Data Science and Analytics Specialist

About the company

HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities. We believe in creating vital places, building equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives. From Brooklyn to London, Medellín to Hong Kong, we have guided hundreds of clients in transforming real estate and economic development concepts, and public infrastructure, into actionable plans and job-producing, community-strengthening assets.

Our clients include real estate owners and investors, hospitals and universities, cultural institutions and philanthropies, community development organizations, and governments. HR&A has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Raleigh, Washington D.C., and the Bay Area. We come from diverse backgrounds, have a breadth of lived experience, and share a passion for cities.

About the role

HR&A Labs is a rapidly growing internal team that works closely with project teams across all of our business lines to prototype products, serve data science requests, and increase the quality and efficiency of our work. Over the past four years, HR&A Labs has developed dashboards, products, and actionable data analysis for state and local governments to push forward housing access, broadband adoption, and data transparency.

This position will primarily support the design and implementation of internal data tools and be deployed onto projects to help provide data science and analytics expertise across a wide set of business lines. The role is based in our New York office and is ideal for early-career professionals with roughly 2-4 years of experience who want to grow into owning the substance of client and internal deliverables.

Responsibilities

• Conduct data and geospatial analysis, develop visualizations, build interactive tools and dashboards, and develop methodologies for key economic indicators.
• Procure and analyze large datasets, build and maintain data systems and tools, and contribute to fast-moving project teams.
• Start by driving discrete pieces of the work and grow into leading workstreams as you demonstrate ownership.
• Translate technical analysis into clear, actionable insights for non-technical clients.

Requirements

• 2-4 years of relevant professional experience, or a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent capability in analytics and product thinking.
• Proficiency in Python, including geospatial analysis and packages (e.g., GeoPandas, Shapely).
• Demonstrated ability to work with census data, PUMS, and other economic and demographic datasets.
• Proficiency cleaning, manipulating, and merging public, proprietary, and internal datasets for analysis.
• Fluency with LLMs and other AI tools as part of a daily workflow, paired with the judgment to independently verify data and AI outputs.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to translate technical analysis for non-technical audiences.
• Evidence of self-directed drive: something you built, shipped, or contributed to that nobody assigned you (e.g., a side project, tool, or open-source contribution).
• Ability to manage your own deadlines across multiple workstreams and escalate early when risks arise.
• Bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) with a focus on data science/analytics, geographic information science/analytics, urban planning/design/data, regional science/analytics, architecture, economics, business, public policy, real estate, or other related fields.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience building web-based tools and dashboards using publicly available APIs.
• Experience with front-end development (React/Next.js) and/or back-end services (FastAPI).
• Experience with spatial data infrastructure (PostGIS, vector tiles) or analytical databases (DuckDB).
• Experience conducting geospatial, vicinity/buffer, site suitability, socio-economic, and demographic analysis.
• Experience in product design, rapid prototyping (including with generative AI tools), and wireframing.

Schedule

HR&A fosters a collaborative and flexible work environment through a hybrid work policy. Employees work from the office at least three days a week.

Pay

The base salary range for this position is $83,200 to $98,571, plus the opportunity for a discretionary year-end bonus. Where an offer falls inside this pay range is dependent on experience.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation packages based on qualifications and experience.
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) participation, allowing you to benefit from the firm’s growth over time.
• Annual contributions to the ESOP and potential contributions to other retirement accounts.
• Comprehensive benefits package covering 90-95% of healthcare premiums, including dental and vision coverage.