Senior Economist

Below is the job description for the position:Position: Senior Economic Research AnalystLocation: Onsite: St. San Diego, CA 92101Duration: 06+ months contract with strong possibility of extension Shift timing: MON- FRI: 8 hrs/day & 40 hrs/week Job Description:The Senior Economist will analyze financial, transportation, and socioeconomic data to identify trends and build predictive models that provide strategic insight and guide decision-making. In this role, the Senior Economist will serve as project manager and technical expert to research efforts and model development.Job Responsibilities:The Economics team has four core functions. Below describes the responsibilities in each functional area.• Econometric modeling – Build and deploy econometric models to support activities and programs across the Agency, such as inputs to client’s activity-based travel model and traffic and revenue studies and regional forecasting of jobs, income, price elasticities, and use of transportation infrastructure. Essential activities include implementing quantitative and econometric methodologies, leveraging economic reasoning to understand economic and population dynamics, and visualizing data to reveal insights.• Benefit-cost analysis – Conduct analyses that capture the private and public benefits and costs of transportation projects and are compliant with federal and state guidance.• Financial analysis and forecasting – Interpret current and historical data to predict future economic conditions, maintain forecasting models and develop tools to enable ad-hoc forecast updates and inputs from other models.• Present findings through technical reports, charts, and presentations for both technical and nontechnical audiences.Experience and Qualifications:• Advanced degree in economics, econometrics or public policy.• Minimum five years of recent experience in applied economics or a related field.• Demonstrated knowledge of economic principles, modeling, and forecasting.• Demonstrated experience performing analytical work, grounded in mathematical and statistical calculations. Descriptive and inferential statistics and econometric modeling (choice modeling, panel data regressions) is highly desirable.• Strong programming skills (R, SQL, Python), and familiarity with GIS and GitHub desirable.• Ability to document work to ensure transparency in assumptions and replicability of results.• Collaborative mindset with cross-functional teams (e.g. finance, travel modelers, planners, data scientists).• Solid working knowledge of data available at US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, CA Employment Development Department, US Census, IPUMS.• Excellent communication abilities -both written and visual (tables, graphs, and other data visualizations).• Proficiency using IMPLAN and REMI is desirable.