Economist

Navan is seeking a driven, proactive and experienced Economist to join our growing team. This first-of-its-kind role is an exciting opportunity to shape the research and economic function at Navan, the leading all-in-one business travel, payments, and expense management platform. 

Using data from millions of trips and purchases by 10,000+ companies worldwide, you will build economic indicators that deepen and drive the world’s understanding of global business travel and corporate spend. You will use these indicators to advance Navan’s position as a global authority on business travel and expense.

This position requires a self-starter with a proven track record in complex economic analyses and excellent storytelling.

What You’ll Do:

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  As part of our broader Data Science and Analytics function, you will… 

  
  
  
  
  • Perform complex econometric and statistical analysis on travel and spending patterns to identify emerging macroeconomic trends, forecast future business activity, and understand the drivers of corporate travel and expense.
  
  
  • Craft compelling data-driven stories and insights for multiple channels—including press releases, blog posts, white papers, and executive keynotes—to illustrate why business travel and spend are critical leading indicators for the global economy.
  
  
  • Partner with our Marketing and Comms teams to serve as an internal expert and external spokesperson, presenting your findings to journalists, industry analysts, and at major economic and travel conferences.
  
  
  • Continuously monitor the global economic landscape, linking external events (e.g., policy changes, supply chain disruptions, market volatility) to the proprietary trends you observe in Navan's data.
  
  
  • Serve as a key economic advisor to leadership and strategy teams, translating your macro findings into concise, high-level briefings on risks, opportunities, and the business's competitive positioning.
  
  
  
  

What We’re Looking For:

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  We are looking for a "full-stack" economist who is as comfortable with complex econometrics as they are with presenting to an executive or a journalist. This means:

  
  
  
  
  • 5-7 years experience with an advanced degree in Economics, Statistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field.
  
  
  • Deep expertise in econometrics, forecasting, and statistical analysis, with experience modeling complex, "messy" datasets.
  
  
  • Required proficiency in SQL, a statistical language (Python or R), and common data visualization tools.
  
  
  • Excellent writing and presentation skills translating complex economic findings with simplicity and clarity for executives, media, and the public. We’d love to see examples of previous writing, presentations and data visualizations. 
  
  
  • Voracious consumer of business news. Bonus points if you have previously established yourself as a voice on business, economics or data on e.g. Substack or X.
  
  
  • A collaborative and approachable style, with a proven ability to build relationships and manage priorities with cross-functional teams.
  
  
  • A practical, business-first mindset focused on driving real business results and supporting decisions, not just academic theory.