We are looking for someone with a strong background in economics to join our team as a Research and Data Project Lead in Economics. This role will focus on leading economics-related projects, particularly within our core topics of global poverty, inequality, economic growth, and government spending. This person will collaborate closely with our data scientists and help guide the strategic direction of our work in these areas. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong capability in project management, technical writing, and data analysis, along with a deep understanding of economic research and data.
Joining Our World in Data as a Research and Data Project Lead in Economics is a fantastic opportunity for someone excited to dive into the questions that shape our quantitative understanding of the economic dimensions of the world’s largest problems. You’ll get to lead projects that unpack and explain the data on issues such as poverty, inequality, economic growth, labor markets, and public finance to a global audience. This role offers the chance to have a substantial impact, as our work is used and cited by media outlets worldwide, academic researchers, and organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, OECD, and national governments.
Example projects
To give you an idea of the kind of work you can expect in this role, here is a list of some example projects:
- Building a long-run series of GDP per capita that can be continuously updated by combining the Maddison Project Database with a frequently updated source like the World Bank.
- Estimating the global income distribution from 1800 until today based on the Maddison Project Database.
- Projecting the global poverty headcount ratio for several poverty lines based on various growth scenarios for the coming decade.
- Writing an explainer that lays out how the concept of household income in the World Bank’s poverty data differs from the income definition in the national accounts (GDP per capita).
Key responsibilities
- Lead our research projects in economics, including the exploration, analysis, and visualization of economic data, working closely with data scientists and other researchers.
- Produce high-quality technical articles to make complex economic concepts and data accessible to a diverse audience, including policymakers, academics, journalists, and the general public.
- Contribute to writing new Data Insights focused on poverty, inequality, economic growth, and other economics-related issues.
- Regularly evaluate and scope new research ideas, assessing their feasibility and potential impact on our audience’s understanding of economic issues.
- Help set and prioritize Our World in Data’s economic research agenda to guide long-term and short-term goals.
- Act as a primary liaison with key data providers, including our colleagues at the World Bank, OECD, World Inequality Lab, Luxembourg Income Study, Maddison Project Database, and other significant economic research groups.
Required skills and experience
- Strong background in economics, preferably with experience in a research-intensive role in academia, think tanks, international organizations, or government.
- Demonstrated ability to lead and manage research projects, including as part of a team.
- Experience writing clear and accurate articles for a general audience, focusing on economic data and methods.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively across a multidisciplinary team and maintain productive relationships with key research partners and colleagues.
Skills and experience that will set you apart
- Experience creating engaging and informative data visualizations.
- Ability to contribute to strategic discussions and provide input on the future directions of economic research at Our World in Data.
- Experience analyzing and extracting meaningful insights from complex datasets using statistical programming languages (knowledge of Python is not required for this position).
Personal characteristics we look for
- Capacity to analyze information critically.
- Ability to change your mind based on new evidence.
- High degree of initiative and ability to independently drive projects from concept to completion.
- Natural curiosity about economic issues and a strong desire to continually learn and understand broader challenges in global development.
- Excellent team collaboration skills, able to integrate smoothly into a diverse and dynamic team environment.
How to apply
Please complete this form to apply (you will need a Google account). For longer answers, we recommend you prepare them in a separate document and copy them to the form before submitting.
Overall, we’ve aimed to make our application exercises close to what you would do in this role. The form will ask you for the following:
- Your CV/resume.
- Where you came across this job ad so that we can track the effectiveness of our advertising efforts.
- Why you want to work for Our World in Data and why you think you’re the right person for this job (maximum 3,000 characters).
- 1 to 3 links to examples demonstrating your ability to communicate complex economic concepts clearly and effectively to a smart audience of non-experts. This could include articles, blog posts, policy reports, or similar work. Master’s theses and PhDs should not be included and will not count as evidence of your ability here, as they are authored for an expert audience.
- Answers to 9 multiple-choice questions on economic indicators. This involves some light data manipulation; we expect this part of the application to take 1 to 2 hours.
Location:
Our offices are in Oxford, United Kingdom, but many people in our team work remotely. We welcome applications from international candidates, though working hours should partly overlap with core UK working hours to facilitate effective collaboration with our team. Visa sponsorship may be considered for the right candidate, depending on individual circumstances and relocation preference.
Compensation:
£55,000 to £65,000 per year for candidates living in the UK. We will discuss ranges with international candidates individually.