Careers

We are a team of social scientists and policy professionals who are committed to rigorously answering questions that the public sector has asked. You’re the kind of person we’re looking for if: you’re torn between a career in research and a career in social impact; you are committed to systemic change through government; you thrive working with a team on multiple projects at once; and you have lived or professional experience related to the topics we work on.

Our current openings are below.

If you are interested in working with the People Lab in another capacity or have any questions we would love to hear from you. Please send an email to peoplelab@hks.harvard.edu.

Senior Research Associate

This position is ideal for candidates with a graduate degree or a college graduate with 3+ years of experience designing and executing the implementation of research projects. The Senior Research Associate will work on many fast-paced projects simultaneously, and be involved in all aspects of projects including: project scoping and design, communication with government partners, field visits, developing and implementing project timelines, conducting statistical and econometric analysis, executing research administration responsibilities, and producing policy-relevant and academically-relevant publications. Experience with conducting field experiments strongly preferred. 

 Click here to apply and learn more! 

Research Associate

This position is ideal for motivated college graduates with prior research experience who are interested in getting more in-depth training in applied research. Research Associates support multiple fast-paced projects at a time, under the guidance of senior research staff. Responsibilities may include data cleaning and analysis literature reviews, and supporting the manuscript preparation, as well as direct interaction with government partners to co-design and evaluate interventions using randomized controlled trials (RCTs).  

Click here to apply and learn more! 

Senior Executive Assistant and Faculty Program Manager

We are looking for motivated college graduates who are exceptionally skilled at managing up, see time management as a strategic decision, can be first point of contact for Professor Elizabeth Linos needs in engagements with high-level leaders in a variety of fields, including research, policy, and philanthropy and are eager to support a team of scholars. This role would be a great fit for someone who aspires to a career as a chief of staff or to graduate school in public policy, behavioral economics, or public management and are excited to learn about conducting research, with an emphasis on applied randomized controlled trials.

Click here to apply and learn more!  

Student Research Fellowships

We will not be hiring graduate and undergraduate fellows for the spring 2024 semester. We will open applications for our summer 2024 fellowship in late November 2023.