(2027 PhD/ABD graduates) Economic Consulting Senior Associate - United States

Company Overview

Charles River Associates (CRA) is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations, and governments worldwide. Since 1965, CRA has combined industry experience with rigorous, fact‑based analysis to deliver clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

Practice Areas

• Antitrust & Competition Economics – Boston, Chicago, Oakland, Washington, DC
• Energy – Boston, New York, Washington, DC
• Finance – Boston
• Labor & Employment – Chicago, College Station, Los Angeles, New York, Tallahassee

Position Overview

Senior Associates work closely with senior consultants on project teams. A typical Senior Associate will:

• Conduct research in a team‑oriented environment alongside respected academics, industry experts, and regulators.
• Identify and conceptualize issues, design complex economic models to analyze data, and manage the research process.
• Supervise, train, and mentor junior analysts.
• Assist in the development and presentation of client deliverables, including expert reports and white papers that summarize opinions, conclusions, and recommendations using market, industry, or client‑proprietary data.
• Act as a primary point of contact for attorneys and other industry or government clients on a variety of practice‑relevant issues.
• Program, build models, and/or perform regression analyses in statistical analysis programs such as Stata, SAS, Python, R, Matlab, or Mathematica.
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of analyses and opinions.
• Participate in practice‑building activities (training, recruiting, publication, expertise sharing, etc.).

Desired Qualifications

• PhD in economics (completion date December 2026 / Summer 2027) with a quantitative research focus (e.g., industrial organization, applied microeconomics, econometrics, labor, health, intellectual property, corporate finance, financial accounting, or related areas).
• Curious, analytical thinker who brings creative approaches to non‑standard problems.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Eagerness to learn new skills and programming languages.
• Demonstrated high level of initiative and leadership.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration capabilities.
• Excellent time‑management and task‑prioritization skills.
• Clear interest in consulting demonstrated through coursework, work experience, activities, or attendance at CRA recruiting events.
• Understanding of, and ability to explain, economic, financial, and/or accounting concepts, as well as quantitative and qualitative analysis methods.
• Experience with Excel, Stata, Python, R, SQL, SAS, ArcGIS/ArcPy, or cloud computing platforms (Databricks/Spark, Google Cloud, Azure, AWS).
• Minimal travel required, as most work occurs in CRA offices.

Career Growth and Benefits

CRA offers a robust skills‑development program that begins with project‑management training and progresses to team‑management, client‑presentation skills, internal seminars, and career mentoring from an assigned senior colleague. Additional leadership and collaboration opportunities arise through internal firm‑development activities.

The total rewards program includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• Life and disability insurance
• Paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays) and paid parental leave
• Wellness programs and employee‑assistance resources
• Commuter benefits
• In‑house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers

Work Location Flexibility

CRA encourages a hybrid work model. Employees are asked to spend, on average, three to four days per week in the office (or traveling to another CRA office or a client site). Specific days are coordinated with the practice or team.

Salary and Compensation

The estimated annual base salary range for this position is $170,000 – $235,000. Starting pay within this range may vary based on education, experience, skills, geographic location, market conditions, and other qualifications. The role is also eligible for additional bonus incentive compensation.