Office of Economics and Analysis Careers
Current Openings
Accepting applications for the Economics Staff Internship Program
OEA employs staff with a broad range of expertise, including economics, quantitative analytics and modeling, clinical pharmacy, medicine, public health, microbiology, law, and data visualization.
Position Descriptions:
Economist
The Economics Staff performs a vital role in the FDA’s public health mission by providing objective, unbiased economic analysis of FDA programs and policies. We advise and assist the Commissioner and other key officials on the economic implications of current and proposed Agency activities. Our staff of Ph.D. economists offer expertise in applied welfare economics, data-driven modeling and simulations, and statistical analysis. Read more about our work and responsibilities here.
Staff also conduct research on topics relevant to the FDA. Outlets for such work include professional and academic conferences, peer-reviewed journals, and our informal brown bag seminars, which periodically host guest presenters from other government agencies as well as academic institutions.
Public Health Analyst
The Public Health Strategy & Analysis (PHSA) Staff leads and undertakes initiatives and research on issues of priority to FDA leadership; and provides leadership, strategic thinking, and management, on all Government Accountability Office (GAO) and HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits and investigations of FDA. Our multi-disciplinary staff offers expertise in quantitative analytics and modeling, clinical pharmacology, communications, medicine, public health, health economics, health care outcomes research, law, global health, computer science/data visualization, and more. Read more about our work and responsibilities here.
We invite undergraduate juniors or seniors, or master’s students majoring in Economics, Data Science, Information Systems, Public Health, or other Statistics-related fields to apply for an internship with the Economics Staff in the Office of the Commissioner.
Duties: Selected interns will assist members of the Economics Staff in setting up processes to improve workflow and conducting economic analyses of major FDA policies and regulations related to food, human drugs, medical devices, biological products, tobacco products, and animal drugs and feed.
Duration and Academic Credit: Internships will be for at least one academic semester (summer, spring, or fall) and require a minimum commitment of 16 hours per week. Intern positions are unpaid; however, students may be able to earn college credit.
Requirements: U.S. citizenship is required of all interns. Candidates must have at least Junior Standing and have completed classes in econometrics and intermediate microeconomics, or similar classes on computational methods for data analysis by the time of the internship. Competitive candidates are detail-focused, have strong communication and writing skills, and can work independently. We encourage candidates to apply who have experience with Microsoft 365 including Access, Excel, Word, and SharePoint Online; analytical software such as STATA and R; and applications such as Python.
Application: Application packages must include a cover letter and current resume. Include in your cover letter a statement of interest and acknowledgement that you are applying for an unpaid, 16 hour-per-week internship. Include in your resume a list of relevant courses and a declaration of citizenship.
If you have questions or are interested in applying, please contact ECONInternship@fda.hhs.gov with the subject “FDA Econ Internship.""
Fellow and Intern (PHSA)
PHSA traineeship program hosts both fellows and interns. Fellows and interns are assigned to a staff mentor and work with them on research projects that generate evidence to inform FDA’s public health policy priorities. The projects can include either/both quantitative or qualitative methods; and are related to FDA’s domestic and/or global regulatory work. In addition to working with their mentor, the fellow and interns will work closely with subject matter experts across the FDA to accomplish project goals.
While at FDA, the fellows and interns have additional learning opportunities such as attending workshops, professional conferences, high-level policy meetings with the director, staff, and FDA senior leadership as well as the opportunity to learn from other PHSA work, and to explore other parts of FDA.
Fellowships are typically one-year full-time paid opportunities administered by the ORISE program; while internships can be short-term, part-time and are unpaid. Available opportunities are listed on this page.