Corporate Economist

Corporate Economist

Cliffs Natural Resources

Cleveland, OH

Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company. We are the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. With core values of environmental and capital stewardship, our colleagues across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency as embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Our Company is organized through three geographic business units:

The North American business unit is comprised of six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit is comprised of two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The South American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapá in Brazil, as well as a number of smaller greenfield projects not yet in production.

Over recent years, Cliffs has been executing a strategy designed to achieve scale in the mining industry and focused on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets.

Principal Functions:

Will support business development activities and sound financial decision making through creation and use of economic methods, procedures, sources and models. Responsibilities include monitoring, analyzing and forecasting macroeconomics and industry specific trends and tracking selected global industrial markets (materials, natural resources). Interaction with senior management, associates, customers, suppliers, investors, and other internal and external constituencies is critical to success in the position

Specific Responsibilities by Priority:

• Conducts research and analysis on economic data/trends
• Provides analysis and interpretation on economic conditions
• Advises management on business impacts of economic trends
• Develops key price and volume assumptions for budgeting, project, and strategic planning purposes
• Participates in and/or lead studies on particular strategic topics (e.g. enter or exit a market, long-term capacity requirements, specific project economic assumptions, etc.)
• Participates in external investor contact in support of IR objectives
• Prepares and presents reports outlining key business drivers and trends

Education Needed: Master’s degree in economics, finance (MBA) or statistics required; Undergraduate degree in economics, mathematics, statistics, engineering or other quantitative field preferred.

Experience Needed: Five or more years of related experience in consulting or industry. Candidates with strong academic experience or research exposure to econometrics preferred; Experience in an industrial market, preferably in the natural resources area or a heavy steel consuming company.