Senior Economist, Indicators

Job Description

Job Description

About The Conference Board

Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is the  member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead . Our agenda is simple: to help leaders navigate the biggest issues facing business and better serve society. We believe in innovative approaches that make you think- and act- differently. And everything we do reflects the input of our members and their real-world challenges. 

We do this by delivering business insights. We connect senior executives across industries and geographies to share ideas, and our experts create fact-based research and consensus-driven policy statements to help leaders address their most important business issues.

Because we are independent, non-partisan, and non-profit our work is trusted. If you learned it at The Conference Board you can count on it.

What it’s like to work here:

While it’s serious work to operate a global business think tank, it’s also fulfilling — and fun! Our people enjoy what they do and know their ideas matter. 

We encourage everyone to take personal ownership for outcomes: we collaborate, share a purpose and commit to each other and to our Members. It’s all about doing our very best - which means we succeed as our Members succeed - together we improve society.

The Conference Board invites all interested and qualified candidates to apply for employment opportunities. If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance with our online application system and would like to request a reasonable accommodation, please email Sarah Baylis at View email address on us.fitly.work or call at View phone number on us.fitly.work. Please indicate your full name, contact information and the specific accommodation needed.

Position Summary:
Based in the US NYC office, the Senior Economist, Indicators will lead the Indicators team and produce insights on multi-national economic themes concerning and using proprietary TCB data. The indicators team is responsible for ideating and producing measures of global regional, and country business cycles, as well as confidence measures for consumers and business executives. The Senior Economist will also co-manage a junior data analyst focused on labor market tools and data production.
This is a member-facing role requiring ease of interaction with a C-Suite audience, as well as absolute discretion regarding the management of proprietary data.
The incumbent will lead experimentation and consult Indicators teams to improve existing Business Cycle Indicators (BCIs) and develop new ones. The Senior Economist will also support production and lead analysis, development, and marketing of the US CEO and Consumer Confidence Surveys.
The Sr. Economist will consult and frequently interact with the Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators within the indicators team who currently manages vendor and customer relationships, data sales, and subscription renewals pertaining to the above indicators. The incumbent will also collaborate and work closely with other Sr. Economists on producing select data products and insights, (e.g., the 15-year forecast, Global Gray Swans Tool).
The Senior Economist role requires frequent production of written insights on a variety of themes, including contributions to global GDP growth, trade, supply chains, inflation, monetary and fiscal policy. An important role of the incumbent is to be featured in websites, podcasts, and briefings to both Member and non-member convenings. The Senior Economist will also be called on to support the Chief Economist's responsibilities, including leading the Global Forecast Meeting and ideation of new themes for research and investigation.
The Senior Economist will manage a team of 4 to 7 reports (direct and indirect) and serve as a member of the Chief Economist's core leadership team.

Accountabilities:

• Sustain and perpetuate the growth of The Conference Board BCI indicators business by maintaining revenue base and expanding with new products, in concert with the Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators and Chief Economist.
• Supervise the work of the indicators team to produce data and insights in a timely fashion.
• Ensure quality of output vis-à-vis BCIs and confidence indicators to prevent errors.
• Accurately analyze and interpret results from the CEO Confidence and Consumer Confidence surveys and contribute to the content in the press releases, especially in shaping the narrative.
• Ideation and supporting development of new tools, plus enhancing existing tools.
• Ensuring proper development and documentation of processes to improve efficiency.
• Review the data products and written commentary of indicators team to ensure accuracy.
• Edit press releases and written insights of reports weekly.
• Identify and build revenue opportunities for the indictors program.
• Ideate new insights in partnership with other TCB experts for multinational macroeconomic themes, including trade and value chains, GDP growth and inflation drivers, and the interactions of regional fiscal and monetary policies with global economic growth.
• Produce pithy and digestible insights regarding the abovementioned themes: creating clear goals and realistic deadlines for frequent output.
• Present research results to Members, external media, the economist community, and other users through a variety of channels, including webcasts, briefings, external media interviews, and presentations to large gatherings at business and economics conferences.
• Championing our five core values: Relevance, Openness, Innovation, Integrity, and Collaboration.

Qualifications:

• Macroeconomist with knowledge of the dynamics of growth across many regions required.
• Possess a Ph.D. or Master's degree in Economics or related field with a minimum experience of 5-10 years working in a data-intensive production environment.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret data accurately and quickly.
• Keen attention to detail and meeting strict deadlines.
• Exemplary writing, communication, and presentation skills.
• Flexible and willing to deliver pithy but impactful insights appealing to a C-suite audience.
• Capable of editing written content and providing constructive feedback.
• Experience with several software and statistical packages (including Excel and E-views, possibly STATA, SAS, Python, or Matlab) as well as programming experience.
• Knowledge of visualization tools (PowerPoint, Tableau, Power BI, AI) preferred.
• Experience managing a team and project management is required.
• Experience working in a multidisciplinary, business-oriented, hybrid team environment.
• Capable of meeting fixed deadlines according to indicator release schedules

 

What We Offer

The Conference Board is proud to embrace best practices in employee wellbeing. We offer a competitive total compensation package. As part of our benefits package, we offer flexibility with hybrid working capabilities, employer-sponsored learning and development, advancement opportunities, on-site health initiatives, a communal and collaborative working environment, and a strong sense of comradery with sports teams, clubs, and employee events.

The Conference Board does not discriminate. We are an equal opportunity employer/M/F/Vet/Disabled.