Officials in U.S.
Department of Treasury are recruiting scientists of many disciplines--including statisticians--to work at a newly
created Treasury Office, the Office of Financial Research (OFR).
The job announcement has
been out several months and they are now especially looking for help in a couple
areas: (i) statistics, econometrics, and risk management; (ii) applied sciences
(e.g., network analysis, operations research, engineering, applied mathematics,
applied physics). The other two areas where they’ve been looking are
macroeconomics, and financial markets and
institutions.
They are able to hire at the same salary levels as Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency and Federal Reserve Board, which are above the
standard civil service salary levels. They are emphasizing that working for the
OFR represents a unique opportunity to work on the important and very
challenging scientific problem or modeling the financial system and monitoring
for threats to financial stability. The resources that will be available to the
OFR, particularly with respect to detailed data regarding the financial market
activities will be unprecedented and will require a wide range of expertise;
especially statistical expertise.
They
are looking for people at levels ranging from five years experience to senior
individuals.
Projects will be staffed
across those sections, and fall into four areas: short-term analysis;
long-term research; broad systemic risk monitoring; innovation. Some projects
will be defined by requests from the Financial Stability Oversight Council, its
members, and OFR leadership. Other projects will be defined by the research
staff themselves. There will be opportunities to publish results, and
interaction with other research communities, including but not limited to
academia, will be essential.
To apply, send a resume and cover letter to OFRJobs@treasury.gov. For further information, see the job announcement.
As you may
know, the American Statistical Association Board endorsed the call to create a
National Institute of Finance in August 2009. NIFwas ultimately included in last year’s
Dodd-Frank "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act" as the OFR, and ASA has since been following its establishment. (See for example, Sally Morton's 2010 letter to Secretary Geithner.) ASA's involvement with OFR is thanks in great part to ASA member John Liechty, who is a founding member of the Committee to Establish
the National Institute of Finance (CE-NIF). His part in the creation of OFR is acknowledged in the following Financial Times piece, "Understand the financial system first, then regulate it.”