DC Research Assistant - Housing & Communities Data Analysis

The Urban Institute; Washington (Washington County); Hybrid; USD 53,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Transit benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

The Urban Institute is a DC-based research organization seeking a Research Assistant (Step 1 / Research track) for the Housing and Communities Division. The role involves data management, coding in R/Stata/SAS/Python, and producing clear data summaries across several practice areas.

Hybrid work in Washington, DC two or more days per week is preferred. Responsibilities include data collection/cleaning, writing reproducible code, AI-assisted problem solving, literature reviews, and project

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or associate’s degree with equivalent experience required.
• Demonstrated quantitative research skills including descriptive statistics and data cleaning.
• Experience managing and analyzing large datasets.
• Experience writing and reviewing code in R, Stata, SAS, or Python with willingness to learn new tools.
• Ability to produce clear tables, charts, maps, and data summaries for nontechnical audiences.
• Sound judgment using AI tools to support coding while protecting data confidentiality.
• Initiative to suggest improvements in coding, data management, and workflows.
• Strong time management, professionalism, organization, and attention to detail.
• Willingness and ability to travel when conditions are safe.

Responsibilities

• Collect, clean, manage, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data across projects.
• Write, run, document, and review reproducible code in R, Stata, SAS, and/or Python; troubleshoot and optimize workflows.
• Use AI tools responsibly to support coding and data analysis while ensuring data security.
• Produce basic to intermediate tables, charts, and descriptive statistics for teams and nontechnical audiences.
• Support QA by checking code and data outputs, documenting decisions, and reconciling results.
• Contribute to literature reviews, fieldwork, proposals, events, and project management as assigned.
• Complete administrative and logistical tasks for research proposals and events.
• Manage time effectively and collaborate with teams on multiple projects.

Skills

Quantitative analysis

Coding

Time management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or associate’s degree with equivalent experience

Tools

R

Stata

SAS

Python

Job description

The Urban Institute is a DC-based research organization seeking a Research Assistant (Step 1 / Research track) for the Housing and Communities Division. The role involves data management, coding in R/Stata/SAS/Python, and producing clear data summaries across several practice areas.

Hybrid work in Washington, DC two or more days per week is preferred. Responsibilities include data collection/cleaning, writing reproducible code, AI-assisted problem solving, literature reviews, and project