Data Science and Analytics Specialist

HR&A Advisors; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 83,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

HR&A Labs is seeking a Data Science and Analytics Specialist to support rapid growth of our internal digital services offerings. Based in our New York office, early-career professionals with 2–4 years of experience will grow into owning client and internal deliverables.

You will perform data and geospatial analysis, build visualizations and dashboards, and develop methodologies for key economic indicators, collaborating with project teams across business lines.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years of professional experience in analytics and product thinking.
• Strong Python proficiency including geospatial packages.
• Experience with census data (e.g., PUMS) and demographic datasets.
• Ability to clean, manipulate, and merge large data sources.
• Experience with AI tools and evaluating AI outputs.
• Clear written and verbal communication for non-technical clients.
• Self-directed with a shown initiative (side project or open-source).
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines across workstreams.
• Bachelor’s degree; master’s preferred in relevant fields.

Skills

Python

Geospatial analysis

Data visualization

Communication

Project management

Self-directed

Education

Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) in data science/analytics or related field

Tools

GeoPandas

Shapely

PostGIS

DuckDB

Job description

ABOUT US

HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities.

We believe in creating vital places, building equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives.

From Brooklyn to London, Medellin to Hong Kong, we have guided hundreds of clients in transforming real estate and economic development concepts, and public infrastructure, first into actionable plans and then into job-producing, community-strengthening assets.

Our clients include real estate owners and investors, hospitals and universities, cultural institutions and philanthropies, community development organizations, and governments.

HR&A has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Raleigh, Washington D.C. and the Bay Area. We come from diverse backgrounds, have a breadth of lived experience, and share a passion for cities. We are former city officials, executive directors, planners, lawyers, architects, and economists.

Hear more about the HR&A experience from our staff.

Learn more about careers at HR&A on our website here.

THE OPPORTUNITY

HR&A Labs is a rapidly growing internal team that works closely with project teams across all of our business lines to prototype products, serve data science requests, and increase the quality and efficiency of our work. Over the past four years, HR&A Labs has developed dashboards, products, and actionable data analysis to state and local governments to push forward housing access, broadband adoption, and data transparency.

This position will primarily support the design and implementation of internal data tools and be deployed onto projects to help provide data science and analytics expertise across a wide set of business lines.

THE ROLE

HR&A Labs is seeking a Data Science and Analytics Specialist to support the rapid growth of our digital services offerings. This role is based in our New York office. This role is for early-career professionals with roughly 2-4 years of experience who want to grow into owning the substance of client and internal deliverables. As a Data Science and Analytics Specialist, you will contribute to and increasingly drive complex data analytics, visualization, and web development work, with high impact across numerous projects and the opportunity to build both our clients' capacities and your own skills quickly.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

You will support the rapid growth of our digital service offerings by conducting data and geospatial analysis, developing visualizations, building interactive tools and dashboards, and developing methodologies for key economic indicators. Day-to-day work includes procuring and analyzing large datasets, building and maintaining data systems and tools, and contributing to fast-moving project teams. You'll start by driving discrete pieces of the work and grow into leading workstreams as you demonstrate ownership.

• 2-4 years of relevant professional experience, or a strong portfolio that demonstrates equivalent capability in analytics and product thinking
• Proficiency in Python, including geospatial analysis and packages (e.g., GeoPandas, Shapely)
• Demonstrated ability to work with census data, PUMS, and other economic and demographic datasets
• Proficiency cycleaning, manipulating, and merging public, proprietary, and internal datasets for analysis
• Fluency with LLMs and other AI tools as part of a daily workflow, paired with the judgment to independently verify data and AI outputs and catch when they are wrong
• Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to translate technical analysis into something a non-technical client can read and act on
• Evidence of self-directed drive: something you built, shipped, or contributed to that nobody assigned you (a side project, a tool, an open-source contribution)
• Ability to manage your own deadlines across multiple workstreams and elevate early when something is at risk
• Bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) with a focus on data science/analytics, geographic information science/analytics, urban planning/design/data, regional science/analytics, architecture, economics, business, public policy, real estate, or other related fields

Preferred

• Experience building web-based tools and dashboards using publicly available APIs
• Experience with front-end development (React/Next.js) and/or back-end services (FastAPI)
• Experience with spatial data infrastructure (PostGIS, vector tiles) or analytical databases (DuckDB)
• Experience conducting geospatial, vicinity/buffer, site suitability, socio-economic, and demographic analysis
• Experience in product design, rapid prototyping (including with generative AI tools), and wireframing

HYBRID WORK POLICY

HR&A fosters a collaborative and flexible work environment through our hybrid work policy. Employees work from the office at least three days a week, which allows individuals the freedom to balance their professional and personal lives while maintaining a strong connection to their teams.

COMPENSATION

The base salary range for this position is $83,200 to $98,571, plus the opportunity for a discretionary year-end bonus. Where an offer falls inside this pay range is dependent on experience. We offer competitive compensation packages, based on qualifications and experience. We are an employee-owned company, meaning you will have the opportunity to benefit from the firm’s growth over time through participation in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Each year, the firm will contribute funds to this long-term wealth-building account and may make contributions to other retirement accounts. We also provide a comprehensive benefits package that goes well beyond coverage of 90-95% of healthcare premiums, including dental and vision coverage.

All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, medical condition, veteran status, or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law.