Geographic Research Professional Specialist

Chartered by the state of Georgia in 1785, the University of Georgia is the birthplace of public higher education in America and is the state's flagship university (https://www.uga.edu/). The proof is in our more than 240 years of academic and professional achievements and our continual commitment to higher education. UGA is currently ranked among the top 20 public universities in U.S. News & World Report. The University's main campus is located in Athens, approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, with extended campuses in Atlanta, Griffin, Gwinnett, and Tifton. UGA employs approximately 3,100 faculty and more than 7,700 full-time staff. The University's enrollment exceeds 41,000 students including over 31,000 undergraduates and over 10,000 graduate and professional students. Academic programs reside in 19 schools and colleges, including our newly established School of Medicine.

The UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government - Who We Are
As a Public Service and Outreach unit at the University of Georgia, the UGA Institute of Government contributes directly to the university's overarching public service mission of improving people's lives by helping to create jobs and prosperity, developing leaders, and addressing critical issues. This public service mission, and the Institute of Government's role in its success, is at the heart of UGA's land-grant and sea-grant mission to serve the State of Georgia and its residents.

We have a team of experts who inform, inspire, and innovate every day so that governments, large and small, can be more efficient and responsive to their citizens, address current and emerging challenges, and serve the public with excellence. We are uniquely positioned to provide impartial support to local governments and state agencies and convene multidisciplinary and intragovernmental groups to plan for and address many of the challenges faced by communities across Georgia.

Our areas of expertise and focus include workforce and economic development; infrastructure and community resilience; government operations and organizational effectiveness; measuring and reporting on impact and outcomes; building skills, knowledge and capacity of government leaders and teams; and maximizing technology and data for governments and their leaders.

Whether it is through our award-winning PROPEL (Planning Rural Opportunities for Prosperity and Economic Leadership) program for rural communities, our CyberArch student program that helps Georgia communities increase their cybersecurity, our efforts to build a visionary plan for military and community partnerships to spur economic prosperity and resilient infrastructure, our financial management certificate program to build the capacity of public officials, or hosting educational events about e-mobility strategies for local governments .... We Know Georgia. Fulfilling our land-grant and sea-grant mission to serve the State of Georgia is more than a project. It's our purpose.

We are growing and excited to add individuals to our team who share our commitment to public service - building stronger communities, inspiring economic resilience, and improving quality of life for communities across Georgia and beyond.

Our Culture - How We Operate
We disseminate knowledge through research, scholarship, and instruction. We collaborate internally across our areas of expertise and across the university with academic researchers to bring best practices and expert insights to the governments and communities we serve. We are committed to fielding a team of experts who have a variety of professional and academic experiences and are grounded in our culture of excellence and approach our work with Georgia's governments in a comprehensive and objective fashion.

Normal business hours are M-F, 8-5.

The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or veteran status or other protected status. Persons needing accommodations or assistance with the accessibility of materials related to this search are encouraged to contact Central HR ( hrweb@uga.edu).

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 26 institutions of higher education and learning, as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found online at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found online at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent

* Master's degree in Demography, Sociology, Geography, Public Administration or related quantitative social science.
* Research interests in GIS, housing analytics, economic analysis, or workforce development.
* Experience working with non-profit and government organizations.
* Experience with parcel data analysis.
* Experience with demographic, economic, housing, and education microdata.
* Experience presenting complex information to technical and non-technical audiences.

The Geographic Research Professional Specialist will support applied research and technical assistance projects related to demographic, housing, economic, and workforce analyses, enabling state agencies, local governments, and communities to use data to make informed, effective decisions. This position will focus on collecting, cleaning, managing, analyzing, and visualizing various forms of data (spatial, demographic, economic, housing, labor market, and education) for applied demography and geography, economic analysis, workforce and economic development, housing and community development, and related quantitative social sciences. This individual's responsibilities will include building custom statistical and visual analytics for client-driven projects using Microsoft's PowerBI and ArcGIS Online. In addition, the individual will be responsible for supporting the development of custom statistical and visual analytics for client-driven projects using open-source computing and statistical programming languages (e.g., R, Python, and Julia). The successful candidate will be expected to work with and across datasets including individual-level primary data, aggregated secondary data, and publicly available demographic and economic microdata. The Geographic Research Professional Specialist will play an important role in the development and maintenance of spatial data products, such as housing units, building permits, parcel data, and primitive geographies. The candidate will assist in communicating data insights through multiple channels (e.g., written reports, executive summaries, dynamic visualizations and dashboards, presentation slides) to technical and non-technical audiences. The role will involve day-to-day responsibility for assigned data projects and tasks within larger faculty or project-led efforts. This role requires a service-oriented mentality and a strong sense of ownership for the projects, problems, and requests assigned.

Be advised a credit check will be required for all positions with financial responsibilities. For additional information about the credit check criteria, visit the UGA Credit Background Check website.

Offers of employment are contingent upon completion of a background investigation including, a criminal background check demonstrating your eligibility for employment with the University of Georgia; confirmation of the credentials and employment history reflected in your application materials (including reference checks) as they relate to the job-based requirements of the position applied for; and, if applicable, a satisfactory credit check. You may also be subject to a pre-employment drug test for positions with high-risk responsibilities, if applicable. Please visit the UGA Background Check website.

Develop, maintain, and analyze geographic data for the Institute of Government's client projects in applied demographic and economic analysis and workforce development. Write and edit code using a statistical computing application (e.g., R, Julia, Python) following programming best practices. Update and maintain the division's existing geographic data and products.

Develop new and maintain existing BI dashboards using software such as ArcGIS Online, Microsoft's Power BI, and open-source products such as Shiny. Continuously update knowledge related to these and related programs to ensure best practices within the division.

Provide support to automate and standardize data collection and management processes. Work across the Institute of Government organization to understand and connect disparate data sources in support of applied social science projects. Actively seek out ways to improve existing data management processes to better serve internal and external needs.

Support the Institute's research projects with labor market and economic research as part of the unit's workforce and economic development portfolio. Gather and analyze labor market data, demographic data, education data, economic data, and other federal and state data sources to provide insight and support to state government, local governments, economic development organizations, and workforce development areas. Create data packets, community profiles, workforce snapshots, and other data-driven research products. Analyze the economic and fiscal impact of tax policy as requested by the Governor's Office, Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, or the Georgia General Assembly. Determine appropriate statistical and quantitative procedures for the analysis. Interpret results of analysis and effectively communicate the impact in writing.