Job Information
Boston Planning and Development Agency Research Associate in Boston, Massachusetts
BPDA POSITION DESCRIPTION
*BOSTON RESIDENCY IS A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT*
TITLE: RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
GRADE: 5 STATUS: Exempt
DEPARTMENT/DIVISION: RESEARCH
BPDA OVERVIEW
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) is the planning and economic development agency for the City of Boston. The BPDA plays a far-reaching role in shaping the City. We are a self-sustaining agency and our love for Boston inspires us to make our City an even better place to live, work, and connect. The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff with diverse experiences while continuing to work to build and sustain an equitable and inclusive work environment, where cultural diversity is celebrated and valued. We believe every member on our team enriches our agency and allows us to see a broad range of ways to understand and engage with our city, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver solutions.
The BPDA Research Division strives to understand the current environment of the city to produce quality research and targeted information that will inform and benefit the residents and businesses of Boston. The Research division compiles and analyzes current, historical, and comparative data on the city of Boston. The department conducts research on Boston's economy, population, and commercial markets for all departments of the BPDA, the City of Boston, and related organizations.
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE – POSITION SUMMARY
Under the direction of the Director of Research, contribute to major research projects on Boston’s population, economy, and government policies. Prepare research reports, maintain databases and perform statistical analysis.
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
include but are not limited to the following:
Conduct research studies on Boston’s economy and population, utilizing core knowledge of economic principles.
Execute research projects, including a mix of shorter- and longer-term quantitative analyses touching a wide range of topics relevant for city planning and policy, including economic development, industry analysis, and feasibility studies
Prepare memoranda and research reports that are written clearly and precisely.
Create presentations and data visualizations that encapsulate key research findings in an engaging manner for non-technical audiences.
Present research work to BPDA and City staff and work with internal and external stakeholders to understand analytical needs and propose research solutions
Monitor Boston’s real estate market, working with commercial real estate data including vacancies, sublease, and rent data to identify and assess development and real estate trends.
Identify and assess trends in Boston’s labor market. Work with core labor market databases (Bureau of Labor Statistics) understanding data limitations at the municipal level. and provide updates to the department's labor market assessment tool.
Identify and assess trends that may impact the City’s population and demographics working with various data sources including the US Census Bureau’s databases (tabular and microdata).
Use Division’s economic impact and forecasting models and review modeling results. Implement economic impact models (e.g. Implan or REMI) for projects such as estimating direct and indirect job impacts of real estate development.
Create and maintain datasets necessary for the Division’s research through techniques such as web scraping and API data retrieval. Work with Big Data, tidying datasets and performing supervised machine learning to identify meaningful patterns within complex datasets
Process and visualize geospatial data using ArcGIS Pro and/or other geospatial software (e.g. QGIS or Python/R libraries), including geocoding, spatial joins, projections, spatial analysis, and basic cartography
QUALIFICATIONS
Work requires a minimum of a Master’s or MBA degree and two to three years of relevant research experience. Successful demonstration of technical skills will be required and particularly strong demonstrated skills may substitute for some required coursework or job experience. Desired technical skills include the following:
Knowledge of data analysis/visualization libraries and tools;comfort handling Big Data
Proficiency in programming languages, e.g. Python, R and SQL
Advanced Excel skills including advanced Excel functions Pivot Tables, and Macros
Strong quantitative and statistical skills. Advanced proficiency in statistical software such as R or STATA, including descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis (EDA) as well as inferential statistics (regression, classification, etc.)
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Normal office environment.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Little or no exertion.
SCOPE:
May provide functional direction to Research Assistants, students and interns.
*BOSTON RESIDENCY IS A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT*