Senior Economist, Office of Chief Economist

The primary duties of this position are to engage in statistical, econometric and financial analysis projects to evaluate the risks, costs and impacts of market practices and regulatory alternatives and to provide thought leadership in support of FINRA's mission.

Essential Job Functions:

• The Senior Economist will assume ownership and responsibility for one or more subject matter areas within FINRA's oversight purview for purposes of the Office's work product.
• Research duties combine theoretical and empirical modeling skills to analyze securities markets, market participants and market microstructure in support of FINRA's mission.
• Analyses often involve developing and estimating models of the risks, costs and impacts of market practice and regulatory alternatives.
• The Senior Economist will become the foremost expert in OCE in his/her area(s) of expertise.
• The Senior Economist is able to execute responsibilities with limited direction and oversight.
• Serves as an OCE expert for one or more subject matter areas, encompassing several functions including regular review of academic and industry reports and papers, development of and/or an execution plan for a research agenda developed around rulemaking and areas of heightened interest in that subject matter area;
• Conducts research in support of FINRA's mission, and writes and publishes reports on various economic and financial topics for industry and public review;
• Presents research findings to topic area internal and external experts, including securities industry professionals and other regulators;
• Creates written materials and oral presentations designed for senior management related to the work of the Office within the economist's area of expertise;
• Delivers of high quality work product that is timely, complete, accurate and of professional appearance;
• Develops and implements research designs and analyses for large scale data projects;
• Develops methodologies to provide assessments, calculations and analysis of relevant statistics for economic impact assessment;
• Assesses, models and analyzes data to provide solutions and answers in a variety of engagements;
• Works with middle and senior managers across the organization to assess their economic analysis needs and design, conceptualize, create and execute projects to meet them;
• Exercises independent judgment in developing models, methods and approaches to determine and evaluate member firm and market behavior;
• Act as advocate for OCE's economic and analytical expertise in internal, cross-functional settings, including clarifying and supporting the Office's economic analysis and interpretation during the rule-making process and other policy discussions, as well as proactively identifying and making management aware of ongoing or future projects within FINRA where OCE could add significant value;
• Establishes and maintains external relationships with academic, industry and regulatory/government entities;
• Represents the Office of the Chief Economist in internal and industry-wide conferences, seminars, presentations and other speaking engagements;
• Produce multiple high quality research work products to be reviewed and vetted by academics, industry experts and regulatory staff;
• Proactively develop new research ideas in the economist's area of expertise based on new or emerging risks and topics of particular interest to FINRA in its oversight and regulatory role.
• Serve as the primary liaison between OCE and the relevant business units associated with the economist's area(s) of expertise.
• Serve as a project lead to assist on or delegate tasks to economists and analysts, and oversee all work of staff to ensure high quality deliverables;
• Provide written and oral status reports on projects;
• Mentor junior economists and analysts to help in the execution of essential job duties;

• May serve as a team lead to others which could include mentoring junior economist, providing performance feedback, and delegating work/tasks to other Analysts and Economists.
• The Economist filling this position will be responsible for working on and completing other projects as needed.

• The candidate should possess a PhD in economics, finance, statistics or a similar degree.
• The candidate should also be able to demonstrate ample experience in producing complete economic analyses, including project design and development, econometric modeling, statistical analysis, data collection and manipulation, programming, and written reports. Candidate must have familiarity with statistical analytic tools such as R, Python, and/or SQL.
• A minimum of 5 - 6 years of direct experience is required. The candidate must be comfortable working with a variety of people with varying skill and knowledge levels. The candidate must also be able to communicate well, both orally and in writing. The candidate must have the ability to handle multiple tasks under tight deadlines. We are seeking a self-starter who is comfortable working independently.

• Regular office conditions; some travel may be required.