Senior Data Scientist, Marketplace Economics

Roblox Corporation; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 264,000 - 323,000; Full time

Job summary

Roblox Corporation in San Mateo, CA seeks a senior Data Scientist/Economist to design economic systems for creators and curators, and to architect pricing and supply‑response models on a large-scale platform.

The role requires deep econometrics and causal inference expertise, with strong Python, R, and SQL skills, plus experience turning data into strategic recommendations for product and engineering leaders. Equity and growth opportunities accompany base compensation.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of industry or research experience in Data Science or Economics, on large-scale platforms.
• Expertise in econometrics, causal inference (observational and experimental), and modern data stack tools (Python, R, SQL).

Responsibilities

• Design economic systems: incentives for creators and curators, revenue-sharing models.
• Master pricing and supply response: evaluate price elasticity and marketplace clearing rates.
• Lead UGC category launches: set foundational economics and incentive structures.
• Apply deep causal inference: isolate impact of interventions on creator success and platform economics.
• Drive strategy with product and engineering: provide measurement and insights to accelerate innovation.

Skills

Data Science

Economics

Causal Inference

Python

R

SQL

Education

Master’s or PhD in Economics

Job description

Every day, tens of millions of people come to Roblox to explore, create, play, learn, and connect with friends in 3D immersive digital experiences– all created by our global community of developers and creators.

At Roblox, we’re building the tools and platform that empower our community to bring any experience that they can imagine to life. Our vision is to reimagine the way people come together, from anywhere in the world, and on any device. We’re on a mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility, and looking for amazing talent to help us get there.

A career at Roblox means you’ll be working to shape the future of human interaction, solving unique technical challenges at scale, and helping to create safer, more civil shared experiences for everyone.

At Roblox, we’re building the tools and platform that empower a global community of creators and developers to build immersive experiences and a dynamic virtual economy. Our Data Science organization sits at the heart of this mission, delivering the strategic and causal insights that power pricing, market health, and creator success across all Economy surfaces.

Why Marketplace Economics?

• Real-world scale: Power millions of daily economic interactions across a complex, two-sided marketplace where millions of creators meet over 100 million daily active users.
• Complex markets, rich signals: Design economic systems and measurement frameworks that account for the nuances of a two-sided marketplace, social network effects, long-term user attachment, and supply response.
• Strategic ownership: Lead projects from scratch, translating ambiguous business and policy questions into rigorous quantitative frameworks that directly influence high-stakes company decisions on the economics of our Marketplace.
• Impact meets innovation: Partner with Product and Engineering to shape the future of the Roblox economy, building measurement solutions that optimize for long-term ecosystem health and growth.

You will:

• Design Economic Systems: Drive the structural design of creator and curator incentives, including formulating revenue-share models that foster a thriving, balanced ecosystem.
• Master Pricing & Supply Response: Architect models that evaluate price elasticity, marketplace clearing rates, and predict how creators (supply) respond to pricing shifts and new economic policies.
• Spearhead UGC Category Launches: Lead the quantitative strategy for introducing new User-Generated Content (UGC) categories, establishing the foundational economics and incentive structures needed to spark market liquidity.
• Apply Deep Causal Inference: Build rigorous observational and experimental causal inference solutions to isolate the true impact of market interventions on creator success and platform economics.
• Drive Strategy: Partner with product and engineering leaders as a primary scientific advocate, providing unbiased measurement and insights to accelerate innovation and strategic prioritization.

You have (at least some of) the following:

• 6+ years of industry or research experience in Data Science or Economics, specifically within large-scale UGC content platforms, pricing, marketplace mechanism design, or creator economies.
• Deep Methodological Expertise in quantitative methodologies, causal inference (observational and experimental), and modern data stack tools (Python, R, SQL), alongside a deep theoretical understanding of econometrics and mechanism design.
• Marketplace Intuition with a proven track record of working with large-scale transactional or platform data to analyze micro-level user behavior and isolate its impact on long‑term outcomes and platform health.
• Executive Communication & Leadership skills to distill high‑dimensional economic problems into succinct, actionable narratives for non‑technical executive audiences.
• An Advanced Degree (Master’s or PhD) in Economics, Econometrics, Quantitative Finance, Statistics, Operations Research, Physics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field.

Roles that are based at our headquarters in San Mateo, CA:

The starting base pay for this position is as shown below. The actual base pay is dependent upon a variety of job‑related factors such as professional background, training, work experience, location, business needs and market demand. Therefore, in some circumstances, the actual salary could fall outside of this expected range. This pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. All full‑time employees are also eligible for equity compensation and for benefits as described on this page.

Annual Salary Range

$263,670—$322,820 USD

Roles that are based in an office are onsite Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with optional presence on Monday and Friday (unless otherwise noted).

Roblox provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Roblox also provides reasonable accommodations to candidates with qualifying disabilities or religious beliefs during the recruiting process.

For US based roles only, please note the Company may not be able to employ candidates for this role who have United States work authorization related to certain U.S. visa categories, or support future H‑1B sponsorship at this time.