Data Analyst (Labor)

Location: Los Angeles, California, US
Recruiter: Capolicylab
Date posted: Sunday, November 9, 2025

 

Job Description:

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 Californias 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 California Policy Lab is seeking an experienced Data Analyst with a background or interest in labor economics and policy to contribute to our organizations proven track record bridging the gap between academic researchers and government policymakers. CPL has compiled an unparalleled holding of administrative datasets and the Data Analyst will have the opportunity to apply methodologies from econometrics, statistics, and data science to original research projects that can generate actionable insights to improve Californias labor programs and policies.

The successful candidate will be passionate about using data to find innovative solutions to the problems facing California policymakers and residents. They will be a highly skilled programmer with experience in manipulating and cleaning large administrative datasets in multiple programming languages including STATA and R. They will have a background or experience in implementing causal inference research designs and a familiarity with machine learning models is preferred. They will also be able to produce graphs, tables, maps, or other visual displays that clearly communicate research results. The Data Analyst will be required to follow coding guidelines established by CPL and to contribute to the organizations efforts to build richly detailed documentation of the data we use. The successful candidate will be able to learn the details of complex programs and help identify opportunities where high-quality research could drive positive change in Californias labor programs. They will be able to understand new and existing external research and how insights from that research can be applied to our research projects on Californias labor programs.

This position requires an individual who is able to work both independently and as a part of small research teams to drive projects to completion. We seek a highly organized individual with excellent project and time management skills in order to balance running multiple projects concurrently, including fast-turnaround data analysis. This position will work with researchers at CPL, staff from state and local government agencies, as well as the leadership team at CPL, and will need excellent written and verbal communication skills to interact with these different audiences.

The Data Analyst will report to CPLs senior research staff and will work collaboratively with CPLs Faculty Director, other CPL staff, and our partner agencies. We prefer applicants who are willing to work from the Los Angeles area.

Education and Experience required

Applicants must have a bachelors degree in public policy, economics, statistics, or other relevant field or equivalent experience/training; masters degree preferred. Applicants must also have at least one year of relevant research experience; experience gained in school counts toward this requirement. Two to three years of professional post-baccalaureate experience is preferred. Experience working in an academic or think-tank environment; using business intelligence tools such as Tableau or PowerBI; experience with predictive modeling, machine learning, or artificial intelligence; and project management experience are all also preferred.

Core Functions

A) Data Analysis (40%)

? Work with CPL partners to gather requirements for analyses that impact policy decisions
? Clean, merge, and match data from large and complex administrative datasets to prepare analysis datasets and accomplish research tasks.
? Perform exploratory analysis on new datasets and identify potential research questions or projects the data could support.
? Create or add to existing data documentation that supports CPLs research projects.
? Write replicable code adhering to CPLs coding guidelines.

B) Research Planning and Implementation (30%)

? Work with CPLs Research Director and research managers to identify high-priority policy questions.
? Work with the research teams to write and implement detailed analysis plans that answer these high-priority policy questions.
? Fit and test a variety of statistical models and causal inference research designs that draw policy-relevant insights.

B) Presentation of Results (30%)

? Provide in-person progress reports to CPL Directors, research team members, and policymakers.
? Summarize the results of analyses with data visualizations, presentations, and written reports that are accessible for technical and non-technical audiences.

Required Skills

? Strong interest in applied policy questions in labor economics and labor market programs
? Mastery of data analysis and data visualization in Python, R, or Stata
? Experience working with large administrative datasets including knowledge of strategies for dealing with computing resource limits or for speeding up analyses
? Background and experience with causal inference research designs
? Superior verbal and written communication skills
? Attention to detail and ability to organize and document workflow
? Strong initiative and a resourceful approach to problem-solving
? Ability to work independently and as part of a team; Ability to multi-task with demanding timeframes; Ability to work discreetly with sensitive and confidential data

Preferred Skills

? Substantive knowledge or experience in at least one of our core research areas homelessness, health, criminal justice, poverty, education, or labor
? Understanding of relational databases and mastery of data analysis and data management in SQL
? Experience implementing machine learning models

To Apply

All applicants must apply online at UCLA Career Opportunities using requisition number 8075. Candidates who pass an initial resume review will be contacted for additional pre-interview screening. Based on recent hires we have made, we anticipate receiving a high number of applications and encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible.

Salary & Benefits

This is a full-time position. The hiring range for this position is $85,000 to $110,000 annually, depending on experience. For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of Californias Compensation & Benefits website .

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant see: https://www.eeoc.gov/employees-job-applicants .

These are the typical steps of our hiring process:

? Candidates under consideration will be asked to complete a skills assessment and/or a short screening interview via Zoom.
? Candidates who advance will be invited for Zoom interviews.
? At the end of the process, finalists will be asked to provide a list of at least two references we will contact for a phone screening.

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