts.
• Experience cleaning and quality checking data using statistical software such as Stata or R.
• Strong writing skills and ability to synthesize analysis results into clearly written reports; a writing sample will be requested.
• To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require now, or in the future, sponsorship for visa employment status.

Desired Qualifications

• Degree in Economics, Public Health, Data Analytics, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Public Policy, or a related discipline.
• Experience with health economics research, such as analyzing data on sales and prices to evaluate the effect of public health policies that restrict sales of certain products.
• Experience conducting public policy and/or public health program evaluation or impact analyses.
• Advanced statistical software programming experience in Stata.
• Demonstrated interest in Public Health, Policy Analysis, Policy Research, Program Evaluation, or related fields.
• Experience creating a variety of data visualizations.
• Experience/interest in tobacco control research.
• Experience working with complex survey datasets, especially population-based datasets such as PATH, BRFSS, CPS, YRBS, NSDUH, and NHIS.

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For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available here.

RTI accepts applications to our job openings from candidates with criminal histories or conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States. RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.

At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.

Salary : $66,000 - $81,000