Research Assistant (R&D)

Company

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Research Assistant

The Supervisory Research and Analysis Unit (SRA) is an interdisciplinary group of professionals (economists, financial market analysts and specialists, accountants, and research assistants) that conduct research and analysis aimed at supporting the Bank's supervision and regulation efforts. SRA staff produce research on the banking industry and broader credit markets, the impact of micro- and macroprudential policy on financial markets, and developments that could raise financial stability issues. SRA also contributes to the Federal Reserve System's efforts to identify and monitor potential financial stability risks, and routinely advises senior Bank leadership on related matters. Finally, SRA supports the Bank's participation in several System initiatives, including the Quantitative Surveillance Group, the Dodd-Frank Act Stress Tests, and the Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee.

SRA has an opening for an enthusiastic and self-motivated Research Assistant. This position is responsible for providing high quality technical and analytical support in the form of data acquisition and analysis to one or more research economists.

The position and job description posted is for a Research Assistant; however, candidates will be placed into an appropriate level within the Research Assistant job family (including Research Assistant or Senior Research Assistant) based on the extent of their experience.

Principal Accountabilities:

• Search for and summarize literature. Keep track of sources and assess their reliability.
• Obtain data from internal and external sources and ensure the data's reliability.
• Set up data processing pipelines to facilitate regular updating and reproducibility of analyses and results.
• Manipulate data and perform statistical tests, statistical estimates, and apply other machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques as needed.
• Organize results in a form that can be easily interpreted by the team.
• Prepare charts and tables for publications, presentations, and briefings to Bank and System leadership.
• Learn to use tools such as spreadsheets, statistical analysis packages, graphics libraries, and remote computing environments as needed to perform duties.
• Proofread, edit, fact-check, and comment on work products.
• Liaise with data providers, department and Bank staff, and the public as needed.

Knowledge and Experience:

Knowledge and experience normally acquired through, or equivalent to, the completion of a bachelor's degree in economics, statistics, mathematics, computer science, physics, or related field.

• Strong understanding of statistics, econometrics, causal inference, and ML techniques.
• Demonstrable experience in coding for data analysis/management. One language among Stata, R, or Python required plus willingness to learn the other two on the job.
• Prior work with databases (SQL) strongly preferred.
• Strong organization and communication skills.
• Familiarity with Linux or high-performance computing clusters preferred.
• Familiarity with source control systems (such as Git) preferred.
   

In order to be considered for a role, a candidate must submit their resume, a copy of their transcripts, and a writing sample. The ideal writing sample is an academic style paper that asks a research question and attempts to answer it using quantitative methods (e.g., econometric analysis of data, simulation, or theoretical equilibrium analysis).

As a condition of employment, all Federal Reserve Bank of Boston employees must comply with the Bank's ethics rules, which generally prohibit employees, their spouses/domestic partners, and minor children from owning financial interests – such as stocks or bonds – from banks, savings associations, and systemically important financial institutions or their affiliates, such as bank holding companies or savings and loan holding companies. If you, your spouse or domestic partner, or your minor child own such assets and would be unwilling or unable to divest them if you were to accept a job offer, you should raise this issue with our recruitment team. Applicants should review the Bank's Employee Code of Conduct to ensure compliance with conflict of interest rules and personal investment restrictions.

This position requires access to confidential supervisory information and/or FOMC information, which is limited to "Protected Individuals" as defined in the U.S. federal immigration law. Protected Individuals include, but are not limited to, U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and U.S. permanent residents who either are not yet eligible to apply for naturalization or who have applied for naturalization within the requisite timeframe. 

For this job, any offer of employment is contingent upon successfully passing a two-phase security screening. The first phase consists of the satisfactory completion of a physical examination (including a drug screening), reference checks, and a security investigation consisting of credit and criminal history checks. 

The second phase, which might not be complete until after you begin working at the Reserve Bank, is an additional risk-based security screening determined by the risk rating of the position.  Depending upon the sensitivity of the position, this phase may include, and is not limited to, work and residency eligibility verification, and personal interviews with the candidate, references, and prior employers.  
 

All applicants must have been a US Citizen or a permanent resident who also resided in the United States for at least three (3) years.
 

All employees assigned to this position will be subject to FBI fingerprint/ criminal background and Patriot Act/ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) watch list checks at least once every five years. All candidates must undergo an enhanced background check and comply with all applicable information handling rules.
 

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work required of this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities or skills associated with this position or the personnel so classified. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of this position, management reserves the right to revise this or any job description at its discretion at any time.

Full Time / Part Time

Full time

Regular / Temporary

Regular

Job Exempt (Yes / No)

Yes

Job Category

Economics/Research Family Group

Work Shift

First (United States of America)

The Federal Reserve Banks are committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and job applicants in compliance with applicable law and to an environment where employees are valued for their differences.

Always verify and apply to jobs on Federal Reserve System Careers (https://rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/FRS) or through verified Federal Reserve Bank social media channels.

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