What does a policy analyst do?
Policy analysts are responsible for developing government policies and providing advice and briefing to senior management. These professionals work to influence both social and political decisions. They typically work in four key areas, including collecting information, analyzing policies, providing recommendations, and sharing information with government officials and the public. Additionally, they are also expected to consult with stakeholders to provide quantitative evidence supporting their policy. The rest of their time is spent on writing, reading, and analyzing information.
Policy analyst responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real policy analyst resumes:
- Develop comprehensive consumer education material around the changes to behavioral health services in Medicaid manage care.
- Manage all issues relate to high quality survey administration including training and approval/certification, performance oversight and data collection.
- Process data using STATA statistical software to get it ready for regressions.
- Develop research and programmatic reports create in SAS to be used for analysis.
- Work to maintain, update, and correct SalesForce database for pertinent mailings.
- Develop PowerPoint presentations on trends for use with legislature, law enforcement, and the public.
- Migrate the DCP team to a Salesforce customer relations management system to track grants and reports.
- Identify long-term structural deficit in the state TANF budget and recommend actions to solve the problem.
- Develop and modify SAS macro programs to enhance programming efficiency, streamline analysis process, and minimize errors.
- Research, write, and review memos, certifications, and other relevant documents in order to support the DoD customer.
- Conduct statistical programming require for data cleaning and data conversion using Stata
- Create monthly PowerPoint presentations illustrating business performance and goals to project future trends.
- Coordinate departmental efforts relative to BSA audits and examination with outside auditors and examiners.
- Develop clinical and data-mining algorithms to identify incident cancer using patients' medicare claim data.
- Provide technical advice on Medicare including, payment and reimbursement models, and statutory requirements.
Policy analyst skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Policy Analysts are proficient in Public Policy, Policy Analysis, and Policy Issues. They’re also known for soft skills such as Time-management skills, Interpersonal skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Policy Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Public Policy, 7%
Write blog posts on economic policy, topics ranging from the government shutdown to emerging markets Develop semester-long economic public policy project
- Policy Analysis, 6%
Provided legislative research and policy analysis for 40+ State Senators which contributed to legislative bill drafting and addressing of constituent inquiries.
- Policy Issues, 6%
Provided analysis, conducted research and gave oral and written responses on regulatory and policy issues relevant to nonproliferation controls.
- Public Health, 5%
Establish partnerships with diverse community and governmental stakeholders to advance public health policies and agendas set forth by the executive administration.
- Health Policy, 5%
Conducted health policy research on Medicare Advantage, physician owned specialty hospital moratorium.
- PowerPoint, 4%
Created monthly PowerPoint presentations illustrating business performance and goals to project future trends.
Common skills that a policy analyst uses to do their job include "public policy," "policy analysis," and "policy issues." You can find details on the most important policy analyst responsibilities below.
Time-management skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a policy analyst to have is time-management skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on schedule." Policy analysts often use time-management skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "established project objectives; determined data collection and analysis procedures; and developed work plan and time tables to meet deadlines. "
Interpersonal skills. Many policy analyst duties rely on interpersonal skills. "management analysts work with managers and other employees of the organizations for which they provide consulting services," so a policy analyst will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways policy analyst responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "applied interpersonal, analytical and computer skills to troubleshoot incoming problems and disbursed cases to the appropriate information systems team members. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for policy analysts to perform their duties. For an example of how policy analyst responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a policy analyst: "designed it solutions for division project management. ".
Communication skills. policy analyst responsibilities often require "communication skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "management analysts must be able to convey information clearly in both writing and speaking." This resume example shows what policy analysts do with communication skills on a typical day: "facilitate communication among the president, senior staff and consultants on policy issues. "
Analytical skills. A commonly-found skill in policy analyst job descriptions, "analytical skills" is essential to what policy analysts do. Policy analyst responsibilities rely on this skill because "management analysts must be able to interpret information and use their findings to make proposals." You can also see how policy analyst duties rely on analytical skills in this resume example: "conduct qualitative research to inform policy initiatives via, literature reviews, semi-formal interviews and gap analysis methodologies. "
The three companies that hire the most policy analysts are:
- HealthEdge62 policy analysts jobs
- SAIC14 policy analysts jobs
- Federal Reserve Bank12 policy analysts jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable policy analyst resume templates
Build a professional policy analyst resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your policy analyst resume.
Compare different policy analysts
Policy analyst vs. Business operations analyst
A business operations analyst is an individual who identifies and solves issues related to the performance of the business operations. Together with the management and engineering departments, business operations analysts must analyze and review a vast amount of data to identify business opportunities. They must provide recommendations and updated policies so that they can improve the company's business performance. Business operations analysts are also required to create monthly reports and present them to upper management on their key findings and assessments.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a policy analyst are more likely to require skills like "public policy," "policy analysis," "policy issues," and "public health." On the other hand, a job as a business operations analyst requires skills like "provide management," "analyze data," "shared services," and "hr." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Business operations analysts tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $69,138. In contrast, policy analysts make the biggest average salary, $76,361, in the insurance industry.On average, business operations analysts reach lower levels of education than policy analysts. Business operations analysts are 8.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Policy analyst vs. Workforce management analyst
A workforce management analyst's role is to oversee the workforce in a company while developing better management strategies. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis to identify employees' needs, detect vulnerabilities in human resources, monitor staff performance and attendance, address issues and concerns, ensure schedule compliance, and coordinate with different departments within the company. A workforce management analyst may also perform clerical tasks such as producing reports, creating presentations, and arranging schedules. Moreover, it is vital to ensure that all employees adhere to the company's policies and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that policy analyst responsibilities requires skills like "public policy," "policy analysis," "policy issues," and "public health." But a workforce management analyst might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "call volume," "schedule adherence," "strong analytical," and "sql."
Workforce management analysts may earn a lower salary than policy analysts, but workforce management analysts earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $68,779. On the other hand, policy analysts receive higher pay in the insurance industry, where they earn an average salary of $76,361.workforce management analysts earn lower levels of education than policy analysts in general. They're 14.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for policy analysts in the next 3-5 years?
Tracy Harbin
Professor of Political Science, Seminole State College
Policy analyst vs. Business & data analyst
A business and data analyst is an individual who specializes in utilizing different data-centered strategies in providing analytical services to a company or an organization. Their duties focus on conducting extensive market research and assessments, organizing studies using various techniques and approaches, gathering and analyzing data, performing risk assessments, and spearheading activities such as interviews and surveys. They use their research findings to create plans, establish business forecasts and models, and recommend solutions to optimize business operations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a policy analyst is likely to be skilled in "public policy," "policy analysis," "policy issues," and "public health," while a typical business & data analyst is skilled in "power bi," "visualization," "bi," and "data quality."
Business & data analysts earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $91,008. Policy analysts earn the highest pay from the insurance industry, with an average salary of $76,361.When it comes to education, business & data analysts tend to earn similar degree levels compared to policy analysts. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 5.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Policy analyst vs. Finance management analyst
A finance management analyst specializes in performing extensive research and analysis to devise strategies that can help a company achieve its long-term financial goals. Their responsibilities typically revolve around having an in-depth understanding of the company and its services, gathering and reviewing its financial history and other portfolios, and determining investment opportunities to earn a significant profit. Furthermore, a finance management analyst must report their findings and present action plans, providing a comprehensive explanation to officials, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Types of policy analyst
Updated January 8, 2025
