Research Lead, AWS Economic Development

Come build a future with AWS Economic Development Research & Analysis Team

Every year, AWS invests billions of dollars around the world in cloud computing infrastructure, data centers, and education for cloud-skilled professions. These investments shape the growth of economies and our global and local ability to meet the demands of the digital revolution. If you're ready to be a key part of the AI/ML revolution, join us and see what it is like to transform tech infrastructure first-hand.

As AWS's strategic economic storytellers, the AWS Economic Development Research & Analysis (R&A) team crafts global, data-driven narratives spanning three strategic categories:
• Core Research – Economic Impact Studies measuring GDP and job contributions, Fiscal Impact Analyses quantifying tax revenues, and Labor Demand Analyses enabling workforce partnerships
• Specialized Research – Energy, water, fiber, and other infrastructure-adjacent areas
• Hyper-Local Intelligence – Granular socioeconomic analyses enabling community-level storytelling
Amazon is seeking a high-judgment, agile, data-driven, and highly motivated Research Lead to join this lean, high-impact team. You will lead the development of public-facing research that tells compelling narratives around AWS's economic impact through AI/ML infrastructure, while supporting original research on the downstream effects of cloud computing and AI adoption — including hyper-localized analyses and energy-related research.
In this role, you’ll be both a poet and an engineer: rigorous in quantitative methods, fluent in economic storytelling, and experienced with financial and/or accounting datasets.

Key job responsibilities
- Lead core research – Own end-to-end development of public-facing Economic Impact Studies on a global scale, measuring AWS's contributions to GDP, employment, and community well-being
- Support infrastructure strategy – Provide ad hoc economic, fiscal, labor, and market research to support infrastructure planning, incentive negotiations, and investment announcements
- Develop and maintain metrics – Establish and maintain operating and business metrics to evaluate economic, social, and environmental impact across regions
- Drive analytical excellence – Analyze and extract insights from both structured and unstructured data to optimize and scale key research processes, including leveraging AI-powered tools
- Engage cross-functional stakeholders – Partner with Legal, Finance, Tax, Compliance, Investor Relations, Public Policy, Public Relations, and Marketing teams to validate research frameworks, align on benchmarks, and frame measures of AWS investment and impact
- Communicate to senior leadership – Present summaries of financial and business data insights to top leadership; create FAQs; occasionally travel to present research and support local public policy and public relations stakeholders
- Own research vertical(s) – Lead the development and impact of an actionable body of research in at least one of the following areas: energy and water, hyper-localized socioeconomic impact, AI/ML downstream effects, or broader infrastructure

A day in the life
You will work closely with finance, infrastructure, energy, and business development teams, as well as Public Policy, Investor Relations, Public Relations, Marketing, and Sales. With AWS infrastructure as your primary customer, you will gain deep exposure to AWS's global business and operate in a highly cross-functional environment. This role is ideal for someone with intellectual curiosity, strong data skills, and a passion for applying rigorous economic methods to drive high-impact business outcomes at the intersection of finance, economics, and public policy.

About the team
AWS Economic Development is part of the AWS Global Public Policy organization. We work seamlessly with public policy teammates, internal customers, and colleagues across Amazon to realize the AWS global expansion strategy and build collaborative partnerships in our communities. The R&A team serves as the analytical backbone of this mission.

Basic Qualifications

- Master's degree or above in a relevant discipline (e.g. Law, Political Science, Public Policy, Public Affairs, Economic Development)
- Experience leading cross-functional projects and managing large, complicated programs
- Experience in financial modeling, or experience working with Excel, reporting tools, and large-scale data mining tools, such as Power BI, Python, SQL, or Tableau
- Experience communicating research findings and analysis in both written and spoken channels
- 10+ years of experience in economic research, economic consulting, applied economics, public policy analysis, or a related quantitative field

Preferred Qualifications

- PhD in a quantitative discipline such as statistics, mathematics, economics, computer science, or any related quantitative field
- Experience in any of the following areas of applied economics (multiple areas preferred): reduced-form causal analysis, predictive modeling and causal ML algorithms, forecasting, hazard models, health and insurance economics, education economics, labor economics, and behavioral economics, designing and administering large-scale social science survey

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, VA, Arlington - 138,500.00 - 187,300.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 138,500.00 - 187,300.00 USD annually