Research Fellow – Workforce

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Note: This application closed on Monday, March 18, 2024. Those chosen to advance will be contacted directly.

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) is currently seeking candidates to support our Workforce Line of Research (LOR), as a Research Fellow. 

About the LOR: 

CSET’s Workforce LOR currently explores the global AI workforce and policies that affect it, including immigration, education pipelines, and talent recruitment and retention—with particular emphasis on the national security workforce. Key areas of recent work include the examination of the supply and demand of the AI workforce in the United States and China, the state of AI education in the United States and China, technical talent migration trends within the United States, strengthening the Department of Defense’ AI workforce and access to talent, and preparing all U.S. workers to compete and succeed in an AI-enabled world. It also looks at the role of non-traditional educational pathways in growing the AI workforce and the status and immigration dynamics of top AI research talent. The Workforce team also works closely with CSET’s CyberAI team to address analogous questions for the cybersecurity workforce.

About the Role:

As a Research Fellow, you will help lead and coordinate our efforts on the Workforce LOR, including shaping priorities, laying out an overall research strategy, overseeing the execution of the research and production of reports, and helping to hire and manage supporting researchers, including (Sr.) Research Analysts and Student Research Assistants. CSET Fellows directly impact national security and tech policy discussions. Policymakers, national agencies, and congressional committees seek their expertise and analyses. Additionally, CSET Fellows frequently interact with international organizations, act as a connector between industry and government, and serve as subject matter experts for the media. 

To start, the individual in this position will support the Workforce LOR  in accomplishing three major research tasks: 

  1.  Updating CSET’s assessment of the U.S. AI workforce to reflect the most current data 
  2. Executing an analogous analysis of the U.S. cybersecurity workforce 
  3. Conducting a K-through-PhD assessment of the U.S. educational pipeline producing AI, cybersecurity, and (more generally) STEM talent to understand where potential talent is being lost throughout that pipeline and what could be done to remedy those losses and increase the production of AI, cybersecurity, and STEM talent at all levels.

Responsibilities:

Candidates should be comfortable working with empirical and econometric data, qualitative methods like in-depth interviews, and other research approaches to support policy recommendations. CSET Fellows are expected to lead research projects, brief policymakers, participate in public events, and manage and mentor CSET’s Research Analysts and student researchers. They must work collaboratively with other LOR’s with common interests and relevant expertise (e.g., studying the efficacy and impact of high school cyber security competitions with the Cyber AI LOR). They are also expected to work closely with CSET’s data team throughout the entire research process. 

In addition, the Workforce Fellow will report to the Workforce Line of Research Lead and be responsible for the following: 

  • Developing, proposing, and leading research projects related to the Center’s mission and Workforce LOR, both individually and in collaboration with other Research/Senior Fellows, Research Analysts, Data Scientists, and Center leadership.
  • Designing research plans for data-focused analytic projects in coordination with members of CSET’s Data Science Team by identifying data needs, data team resourcing, and risk management approaches.  
  • Producing written publications, both individually and as a co-author.
  • Supervising, mentoring, and coaching other researchers, including (Senior) Research Analysts, Data Research Analysts, and Student Research Assistants.
  • Editing products that junior researchers within the Workforce LOR write to ensure methodological rigor, tone, and consistency with other existing products.
  • Collaborating with CSET data scientists in building out CSET’s data and documentation libraries.
  • Developing and delivering presentations and briefs for policy-making audiences on topics related to AI Workforce issues and policy options
  • Motivating, coaching, and challenging team members to provide quality projects and advance their professional development.
  • Monitoring trends and developments in CSET areas of interest and national security policy.
  • Contributing to CSET’s organizational development, including contributing to internal working groups, seminars, and discussions; and supporting and mentoring colleagues
  • Upholding CSET’s mission, values, and culture.
  • Additional duties as assigned

Strong Candidates: 

CSET’s Workforce research covers a diverse range of sectors and core technologies. As such, we are not looking for a candidate with experience across all applicable areas. Instead, we seek candidates with the necessary analytic tradecraft to understand, track, and evaluate workforce-related research. Thus, a strong candidate will have expertise in at least one of the following areas:

  1. Ability to understand technical and (labor) economic literature, perform research, and produce documents with policy-relevant insights.
  2. An understanding of the current status, discussions, and issues surrounding the global AI workforce and the education of technical talent.
  3. Significant experience in Labor Relations, Labor Economics, Economic Policy, and/or Education Policy

Requirements for All Candidates: 

  • Graduate (Master’s, JD, PhD) degree in a relevant field.
  • At least 3 years of experience in research and policy analysis if applying with a Phd,
    • OR
  • At least 5 years of experience if applying with a Master’s Degree
  • Ability to conduct research, write, and manage others with limited need for supervision
  • Familiarity with interpreting and visualizing data
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
  • Project or team management experience
  • Proficiency with office productivity tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Office
  • Ability to work in the United States without employer sponsorship
  • Ability to work successfully in a collaborative matrixed/multi-disciplinary environment
  • Motivated, enthusiastic, intellectually curious and self-driven 
  • Alignment with CSET’s mission, values and culture 

In general, Research Fellows can expect to earn between 100k-130k/year, commensurate with experience.

This position is based in the United States and offers no relocation assistance.  This position is not eligible for a specialty-occupation sponsorship. Accordingly, this position requires that all applicants be legally eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship from Georgetown University.

Application Instructions

We encourage anyone interested in emerging technology workforce/education to submit an application, even those unsure of their candidacy. 

PLEASE NOTE: A complete application must include the following:

  1. Resume/CV
  2. Cover Letter that addresses the following questions:
    1. Why are you applying to this position/CSET?
    2. What methods or research approaches will be most useful for analyzing emerging technology workforce relevant to national security? Why?  
  3. Writing Samples (2): Please provide two writing samples. Ideally, these samples would be policy-oriented research and sole-authored, but any self-selected writing sample of at least two pages (e.g., class paper, prior project work, etc.) is acceptable.

This application closed on Monday, March 18, 2024. Those chosen to advance will be contacted directly. If you have any clarifying questions with regard to the application process, please email csetcareers@georgetown.edu.

CSET’s Commitment to Fellows:

As part of CSET’s mission to develop the next generation of decision-makers, Fellows will have opportunities to lead significant research projects, manage teams, brief government officials; interact with the media; collaborate with internal and external research partners; engage with policymakers and other stakeholders in government and the private sector; and contribute meaningfully to CSET’s research agenda and development as an organization. Fellows gain exposure to government and other public service career options; and develop people management competencies. CSET is dedicated to providing full support to our staff through tailored professional development opportunities, flexible work arrangements and career coaching.