Date Posted: 05/09/2023
Req ID: 31016
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Dept of Economics
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Position Number: 00054595

Description:

About us:

The Faculty of Arts & Science is the heart of Canada’s leading university and one of the most comprehensive and diverse academic divisions in the world. The strength of Arts & Science derives from our combined teaching and research excellence in the humanities, sciences and social sciences across 29 departments, seven colleges and 46 interdisciplinary centres, institutes and programs.

We can only realize our mission with the dedication and excellence of engaged staff and faculty. The diversity of opportunities and perspectives within the Faculty reflect the local and global landscape and the need for curiosity, innovative thinking and collaboration. At Arts & Science, we take pride in our legacy of innovation and discovery that has changed the way we think about the world.

Your opportunity:

The Department of Economics ranks among the top economics departments internationally and is ranked number one in Canada. Nearly 70 per cent of all students take at least one course in economics during their undergraduate studies and our faculty is committed to educating and inspiring them all. Teaching and research in our department span a wide range of fields including theory, applied data analysis and econometric methodology. Located in the downtown core of Canada’s largest city, our department is immersed in a rich environment of rapidly expanding business and financial capital.

The Data Analyst will update and maintain the data series on the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, which combines anonymized data from leading private companies to provide a rapid picture of indicators such as employment rates, consumer spending, and job postings across counties, industries, and income groups. In this role, the Data Analyst will improve the Economic Tracker's data processing and analysis pipelines, and maintain the existing pipeline's codebase.

The incumbent will report to the Project Manager, and work closely with the Project Manager, Data Engineer, Principal Investigators, and other research staff to support the ongoing operation, continued expansion, and both internal and external usage of the OI Economic Tracker.

Your responsibilities will include:

• 
  Updating and maintaining database records
• Producing complex statistical information
• Verifying and reconciling data errors
• Identifying and resolving individual data anomalies and discrepancies
• Liaising with research team partners and external stakeholders to investigate data quality issues and to explore and incorporate new data
• Analyzing and processing raw datasets, to be incorporated into the Economic Tracker
• Preparing detailed analysis and making recommendations to support systems refinements and upgrades

Essential Qualifications:

• 
  Bachelor's Degree involving empirical social sciences and/or programming (e.g. economics, computer science, related fields in social science and data science) or acceptable combination of equivalent experience.
• Minimum three years of work experience in data analysis, involving empirical social sciences and/or programming. Ideally in a post-secondary research institution
• Demonstrated experience supporting empirical, academic research in economics
• Demonstrated experience analyzing large datasets
• Demonstrated experience in scientific and statistical programming
• Experience performing quality assurance on data, experience investigating and resolving data quality issues
• Experience writing reports describing empirical data analysis
• Demonstrated experience implementing data privacy and data security processes
• Strong programming skills (Stata, Python, SQL)
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to minimizing errors
• Ability to take ownership of tasks, and operate under deadlines
• Effective communication with both technical and non-technical staff and partners, and a commitment to a positive team approach

Assets (Nonessential):

• 
  Interest in applying data analysis and data science for social good and enthusiasm for using data analysis to improve research and policymaking
• A Master's degree in Economics would be considered an asset
• Experience in break detection and signal theory analysis of aggregate firm datasets in a variety of settings such as card expenditure datasets and payroll datasets
• Experience performing data analysis and quality assurance in a remote CI environment (such as Github Actions or CircleCI)

To be successful in this role you will be:

• 
  Diligent
• Efficient
• Meticulous
• Motivated self-learner
• Organized
• Problem solver

This is a one year term position from July 1, 2023 until June 30, 2024.

This role is currently eligible for a hybrid work arrangement, pursuant to University policies and guidelines, including but not limited to the University of Toronto’s Alternative Work Arrangements Guideline

Closing Date: 05/17/2023, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: USW
Appointment Type: Budget - Term
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone:
USW Pay Band 10 - $63,720 with an annual step progression to a maximum of $81,485. Pay scale and job class assignment is subject to determination pursuant to the Job Evaluation/Pay Equity Maintenance Protocol.
Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching

Lived Experience Statement
Candidates who are members of Indigenous, Black, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and other equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply, and their lived experience shall be taken into consideration as applicable to the posted position.