Research Analyst, Food Assistance

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that advances federal and state policies to help build a nation where everyone — regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ZIP code, immigration status, or disability status — has the resources they need to thrive and share in the nation’s prosperity.  

CBPP combines rigorous research and analysis, strategic communications, and effective advocacy to shape debates, affect policy, and inform effective implementation both nationally and in states. It works closely with a broad set of national, state, and community organizations to design and advance policies that promote economic justice; improve health; broaden opportunity in areas like housing, health care, employment, and education; and lower structural barriers for people of color and others in communities that continue to face systemic barriers to opportunity. CBPP promotes policies that will build a more equitable nation and fair tax policies that can support these gains over the long term. CBPP also shows the harmful impacts of policies and proposals that would deepen poverty, widen disparities, and worsen health outcomes.  

 CBPP’s Food Assistance policy team focuses on reducing hunger and food insecurity (lack of consistent access to nutritious food) by improving access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the SUN Bucks (Summer Electronic Benefit) program, and the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The team also promotes collaboration between these programs and other benefit programs supporting low-income people (such as Medicaid, rental assistance and other housing programs, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program). The team provides data and technical assistance to an array of important stakeholders, including federal and state policymakers, program administrators, national partners, and a growing network of state-level advocates, journalists, and the public. The team’s work includes promoting effective approaches at the federal, state, and local levels to provide food assistance to low- and moderate-income families and individuals; developing and analyzing proposed changes in government policies; conducting research on the need for food assistance and the implications of food assistance policy choices; and working with other nonprofits on these issues. CBPP helps shape the debate on food assistance policies, and its analyses and experts are quoted frequently in the press and heavily relied upon by policymakers and peers. 

CBPP is seeking a Research Analyst to join its Food Assistance policy team. Working with other members of the team, the Research Analyst will work on projects that focus primarily on federal- and state-level SNAP, WIC, and child nutrition policy, budget, and implementation issues. The Research Analyst is responsible for conducting accurate and replicable quantitative research and analyses using administrative and survey data, working closely with other team members. The Research Analyst is also expected to keep abreast of federal and state policy developments, program operations, and related research to and provide useful and accessible information for policymakers, state-level advocates, and the public.   

Responsibilities: 

• Provide analytical support to the team, including writing programming code (in Stata or R) to extract, transform, clean, and perform advanced manipulation of quantitative data; preparing tables, graphs, and other data visualizations to present analytic findings; and factchecking and updating CBPP’s reports, blogs, and other products.  
• Conduct high-quality data analysis and research on food assistance programs and disseminate it in the form of