Jobs and Careers

Senior Research Specialist

United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 1 Aug 2025

💰 $75,000/yr($58,000/yr – $75,000/yr)

About the role

Overview

Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) is looking to hire a full-time pre-doctoral research fellow (Senior Research Specialist). The positions entail close collaboration with Professor Tanushree Goyal on research projects related to the political economy of development (for example, cultural change, as well as environmental conservation, political participation, gender, bureaucracy etc.). The position involves a variety of tasks that provide excellent preparation for graduate school or work in a data science career. Work includes tasks such as conducting advanced econometric analysis and preparing results tables, managing large data sets, handling spatial data, applying machine learning algorithms, conducting computationally intensive statistical analyses, summarizing research findings, and editing research papers. In addition to working closely with faculty, senior research specialists participate in the vibrant academic life of Princeton University, including taking graduate or undergraduate courses, attending seminars, and engaging with graduate students and other research assistants. This position is ideal for seniors graduating by Summer 2025 or final year master’s students with a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. or pursuing a data science career after acquiring one or two years of research experience.

This is a 1-year term position.

Responsibilities

Managing data sets and statistical analysis:

This position requires high analytical, computational, and data science skills. Large datasets comprising up to many millions of data points are compiled, cleaned, processed, analyzed and interpreted using Python and R. Many tasks are performed using Princeton’s high performance cluster computers.

Data Collection and literature review:This position will give assistance to Princeton University Professors working on highly technical research papers, and he or she is expected to help conceptualize; collect, compile and manipulate large data sets using state of the art software (Stata, R, and Python); perform literature reviews of the most recent research in the political economy of development.

Additional duties may be assigned.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

- Minimum BA/BS degree in Economics, Mathematics, Political Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or related discipline.- Excellent research, writing, and programming skills. Knowledge of Python and an additional language such as R or Stata is essential.

Additional Qualifications:

- This position is ideal for seniors graduating by Summer 2025 or final year master’s students with a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. or pursuing a data science career after acquiring one or two years of research experience.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.