Position Description

ERT is seeking a skilled economist to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Restoration Center (RC) Policy, Planning and Communications Team (PPC), providing technical support and expertise on a range of high priority areas to include...

Planning and Strategy Development:

Provide strategic guidance on advancing efforts to demonstrate ecosystem service benefits and further opportunities to better incorporate socioeconomic analysis and methods into policies and initiatives.

Technical Support:

Provide technical support to demonstrate the benefits of habitat restoration by utilizing established research methods in the social and economic sciences in concert with RC data and other relevant data sources; design assessments and implement established methods for assessing the economic impacts of habitat restoration projects.

Outreach:

Support the development of internal and external communications and summary materials to convey the results of economic analyses to help inform management decisions and the public about the ecosystem service benefits provided by habitat protection and restoration activities.

Agency Coordination:

Support RC mission, goals, and objectives by coordinating with NOAA and other agencies and external partners and promoting the incorporation of socio-economic monitoring and reporting in partnership projects and activities.

Required Skills
• 6 years of relevant experience in economic survey design and implementation, data analysis, and ecosystem service valuation techniques.
• Demonstrated experience using experimental design methodology or program/project evaluation research methods (e.g., estimating random utility models from stated or revealed preference datasets; experience working with travel cost models and hedonic valuation methods; or experience applying benefit transfer approaches.)
• Quantitative data management and analytical skills including procurement and preparation of secondary data, data input or entry, merging/appending datasets, data standardization/normalization/imputation, quality assurance/quality control, data documentation, visualization and presentation.
• Proficiency with statistical/numerical packages such as R, Python, or SAS.
• Ability to translate the results of basic economic impact and/or benefit analyses to a variety of audiences.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with demonstrated experience drafting reports and giving presentations.

Desired:
• Experience working in or with state or federal government agencies with coastal or marine habitat responsibilities.
• Strong background in applied natural resource economics, with particular emphasis in estimating cost effectiveness and economic impact analysis and/or non-market-based habitat valuation techniques.
• Experience with economic input/output models such as IMPLAN used to assess local economic impact.
• Experience with having science inform policy issues or questions.
• Familiarity with ecological monitoring.
• Leadership skills to work with a broad array of entities to design the analyses needed to characterize economic benefits of habitat conservation projects.

Education

MS in related discipline, or equivalent

Benefits

All full time employees are eligible for the following benefits upon starting: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Paid Time Off, and 11 Paid Federal Government Holidays.

Location

Work is based in Silver Spring, MD. This role is eligible for 100% remote work.

ERT is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer - All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status
Silver Spring MD USA

Salary Criteria