Career Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in career opportunities with the University of Chicago Urban Labs! Urban Labs has a strong commitment to using science in service of cities to improve the quality of urban life. We regularly seek out passionate, data-oriented, public service minded individuals to join our team.

For more information on Urban Labs' career opportunities, culture and recruiting process, please see the frequently asked question section below.

Current Opportunities

Inclusive Economy Lab

  • Job Title: Chief of Staff and Culture
  • Desired Start Date: TBC
  • Requisition Number: JR27244

The Inclusive Economy Lab (IEL) is seeking a collaborative, strategic, and equity minded leader; that will serve as the Chief of Staff and Culture. The ideal candidate will exhibit exceptional judgment., interpersonal skills, and analytical orientation. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Chief of Staff will serve as a critical partner in supporting the organization as it grows to achieve its' goals. This individual will oversee our organization's multi-year strategic and annual planning processes, identify and implement our organization's learning agenda and strategy, develop an approach to staff engagement that is strategic and inclusive, develop and execute initiatives that advance our organization's DEIA and racial equity vision and strategy, and ensure the effectiveness of our leadership team as we grow and deepen our impact as an organization.

First generation college students and those with lived experience in communities experiencing poverty and disinvestment are encouraged to apply.

Ability to engage thoughtfully with issues related to race, identity, and equity and work across difference.

  • Job Title: Communications Manager
  • Desired Start Date: TBC
  • Requisition Number: JR27469

The University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab is seeking a Communications Manager to work with the Executive Director, Faculty Director, and Leadership Team to craft communications strategies; academia, non-profit and community-based organizations, and other community groups; and identify and implement externally facing opportunities and initiatives to enhance the impact of the Inclusive Economy Lab's work. The Manager has primary responsibility for the external positioning of the Inclusive Economy Lab brand, including having key input on messaging, media relations, non-profit community, and other partners, as well as management and implementation of the external relations plans fo the Lab. The Director leads and manages the responsibilities dedicated to external relations and communications work as well as any external resources and is the primary liaison with Harris School of Public Policy and University of Chicago communications, and civic engagement teams.

FAQs

For our three most common research roles--Project Associate, Research Manager, and Research Analyst--please refer to the responsibilities outlined below:

  • Project Associates support large-scale social policy research projects designed to test the effectiveness of promising interventions by supporting a Research Manager or Research Analyst.
  • Research Managers work directly with leading social science researchers, local policymakers, frontline practitioners, and a dedicated team of research analysts, data scientists, and administrative staff to implement ambitious field experiments.
  • Research Analysts apply a variety of statistical modeling and data techniques to datasets in real-world settings, and contribute to all facets of data collection & cleaning, model development, analysis, and interpretation of results.

Urban Labs also hires for other positions in research, IT, and operations. We encourage you to view opportunities below.

You may be asked to submit multiple documents, including a Cover Letter, Writing Sample, and Unofficial Transcripts from the highest degree program received. Please see the job description for the exact documents required for that job. All materials should be submitted to the Workday system. Refer to the job requisition number on the job description to apply to the correct position.

All of our positions require a cover letter. In the cover letter, we encourage you to elaborate on your relevant achievements and describe your interest in the position.

We appreciate your interest in Urban Labs and look forward to reviewing your application. Due to the high-volume of applications that we receive, although we try, we may not be able to respond to all individual inquires.

Urban Labs employees are committed to creating a collaborative, high energy office that is open and welcoming to individuals of all backgrounds and life experiences, and prioritize developing a workforce that is as diverse as the city in which we work.

While we are affiliated with the University of Chicago, we are not located in Hyde Park. We have an office in downtown Chicago, which allows us to work more closely with our public sector partners.

In addition, Urban Labs also has an office in New York City that focuses on Crime and Education work. The New York Office works in close collaboration with the Crime and Education Labs in Chicago.

Urban Labs is a set of highly collaborative Labs and as such, we all work together towards a common mission of science in service of cities.

If you have questions about the Workday Application System, click here.

If you have specific questions that were not answered in our above frequently asked questions section, please contact us at urbanlabs@uchicago.edu Thanks!

Discover more