"Research Director, Health Policy Impact Lab"

Working at Yale means contributing to a better tomorrow. Whether you are a current resident of our New Haven-based community- eligible for opportunities through the New Haven Hiring Initiative or a newcomer, interested in exploring all that Yale has to offer, your talents and contributions are welcome. Discover your opportunities at Yale!

The Tobin Center for Economic Policy is committed to producing rigorous, policy-relevant research and bringing the resulting evidence-based insights to the policy arena for real-world impact.

The Health Policy Impact Lab, led by Tobin’s Associate Faculty Director Prof. Zack Cooper, fuses empirical research, high-level policy engagement, and top-tier communications to shift public conversations about domestic health spending, support policymakers, and raise the productivity of the U.S. health system. The Lab has helped shape both state and federal healthcare legislation, and Prof. Cooper’s research has been cited by Congress and the White House, featured widely in national media, and directly informed major legislation, including the bipartisan No Surprises Act, which protected consumers from costly medical bills and lowered health spending on the privately insured.

We are seeking a Research Director to lead and manage the Lab’s growing portfolio of health economics and health policy research. This senior leader will work closely with Professor Cooper and his co-authors to develop their research portfolio, oversee research personnel and project execution, and ensure delivery of timely, high-impact research.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced health economist who is motivated to shape policy through rigorous scholarship and research translation. A successful candidate will bring creativity, technical skill, and a strong capacity for mentorship to advance the Lab’s ambitious research agenda. They will be a self-starter, an excellent communicator, and someone who thrives in a mission-driven, fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is an expert programmer fluent in multiple languages (e.g., Stata, R, SAS, Python, SQL), with deep experience using complex healthcare datasets. They will also demonstrate strong leadership, analytical judgment, and a commitment to improving public policy through evidence and action.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Manage and mentor a multidisciplinary team composed of both full-time economists, research fellows, and research assistants and part-time students using creativity, technical skills, and capacity for mentorship to drive the research forward; foster a collaborative, high-performance culture.
2. Provide leadership and expertise in the planning and implementation of major research projects and related activities.
3. Identify, establish, and maintain critical data assets to the research agenda.
4. Work with faculty and research partners to identify analytical approaches to solve specific, high-priority research questions.
5. Apply advanced econometric, statistical, and machine learning methods to descriptive and causal inference design, including data visualization to evaluate health care markets and policy reforms.
6. Train and support analytic team in programming and coding.
7. Develop systematic and efficient approaches to projects to establish workflows that promote research quality, reproducibility, and on-time project delivery.
8. Oversee the quality, integrity, and documentation of research coding and outputs.
9. Contribute to or co-author published articles, policy briefs, and presentations and grant proposals.

Required Skills and Abilities

1. Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across teams and with external partners.
2. Experience working with large, complex administrative and healthcare datasets.
3. Mastery of STATA and fluency in other analytical programming languages (e.g., Python, R, SAS, SQL).
4. Deep understanding of applied social science research methods, including causal inference and machine learning.
5. Exceptional organization skills, attention to detail, and ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
6. PhD in economics, statistics, mathematics, data science, or a related field. At least 3 years of relevant experience (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
7. Demonstrated expertise in data management, large-scale health datasets, and complex analytical design.
8. Proven ability to manage teams and deliver research projects of moderate to high complexity.
9. Eagerness to adopt new methods, technologies, and strategies.

Preferred Skills and Abilities

1. Experience in health policy research or working with state/federal policy partners.
2. Familiarity with claims-based analytics and health care datasets.
3. Demonstrated policy impact or publication record.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Directs one or more functional areas within an administrative department of the University and ensure compliance with University policies and procedures.
2. Directs analytic and research support for educational policies and planning and develops and approves administrative policies affecting assigned functional areas of the University.
3. Directs and establishes parameters for major projects for the department and University.
4. Interprets federal policies and regulations and educates staff and administration about regulations, restrictions, and the legal responsibilities of the University.
5. Directs and implements policy and program modifications and develops standards to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
6. Develops and administers an operating budget for the assigned department consistent with University policies and procedures.
7. Develops cost savings objectives and goals; authorizes major purchases and negotiates contracts that range from routine to complex in nature.
8. Establishes and implements long- and short-range goals for the functional area consistent with University goals and objectives.
9. Directs the development of related automated systems to support the function; determines office policies and procedures for use of automated systems.
10. Directs the evaluation and selection of vendors and negotiates contract details including work steps and pricing with the vendors on behalf of the assigned functional area.
11. Works with internal and external contacts to solve problems that range from routine to complex in nature.
12. Represents the University in discussions and negotiations with various governmental agencies.
13. Directs a staff of exempt and nonexempt employees.
14. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience
Bachelor’s Degree in related field. Seven years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.