Researcher

About the California Policy Lab

The California Policy Lab (CPL) generates research insights for government impact. Through hands-on partnerships with government agencies, CPL performs rigorous research across issue silos and builds the data infrastructure necessary to improve programs and policies that millions of Californians rely on every day. We work on California’s most urgent issues, including homelessness, poverty, criminal justice reform, and education inequality. At its Berkeley site, CPL resides as a center within the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE).

CPL recognizes the value of having a diverse staff at all levels of the organization. We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent and understand the diverse racial and ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational, socioeconomic, cultural, and disability backgrounds present in California. When you join our team, you can expect to be part of an inclusive and equity-focused community.

The Position

The Researcher joins our team at an exciting moment. CPL has built one of the country’s most detailed and important datasets covering the financial status of Californians and Americans. The University of California Consumer Credit Panel (UC-CCP) was launched in 2020 and now hosts dozens of active projects. The Researcher will be our first researcher dedicated to working with these data. The Researcher will manage and implement CPL’s work on the UC-CCP, including leading CPL’s research using the UC-CCP, consulting with data users about project feasibility and how best to use the data, curating the data, improving the data and its documentation, monitoring data linkages, and overseeing the UC-CCP application process. They will also work with other researchers at CPL to contribute to applied research projects that aim to improve programs and policies in California. The Researcher will report to CPL-Berkeley’s Research Director and will work closely with CPL-Berkeley’s Executive Director, who created the UC-CCP.

The Researcher will conduct independent quantitative research using the UC-CCP, sometimes linked to other data held by CPL (e.g., to safety-net program participation information). The Researcher will publish multiple reports and policy briefs based on this research each year. The Researcher will work with minimal supervision to conceptualize research questions and design; request, receive, and clean data files; create and implement analysis plans; conduct quality assurance reviews; summarize results in documents for both academic and policy audiences; and generate replicability documentation. The Researcher can implement multiple research designs and analysis techniques, including but not limited to randomized control trials, quasi-experimental designs using natural experiments or other such variation, and difference-in-difference and event-study analyses. Further, a successful candidate can lead research projects with small teams, write proposals to support research projects, and ensure timely and high-quality completion of research tasks. The Researcher will mentor other research staff and may supervise other staff over time, though they will start without any direct reports. 

The Researcher should have a strong working knowledge of at least one statistical programming language, which may include SQL, Stata, R, Python, or SAS; multiple languages are preferred. Ideally, they would also have a strong understanding of consumer financial markets, credit-reporting practices, or the credit-bureau data itself. The position will work directly with leading social policy researchers at UC and beyond, state and local government agency staff, as well as the leadership team at CPL, and it is important that the candidate be able to translate their research findings for different audiences. 

This position is based in Berkeley, CA with an expectation of 3 days/week in the office. We will consider remote candidates but prefer candidates that will be on site.

For more information about the position, including required qualifications, go to:  https://www.capolicylab.org/careers/researcher/

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.