• Part time position, 2.5 days a week with a potential to expand to full-time
• Location: Sydney CBD
• Salary: Negotiable (guide $30,000-$35,000)

About the McKell Institute

The McKell Institute is an independent, progressive research institute dedicated to advancing the policy debate in Australia. Headquartered in Sydney, with footprints in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, the Institute contributes to Australia’s policy debate through research publications and regular events with senior voices spanning politics and government, academia and business, trade unions and civil society.

About the Role

The McKell Institute is seeking a part time Economic Policy Analyst to join its policy and research team. The role, reporting to the Institute’s Director of Policy, will focus primarily on interpreting, visualising and modelling economic data related to the Institute’s research streams.

The Economic Policy Analyst will also author regular research reports covering a broad range of policy areas, and be provided with opportunities to advocate for the Institute’s research in public forums and media.

This position is well suited to a highly motivated graduate, early-career professional, or a mid-career professional seeking a part time role, with a passion for public policy, economics and research, and a motivation to positively influence Australia’s public policy landscape.

Working from the Institute’s Sydney CBD office, the ideal candidate will have a demonstrated track record of data analysis and data visualisation, economic modelling, research, and be highly motivated to work independently.

Flexible working arrangements are available to the suitable candidate. This role is part time with an opportunity to transition to full time.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform data analysis and data visualisation to communicate complex policy proposals to diverse audiences.
• Undertake regular economic modelling, with a focus on quantifying employment economic growth outcomes, and costings associated with the policy proposals advanced by the Institute.
• Lead-author compelling and creative policy research projects, often on short time frames.
• Engage regularly with a broad range of stakeholders.
• Provide piecemeal research assistance for the Manager of Policy, CEO, and Queensland and Victorian Executive Directors.
• Contribute to the Institute's online presence by communicating economic modelling and data in a shareable, digestible manner.

Essential attributes

• An undergraduate qualification in economics, data science or a related discipline. An excellent capacity to interpret and manipulate data.
• A familiarity working with official Australian Government data, including Australian Bureau of Statistics series’ and state and local equivalents.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Familiarity with Australian political and policy trends.
• A broad understanding of the policy making process at both a state and federal level.
• A capacity to articulate complex ideas clearly and concisely for a mainstream audience.
• A capacity to manage multiple projects on tight timeframes.
• Highly personable, independent and motivated.

Desired attributes

• Familiarity with statistics software, e.g. Microsoft Excel, R, Stata.
• Demonstrable history of statistical and economic modelling.
• Familiarity with data visualisation and manipulation in R.
• Familiarity with other useful tools - such as GIS, DataWrapper, Tableau, or Python.
• A familiarity with blogging, writing short articles and briefing papers.
• A portfolio of work demonstrating the above attributes.