The Niskanen Center Inc Policy Analyst / Senior Policy Analyst, State Capacity Washington, DC · Full time Company website

Apply for Policy Analyst / Senior Policy Analyst, State Capacity

Department: State Capacity

Location: Washington, D.C.

Schedule: Flexible hybrid, 2-3 days per week in-person; may require infrequent travel

Job Status: Full-Time

Experience: 3-10+ years of experience

Salary: $80,000 - $150,000, depending on level and experience, plus a generous benefits package

Reports to: Director, State Capacity

The State Capacity Initiative

The Niskanen State Capacity initiative advances reforms to make the U.S. federal government more capable, responsive, and effective at implementing policy and delivering on its promises.

Too often, legislators, advocates, and policy entrepreneurs work hard to enact a new statute or regulation only to see it crash and burn during implementation because the program couldn’t staff up, deploy technology, get clear direction from leadership, avoid procedural missteps, or manage fiscal flows. We see this as an urgent problem: our nation has many complex problems to solve and without better management policy and routines, the prospects of success in meeting those moments are dim. We work, as far upstream as we can get, to address these issues through innovative legislation, behavior change, and implementation guidance.

The Position(s)

We are looking to hire at least two policy analysts with specialized expertise in one or more of a wide range of functional areas (detailed below). Our priority is finding outstanding people with the skills to produce gold-star policy analysis and who can thrive in our collaborative environment. We invite professionals of various experience levels to apply.

Senior Policy Analysts are expected to independently cultivate relationships at senior levels inside and outside of government, lead large research projects, write model legislation, and look for opportunities for policy entrepreneurship across a complex stakeholder ecosystem. Senior Policy Analysts should be recognized experts in their functional discipline, speaking at conferences, writing op-eds, and bringing credibility to their work.

Policy Analysts are expected to, with coaching, do those same things, with the goal of becoming an independent operator and recognized expert over time.

Core Competencies

Regardless of functional focus area, strong candidates will have demonstrated excellence in:

• Love of Government. You must care deeply about the public sector’s role in solving big, difficult problems on behalf of everyday people rather than special interests. You are not afraid to critique institutions sharply, directly, and in public when they fall down on the job, but you are motivated by a desire to make them stronger than ever.
• Experience conducting original research and policy development. You have opinions about how the government ought to work, but are intellectually curious and follow the evidence where it leads. This might include generating new evidence where none exists. You seek to move beyond problem diagnosis to detailed policy recommendations that account for real-world conditions and trade-offs while aiming to be right on the merits.
• Understanding of the policy ecosystem. You understand how decisions are made in Congress and agencies. You build relationships across the broader policy community and engender trust among those you meet internally and externally across our coalitions.
• Outstanding communication skills. You are a strong writer who can move from short commentaries to full research reports, and write model legislative or regulatory text when appropriate. You can brief complex information persuasively to key audiences, including legislators and their staff. You are effective at promoting (or eager to learn how to promote) your work and opinions (e.g., on social media, traditional media, speaking engagements). Ideally, you can write engagingly about your areas of expertise for placement in magazines, external publications, and Niskanen’s journal Hypertext.

Functional Focus Area: 

Policy analysts will work as part of a multifunctional team, tackling many state capacity issues and contributing to the team’s overall perspective on public administration and management. However, each policy analyst is expected to own a functional focus area and primarily drive policy change in that lane.

Accordingly, we are seeking strong candidates with credibility in one or more of the following topic areas: 

• New topic areas for us
• Budget Formulation/Execution & Appropriations
• Procurement (Both Contracting & Acquisition Strategy)
• Oversight (GAO, IG, and/or Congressional)
• Federal Financial Assistance (Grants, Loans, etc.)
• Service Delivery & Customer Experience
• State-Level Management Issues / State-level State Capacity
• Executive Office of the President and/or Agency Structures
• Expansion within existing areas
• Public Sector Workforce & Civil Service
• Technology and Digital Implementation
• Administrative Procedure (APA, PRA, Privacy Act, etc.)

Have another focus area (or multiple) that you think fits with our interests but is not listed? Please apply and tell us about it.

Who Thrives at Niskanen

We are not a partisan institution, but we have a point of view that we pursue relentlessly: the Niskanen Center is driven by a vision of an America in which an open, pluralist society and democratic government enable all individuals to pursue opportunity, protect against risks, build community, and find purpose. This includes a government that is effective but liberally circumscribed, a robust social safety net as a component of a well-functioning free market, and an abundance of housing, energy, transportation, healthcare, and other necessities, the benefits of which accrue to regular consumers. This vision does not map neatly onto the two-party binary and neither do we.

Our colleagues hold strong convictions while staying intellectually open, are realistic about the policy process, and are committed to durable, bipartisan reforms. We care deeply about the role healthy, empowered public institutions can play in improving ordinary people's lives. As a workplace, we practice what we preach: following the best evidence wherever it takes us, engaging in open and honest dialog, and inviting diverse viewpoints to the table in pursuit of actually getting things done. 

How to Apply

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and writing sample (2,500 words maximum; published work preferred) combined into a single PDF. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on November 29, 2026, and will be reviewed after the deadline closes.