Economist Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Economist is a textbook specialty occupation, making H-1B visa sponsorship straightforward from a legal standpoint. Federal agencies, think tanks, consulting firms, universities, and financial institutions all sponsor economists regularly. J-1 visa research scholar visas are also common in academic settings. If you've got a master's or PhD, you're in even stronger position since many economist roles genuinely require advanced degrees. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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Level Up Your Career with Zynga!
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Position Overview:
Zynga is looking for a strategic, analytical, and hands-on Principal Product Economist with experience in mobile games to join the world's biggest social poker game! As an economy designer, you will oversee, implement and tune the in-game economy while optimizing user experience. You will utilize methodologies from economics, behavioral psychology, and business intelligence to strategically design and maintain a healthy free-to-play mobile game economy. The economy systems you will build and manage are core to game progression, reward payouts, and overall game economy balance.
You will lead the conceptualization, modeling, and continuous optimization of the game's economy - driving player engagement, retention, and monetization through data-informed design and smart experimentation.
What You'll Do:
- Own the live operations economy and collaborate closely with product managers and analysts to define and execute its strategic direction. Act as the point of contact and subject-matter expert on all live operations economic aspects.
- Design and implement essential features that create a fun player experience, further the strategic vision of the product, and improve retention, acquisition, and monetization.
- Model, simulate, and tune complex economy systems including multiple currencies, sinks, faucets, and progression loops.
- Use A/B testing and other analytical methods to validate hypotheses, measure outcomes, and optimize performance.
- Proactively identify and improve underperforming systems, leveraging data-driven insights to enhance player experience and revenue.
- Develop predictive models and simulations to anticipate player behavior and maintain a stable, scalable economy.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure economic systems integrate seamlessly with design, live ops, and monetization initiatives.
- Communicate economic insights and design rationales effectively to stakeholders and leadership.
- Stay up to date with market trends and perform proactive analyses of economy tuning in relevant competitive products.
What You Bring:
- 5+ years of experience working on digital games, at least 3+ years focused on economy design.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, strong presentation abilities, and the capacity to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization.
- Self-motivated, with the ability to balance multiple projects in parallel while working in a collaborative, agile environment with aggressive deadlines and shifting priorities.
- Autodidactic, with the ability to quickly learn new systems and tools, interpret technical specifications, understand feature configurations, and independently explore how game systems and economic models operate.
- Skilled at modeling and simulating planned changes, anticipating downstream effects, and adjusting prior to release.
- Analytical, detail-oriented, and capable of providing actionable solutions at every stage of the process.
- Advanced proficiency in Excel and SQL. Python experience is a plus.
- Passion for mobile and/or casino games.
What we offer:
Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site.
The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $133,000 to $183,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.
The pay range for this position in Toronto at the start of employment is expected to be between $114,000 to $160,000 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.
Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.
Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company's discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses. The use of Artificial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization. Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual's race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at accommodationrequest@zynga.com to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position.
Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others. Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel. Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scam or phishing attack, and you should not engage. Zynga's in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, take2games.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Visa Sponsorship as an Economist
Target Federal Reserve banks for economist positions
The twelve Federal Reserve regional banks (New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.) regularly hire international economists for research and policy roles. These are private institutions that sponsor H-1B visas, and they offer competitive compensation along with strong research environments.
Consider economic consulting firms that sponsor routinely
Firms like Analysis Group, Cornerstone Research, NERA Economic Consulting, and Charles River Associates specialize in litigation and regulatory economics. They hire economists at both the pre-doctoral and post-doctoral levels and have established visa sponsorship processes.
Leverage your Ph.D. for advanced degree H-1B exemption
Economists with a U.S. master's or doctoral degree qualify for the H-1B advanced degree exemption, which provides an additional selection opportunity in the lottery. Given that most economist positions favor advanced degrees, this exemption can meaningfully improve your odds.
Publish working papers to build your EB-1 or NIW case early
Working papers in NBER, SSRN, or Federal Reserve discussion series count as evidence of scholarly contribution. Start building a publication pipeline during graduate school, as a strong body of economic research can support an EB-1A extraordinary ability or EB-2 NIW petition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do employers sponsor H-1B visas for economists?
Yes, economists are frequently sponsored for H-1B visas in the U.S. Federal agencies, economic consulting firms, financial institutions, and universities are the most common sponsors. The SOC code 19-3011 (Economists) is well-established as a specialty occupation requiring at least a bachelor's degree in economics.
Can economists qualify for EB-2 National Interest Waiver green cards?
Economists whose research has demonstrated influence on public policy, trade, or economic development may qualify for an EB-2 NIW. This pathway allows self-petitioning without employer sponsorship. Evidence like published economic analyses, policy citations, government advisory roles, and a Ph.D. in economics can strengthen the case.
How to find Economist jobs with visa sponsorship?
Use Migrate Mate to find Economist positions with visa sponsorship opportunities. Focus on roles at government agencies, research institutions, financial services firms, and multinational corporations that commonly sponsor H-1B, O-1 visa, or EB-2 visas for economists. Target positions in economic research, policy analysis, financial modeling, and consulting where specialized economic expertise is valued and visa sponsorship is more readily available.
Which government agencies hire international economists?
The Federal Reserve System, Bureau of Labor Statistics, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Congressional Budget Office all hire economists and have sponsored visas. The IMF and World Bank use G-4 visas for international organization employees, which is a separate pathway from H-1B. Federal Reserve regional banks are private institutions that sponsor H-1B petitions.
Is a Ph.D. required for economist visa sponsorship?
A Ph.D. is not strictly required, but it significantly strengthens your candidacy. Most economist positions at research institutions, federal agencies, and top consulting firms prefer or require doctoral training. A master's degree in economics with strong quantitative skills can qualify for H-1B sponsorship at some employers, particularly in the private sector.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Economist jobs?
When a U.S. employer sponsors a foreign worker for a work visa, they are legally required to pay at least the "prevailing wage" — the average wage paid to workers in the same occupation, in the same geographic area, with similar experience. This is set by the Department of Labor to prevent employers from hiring foreign workers at below-market rates. The prevailing wage varies significantly by role, location, and experience level — for example, a economist in New York will have a different prevailing wage than the same role in a smaller state. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search.