Office of the Chief Economist - Internship

The mission of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, abusive practices and systemic risk related to derivatives that are subject to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and to foster open, competitive, and financially sound markets. Additional information regarding the oversight responsibilities of the CFTC may be obtained by accessing the following link: http://www.cftc.gov.

Please note that these positions are volunteer or for-credit internships.

 

 

Key Requirements:

• Background and/or Security Investigation.
• Relocation expenses will not be paid.

About the Division/Office and Duties: The Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) provides economic analysis, advice, and context to the Commission and to the public. The OCE provides perspectives on both current topics and long-term trends in derivatives markets.

Job Description

 

• Analyze unique data on swaps, futures, and options to answer market structure questions.
• Assist on research projects on topics in commodities and derivatives trading.
• Assist in topical economic analysis of derivatives markets, as well as considerations of costs and benefits for rulemaking.
• Assist in preparation of CFTC’s published reports on futures and swaps markets.
• Assist with cleaning and organizing derivatives market data and designing queries for analysis.
• Create impactful visualizations for data analysis.

Qualifications:

 

• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• Strong interpersonal skills.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite especially Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

• Experience using SAS, SQL, Visual Basic, Matlab, Stata, R, Python, or other similar statistical programming applications to conduct analysis.

• Firm understanding of economics and statistics.

• Background in economics, finance, statistics, econometrics, business, computer science, data architecture or other quantitative disciplines.

• Strong programing skills and experience analyzing large data sets.

How to Apply: Interested students should apply separately to be considered for vacancies within each Division/Office. Students must submit the following documents: 1) a one-page cover letter, 2) resume, 3) unofficial transcript, and 4) a writing sample no longer than five pages (if applying to a legal internship) to: CFTCInterns@cftc.gov. You must specify in the subject line of your application which Division in which you are interested in working.

Internship FAQs:

 

What are the eligibility requirements for the Internship?

 

Students must be enrolled not less than half-time in a high school, trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university or other accredited educational institution and must be at least 16 years old.

 

How will interns be compensated?

 

Interns will not receive any monetary compensation. These are volunteer or for-credit internships.

 

What type of work can I expect?

 

 

You can expect interesting and challenging work.

 

What do I need to submit when I apply?

 

Students must email the following documents: one-page cover letter and resume with current contact information (No SSN or DOB info); unofficial school transcript; and writing sample (five pages maximum; applicable if applying for a legal internship).

 

What is the length of the Summer Internship Program?

 

Summer internships occur between May and September. Start and end dates are flexible. Work schedules and participation length are determined by the student and the supervisor. Summer interns may not work beyond September 30, 2014.

 

When and how will I learn about the status of my application?

 

We will contact prospective selectees by telephone on a rolling basis. Consideration for the Summer Internship Program in OCE will conclude on March 3, 2014.