Applied Microeconomists - Microdata Team

Department of the Treasury
Canberra, ACT; Sydney, NSW; Melbourne, VIC - Australia
S: $68,091 - $129,215 per annum

About The Treasury

The Treasury is a respected and influential central economic agency. We provide authoritative advice and analysis to the Australian Government on a broad range of economic, fiscal, structural, financial and tax policy issues. We also monitor global economic conditions to make sure Australia is well placed to respond to emerging trends.

Treasury is seeking high quality applicants, with relevant tertiary qualifications and work experience, interested in contributing to the department's efforts to boost Australia's productivity performance and lift the broader evidence base for public policy. Raising productivity growth is essential to sustain further improvements in living standards, given headwinds from population ageing and the terms of trade normalisation.

Against this background, Treasury's Firming Up Productivity in Australia project is developing and exploiting newly available microdata sources – including matched employee-employer data – to conduct policy-relevant research on the sources of market dynamism and productivity growth in Australia. The team also conducts complementary research on labour market issues – such as the structural drivers of wage growth – with a view to improve the evidence base for public policy.

About the Role

To aid this department-wide initiative, the Treasury is seeking highly motivated empirical micro-economists to:

• Conduct and publish cutting-edge research using – using leading econometric techniques and rich datasets – into the drivers of productivity growth and labour market outcomes;

• Analyse the causal impacts of major policies and economic shocks on firms and workers;

• Translate research into a micro foundation for the Australian growth narrative and public-policy evidence base;

• Identify and develop, in collaboration with others, new microdata sources of value to the research agenda;

• Work collaboratively across the department to support and build Treasury's capacity for applied micro-econometrics; and

• Collaborate with domestic research partners and leverage international research networks, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Productivity.
 
Desirable Qualifications / Experience

The ideal candidate(s) will possess recent applied experience with rich microdata sources, leading econometric techniques (e.g. panel data estimation methods, causal identification) and a strong aptitude for STATA or related data analysis packages (e.g. SAS, R).

Relevant tertiary qualifications and/or work experience in a policy or research setting is highly desirable.

An ability to succinctly convey succinctly and communicate the findings from applied research to technical and non-technical audiences is essential.

Candidates must demonstrate the ability to collaborate and a commitment to support and build the capabilities of their colleagues in applied micro-econometrics.

Familiarity with productivity estimation, related analytical techniques and the international productivity literature would be an asset but is not essential.

Your application should be lodged electronically through our online recruitment system located at Treasury Careers: http://careers.tspace.gov.au/ci/en/listing/

As part of your application you will need to provide:

• your current resume of no more than four pages;
• a 'one page pitch', referencing the ILS, detailing your relevant skills and experience against the position requirement; and
• if possible, the name and contact details of at least one referee.

Job summary