Senior Data Scientist, Monetary Policy

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

Job summary

Roblox Corporation in San Mateo, CA, seeks an experienced data scientist to shape its virtual economy. You will build macroeconomic models of the Robux money supply, simulate policy changes, and inform pricing, DevEx rates, and regional adjustments.

The role partners with Product and Finance to translate data into actionable strategies across the platform. Ideal candidates have 5+ years of quantitative economics experience, advanced degrees, and a track record with large-scale data.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field is required.
• Proven expertise in econometrics and macro modeling.
• Experience with large-scale transactional data.
• Ability to translate questions into rigorous models.
• Excellent communication skills for non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop macroeconomic models to forecast Robux supply and inflation.
• Model currency exchange policies and DevEx rates.
• Design and run counterfactual simulations for policy assessment.
• Analyze liquidity dynamics and marketplace mechanics.
• Collaborate with Product and Finance to shape roadmaps.
• Communicate findings to executives and cross-functional teams.
• Promote quantitative policy analysis and best practices.

Skills

Macroeconomic modelling

Time series forecasting

Causal inference

Agent-based modelling

Large-scale data analysis

Education

Master's or PhD in Economics

Job description

San Mateo, CA, United States Data Science & Analytics ID: 45478

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.

Why Data Science And Engineering

The Data Science & Engineering organization's mission is to increase our speed, frequency, and acumen in making decisions at scale by instilling a data-influenced approach to building products. We cover a wide area of the data spectrum, including analytical data engineering, product analytics, experimentation, causal inference, statistical modeling, and machine learning. Aligned and partnering with product verticals, we use this extensive tool belt to discover new opportunities and unmet use cases, influence and shape the product roadmap and prioritization, build data products, and measure impact on our community of players and developers.

In Data Science & Engineering, you will build the macroeconomic models, simulation frameworks, and policy mechanics that scale Roblox's virtual economy. By analyzing Robux currency dynamics, global pricing strategies, and developer exchange policies, your work will directly inform strategic decision‑making, financial policy, and executive roadmaps on our road to connecting one billion users.

You will:

• Develop, build, and refine macroeconomic models to forecast and monitor Robux money supply, velocity, inflation/deflation dynamics, and overall virtual economy health.
• Model and inform comprehensive currency exchange policies, encompassing fiat-to-Robux purchase pricing, regional purchasing power (PPP) adjustments, and Developer Exchange (DevEx) rates, to balance global user participation, developer incentives, and long‑term platform sustainability.
• Design and run counterfactual simulations (e.g. causal inference frameworks, agent‑based modeling) to evaluate the impact of proposed monetary policies, sink/faucet adjustments, and marketplace fee changes before execution.
• Analyze sink and faucet dynamics across the platform to balance liquidity, optimize developer economy mechanics, and prevent systemic economic imbalances.
• Partner closely with Product and Finance leadership to translate complex economic data into actionable policy recommendations and sustainable growth strategies.
• Establish robust economic indicators and monitoring systems to track real‑time macro‑health metrics, liquidity risks, and structural shifts in user behavior.
• Communicate complex strategic findings and macroeconomic trade‑offs to non‑technical stakeholders to directly influence company‑level roadmaps and economic policy decisions.
• Promote technical excellence in quantitative policy analysis, econometrics, and simulation methodologies across the broader Data Science and Engineering team.

You have:

• 5+ years of industry or research experience applying quantitative economic modeling, econometrics, or simulation frameworks to analyze policy, marketplace dynamics, or user behavior.
• Deep expertise in quantitative methodologies including time series forecasting (e.g., VAR, state‑space models), causal inference (e.g., synthetic control, diff‑in‑diff), structural macro modeling (e.g., DSGE), and counterfactual simulation techniques (e.g., agent‑based modeling).
• Proven track record working with large‑scale transactional or platform data to analyze micro‑level user behaviors and aggregate them into macro‑level economic insights.
• Demonstrated ability to lead project areas from scratch, translating ambiguous business and policy questions into rigorous quantitative frameworks and iterative research deliverables.
• Strong communication skills to explain complex economic trade‑offs, risk scenarios, and simulation results to non‑technical stakeholders in Finance and Product leadership.
• An Advanced Degree (MSc or PhD) in Economics, Econometrics, Quantitative Finance, Statistics, Operations Research, Physics, or a related quantitative field.

You are:

• A systems thinker.
• Curious and truth seeking.
• A deep collaborator. You understand where your skills provide differential value and complement others, and how the strengths of others complement you.
• Driven by strategic impact. You are passionate about informing high‑stakes company decisions in complex, fast‑moving environments.

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.