Policy Analyst

The goal of a policy analyst is to find out whether a policy works and what its effects are. Governments and regulators need evidence to justify decisions, and policy analysts provide that evidence. The work sits between research and advice.

Most of the daily work involves gathering data, running analyses, and writing reports or briefings. You might evaluate an existing policy by comparing outcomes before and after its introduction, or assess a proposed measure by modelling its likely effects. Writing clearly for a non-technical audience is essential, since the people who read your work are often not statisticians.

The main tools are R, Python, or Stata for quantitative analysis, and Excel for simpler calculations. Knowledge of causal inference methods such as difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, or instrumental variables is particularly relevant. Policy analysts also need to understand the institutional context of the policies they evaluate.

In the Netherlands, policy analysts work at government ministries, the CPB, the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the SCP, and regulatory bodies like the AFM or ACM. The role connects closely to the Economic Researcher role, which uses similar methods in a more academic setting, and to the Strategist role, which applies comparable analytical thinking in a commercial context.