RTI International

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

RTI International’s Center for Environmental, Technology, and Energy Economics has an opening for a senior economist in the technology and innovation economics practice area. The job posting is here. This practice specializes in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the socioeconomic contributions of new technologies, innovation programs, and economic development initiatives. Our core research portfolio is comprised of retrospective and prospective benefit-cost analyses, impact assessments, program evaluations, and economic development analyses. Our team bridges academia and traditional consulting, drawing on a deep appreciation and understanding of the literature, innovating methods and study approaches that work in the real world, and supporting public-sector and nonprofit clients in accounting for past investments, planning for future ones, and improving program design and delivery.

Innovation programs and technical solutions can exist in any domain, and in regions of varying income levels. As a consequence, our research portfolio is extremely diverse. In recent years, studies have touched on topics as diverse as advanced manufacturing, cyber security, small business support programs, and clean energy R&D in the United States, medical imaging in Canada, sanitation technologies in India, and public health technologies in Zambia. Our clients include NIST, DOE, NIH, CDC, regional agencies, consortia, foundations, and universities.

Roles and Responsibilities:
•Manage prospective and retrospective benefit-cost analyses and assessments of new technologies, technology infrastructure enhancements, and regional innovation policies and programs. Apply quasi-experimental and non-experimental research designs using counterfactual evaluation methods.
•Develop conceptual frameworks for analyzing technological change, devise and program economic impact models in the absence of readily available structured datasets, and lead primary data collection activities to populate models.
•Lead the development of grant, cooperative agreement and contract proposals.
•Lead the development of manuscripts for refereed journals.
•Present research findings at scientific conferences.
•Monitor study resources and budgets.
•Supervise teams of researchers.
•Serve as a mentor to junior and mid-level researchers.

Qualifications:
•PhD with 5 years experience or MA/MS with 10 years experience in economics, public policy, planning, business administration or equivalent.
•Prior grant and proposal writing experience
•Familiarity with public sector R&D evaluations, public sector finance, and innovation policy.
•Strong analytical and time management skills
•To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States and should not require now, or in the future, sponsorship for employment status.