Research Economist
About the University
Western Washington University, with over 16,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western is the highest-ranking public, master’s-granting university in the Pacific Northwest, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
About the Center
The College of Business and Economics and the Center for Economics and Business Research support Western’s mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.
About the Position
This position functions as the Research Economist in the Center and as a mentor for student researchers, providing assistance, training, and support to the students. The Center engages in more than two dozen unique research projects annually.
As Research Economist, you will be responsible for overseeing and managing the methodology and analytics related to: economic impact analyses; data collection, organization, and monthly forecasts for the Puget Sound Economic Forecaster; and other analytical project support work.
This position is also responsible for preparing and reviewing written reports on other projects engaged in by the Center which include public opinion research, regional economic research and other related areas. This position may require presentation of findings of all of the Center’s research projects.
Typical duties include:
- Monitor changes in economies from local to global and their effects on modeling efforts
- Collect economic and demographic data from secondary and primary sources using survey mechanisms and established databases/datasets
- Generate and/or edit reports on analyses of data for clients
- Advanced statistical analysis, including econometric modeling in EViews and other statistical packages; Perform economic impact analysis
- Work in a collaborative setting with student researchers and faculty
- Mentor and train student employees
- Assist Director in writing project proposals
- Produce written articles for publication
- Attend meetings and give presentations across the region to clients
Required Qualifications
- BA/BS in Economics or equivalent education/experience at the time of hire
- Demonstrated advanced working knowledge with advanced analytical tools including IMPLAN, EViews, Qualtrics, Microsoft Word and Excel
- Ability to create and edit technical reports designed for a non-technical audience related to economics, marketing, spatial analysis and demographic data
- Excellent interpersonal skills that include professional and motivational communication, public speaking, and relationship building
- Prior experience with ambiguity in research design
- Ability to balance competing high priority requests/projects
- Excellent writing skills
- Advanced skills with Word
- Ability to work effectively with diverse populations, including multicultural experience and cross-cultural communication skills
- Experience with supervising researchers or other equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience conducting economic forecasts and impact analyses
- Reliable transportation for meetings throughout region
- Ability to have limited overnight travel