About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations and governments around the world. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its combination of industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis that provide clients with clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

Practices seeking to hire candidates with this profile include (hiring locations listed):

  • Antitrust and Competition Economics (Boston, Chicago, Oakland, Washington DC)
    • Our Competition practice economists provide analysis and testimony in matters involving mergers and acquisitions, antitrust litigation, and global competition policy.
  • Finance (Boston, Chicago)
    • Our Finance experts work on valuation issues (shareholder class actions and other corporate valuation disputes), as well as matters focused on the functioning of financial markets and institutions (alleged market manipulation and insider trading).
  • Financial Economics (Washington DC)
    • The Financial Economics group provides analytical expertise and advisory services in financial economics and consumer credit markets to financial institutions, legal teams, and regulators.
  • Labor & Employment (College Station, Los Angeles, Tallahassee, Washington DC)
    • Our Labor team provides in-depth analysis, expert reports, testimony, and advisory services to clients involved in complex labor and employment issues such as wage and hour litigation and pay equity disputes

Learn more about our work by reviewing our Services and Industries on our website.

Job Overview

Senior Associates work closely with senior consultants on project teams. Successful candidates have a strong knowledge of economic concepts and a range of research and quantitative skills. A typical Senior Associate would:

  • Conduct research in a team-oriented environment alongside some of the most respected academics, industry experts and regulators in the world;
  • 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 summarizing 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.).

Explore how CRA can help you launch your career and click here to learn why PhDs choose CRA.

Candidates are encouraged to review practice-specific postings on econjobmarket.org and express any preferences for a practice area in their application.

Job Qualifications

  • PhD degree in economics with a completion date of December 2024/Summer 2025 and an academic focus on quantitative research, with specializations like industrial organization, applied microeconomics, econometrics, labor, health, intellectual property, pricing and product launch, corporate finance, financial accounting, or other quantitative areas;
  • Curious and analytical thinkers who bring 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 and demonstrated interest in consulting through coursework, work experience, activities, or attendance at CRA recruiting events;
  • Demonstrated understanding of, and ability to explain, economic, financial and/or accounting concepts, and quantitative and qualitative analysis methods;
  • Experience in Excel, Stata, Python, R, SQL, SAS, ArcGIS/ArcPy, or Cloud computing (Databricks/Spark, Google Cloud, Azure, AWS);
  • As much of our work occurs in our offices, minimal travel is required.

To Apply

To be considered for a position in the United States:

  • Submit through this job posting:
    • Resume/CV – please include current address, email and telephone number;
    • Cover letter – please describe your interest in CRA and how this role matches your goals. Also, please note if you have interest in a particular practice and/or a location preference;
    • Research/Job market paper – please submit your original research or dissertation.
  • Candidates should also submit an application via EconJobMarket to submit letters of recommendation, as described in that posting.

To apply for one of our international locations, please visit our Careers Site to view available jobs.

Interviews will begin following application close, with first round interviews occurring virtually. Candidates focusing their search on industry and consulting who need to be considered early should indicate that in the CRA online application and submit all materials as early as possible.

 

Please also note that candidate resume review will commence November 1 and continue on a rolling basis until positions are filled.

 

Career Growth and Benefits 

  • CRA’s robust skills development programs, including a commitment to offering 100 hours of training annually through formal and informal programs, encourage you to thrive as an individual and team member. Beginning with project management skills, training continues with team management/development, client presentation skills, internal seminars, and career mentoring and performance coaching from an assigned senior colleague. Additional leadership and collaboration opportunities exist through internal firm development activities.
  • We offer a comprehensive total rewards program including a superior benefits package, wellness programming to support physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being, and in-house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers.

Work Location Flexibility

CRA creates a work environment that enables our colleagues to benefit from being together in the office to best deliver on our promise of career growth, mentorship and inclusivity. At the same time, we realize that individuals realize a range of benefits when working from home periodically. We currently ask that individuals spend 3 to 4 days a week on average working in the office (which may include traveling to another CRA office or to a client's location), with specific days determined in coordination with your practice or team. At certain times of the year (e.g. holiday periods), additional remote work options are offered to those whose work commitments permit it, although our offices remain open for those who choose or need to be there.

Our Commitment to Diversity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer (EOE/AAE). As part of our focus on equity and inclusion, we work to ensure a fair and consistent hiring process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.

The state of California, and the District of Columbia require CRA to include a good-faith estimate of the wage range for this role. This range is specific to individuals applying to work in our California and Washington DC offices and considers several factors including but not limited to experience, education level, and expertise. A good-faith estimate of the base wage range for this role is $175,000-$220,000 (dependent on practice area); actual total compensation may also include benefits and bonus incentives.

Apply for this Job

* Required

resume chosen  
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
cover_letter chosen  
(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)
When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review
+ Add another education


Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Charles River Associates’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.


Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.


Enter the verification code sent to to confirm you are not a robot, then submit your application.

This application was flagged as potential bot traffic. To resubmit your application, turn off any VPNs, clear the browser's cache and cookies, or try another browser. If you still can't submit it, contact our support team through the help center.