Senior Economist

This position can be based in London, UK or Brussels, Belgium.

At Google, we believe that data can help answer life's most interesting questions...if you have the right tools and the right people to interpret it. Googlers with the ability to analyze, visualize and extract insights from data drive key business decisions and help set company strategy. So passionate are we about the power of data to change lives that we are one of the few technology companies in the world to have established "Chief Economist" as a role. So clear are we about the importance of applying and adapting mathematical and economic theories to understand this data that we attracted leading economic thinker, author and educator Hal Varian to fill this role.

Under Hal's guidance, our world-class Economics Group works with some of the world's largest and most interesting Internet data sets in a relentless effort to understand the relation of online behaviors to Google, the global economy, and to society. This group of enthusiastic "analytical athletes" is dedicated to researching Google's business operations and communicating trends and relationships - drawing on the vast pool of real-time data generated by our products. "We...have essentially free and ubiquitous data.", says Hal, "So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it." In addition to researching Internet economics, some of the team's other research explores whether Google search activity can help predict economic activity, and examines the role of social proximity in market trading behavior (see a conference talk here). This team plays a pivotal role in setting direction at Google, and now we are looking to appoint our first Senior Economist (EMEA) to our team.

The Senior Economist (EMEA) position, based in London or Brussels, will provide rigorous and thoughtful analysis of the economic value of the Internet. This leader will deliver data-driven insights not just from a EMEA-based commercial perspective, but set within the wider social, financial, and political contexts. Crucially, this person will also serve as an active spokesperson and help communicate this information to government policy-makers, the media, and to the people. This is a unique opportunity for a statistically-oriented economist to join what is truly a mathematical guru's playground, to use these findings to help change the way business is done and to change the world for the better. Like Hal, we believe that statisticians will hold the dream jobs of the next decade, and Google is looking forward to this significant next step in our continued investment in this area.

This role can be based in either London or Brussels.

• Economic analysis of Google's advertising model in EMEA, looking at areas such as the economics of online advertising auction models, the competitiveness of online advertising and the economic value of a free and open Internet.
• Explaining and communicating the impact and positive value of Internet developments and online activity to society and the European economy as a whole.
• Being a public advocate for the competitive nature of online advertising and for the contribution of the Internet to national economies.
• To work cross-functionally with our Product, Sales and Policy teams on economic analysis that supports robust communications and public positions.
• Translating economic analysis to a non-specialist internal and external communities.
• Rigorous testing and verification of economic assumptions.

• PhD in economics, business, applied mathematics, operations research, statistics or related discipline preferred.

• Job summary

  Employer:	Google
  Location:	London or Brussels, Belgium
  Education:	PhD/Doctorate
  Sector:	Economist
  Salary:
  Job Type:	Permanent
  Hours:	Full-Time
  Posted:	19th July 2010
  Apply By:	17th October 2010

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