Principal Economist, AWS Economic Development

Key Job Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end development of public-facing studies on a global scale and provide economic, fiscal, labor, and market research to support infrastructure expansion and planning
• Establish and maintain operating and business metrics to evaluate economic, social, and environmental impact across regions
• Drive analytical excellence, analyzing and extracting insights from both structured and unstructured data to optimize and scale key research processes, including leveraging AI-powered tools
• Partner with Legal, Finance, Tax, Compliance, Investor Relations, Public Policy, Public Relations, and Marketing teams to validate research frameworks, align on benchmarks, and frame measures of AWS investment and impact
• Present summaries of financial and business data insights to senior leadership; create FAQs; occasionally travel to present research and support local public policy and public relations stakeholders
• Own research vertical(s) – Lead the development and impact of an actionable body of research in at least one of the following areas: energy and water, hyper-localized socioeconomic impact, AI/ML downstream effects, or broader infrastructure
• Provide thought leadership and mentorship within the team, helping to scale research capacity and quality across a growing global portfolio

About the team

AWS Economic Development is part of the AWS Global Public Policy organization. We work seamlessly with public policy teammates, internal customers, and colleagues across Amazon to realize the AWS global expansion strategy and build collaborative partnerships in our communities. The R&A team serves as the analytical backbone of this mission.

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant experience in industry, consulting, government or academic experience
• Knowledge of advanced causal modeling techniques, both in experimental and observational settings
• Experience coding in scripting languages such as Python, R, Matlab, or STATA
• Experience in written and verbal communication with the ability to present complex technical information in a clear and concise manner to executives and non-technical leaders
• PhD in Economics or closely related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in infrastructure economics, energy economics, or regional economic development
• Experience with tax policy analysis, including the evaluation of economic development incentives and fiscal impact modeling
• Experience with hyper-local or community-level socioeconomic analysis
• Understanding of the US technology and energy sectors, including electricity pricing structures, grid infrastructure economics, and the interplay between energy policy and industrial development
• Familiarity with AI/ML downstream economic effects or cloud computing economic research
• Experience engaging and influencing senior-level stakeholders across cross-functional teams and presenting complex analytical findings to executive audiences