Economist – Mineral and Material Supply Analysis

About the role

The position involves analyzing data on mineral and material production, costs, market dynamics, and trade throughout the life‑cycle stages. The economist will develop methodologies to assess supply risk and create supply‑demand scenarios for non‑fuel mineral commodities.

Key responsibilities

• Collect, organize, and analyze data on production, availability, costs, prices, consumption, trade, recovery and recycling of minerals and materials.
• Develop and improve indicators for supply risk, import reliance, price elasticity and sector vulnerability.
• Create supply‑demand scenarios using material‑stock‑flow models, system‑dynamics or econometric techniques.
• Build complex spreadsheets, perform statistical analyses, and produce graphics and visualizations.
• Disseminate findings through oral presentations and peer‑reviewed publications.

Required profile

• U.S. citizen or national; subject to background investigation and E‑Verify.
• Degree in economics with at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 in statistics, accounting or calculus, or equivalent graduate education.
• One year of specialized experience at the GS‑09 level (or graduate education) related to supply‑chain analysis, econometric modeling, industrial ecology, material‑flow or life‑cycle assessment of non‑fuel mineral commodities.

Required skills

• Data analysis and statistical modeling.
• Econometric and system‑dynamics modeling.
• Advanced spreadsheet development and data visualization.