Macro & Credit Research Economist

Plaid•New York, NY

About The Position

The Macro & Economic Insights team is responsible for translating Plaid’s unique, high-frequency transaction and balance data into rigorous, forward-looking insights about household financial health, credit dynamics, and the broader economic cycle. The team builds internal indicators, research outputs, and external-facing analysis that leverage Plaid’s data advantage to inform strategy, products, and market narratives. As the Macro and Credit Research Economist, you will build and own macroeconomic and credit indicators derived directly from raw transaction data. You will develop forecasting models, identify economic turning points, and produce rigorous analysis that informs internal decisions and external research.

Requirements

PhD in Economics (macro, finance, monetary, applied micro) or an equivalent quantitative field.
4-8 years of applied experience in macro strategy, credit investing, systematic research, or consumer credit analytics.
Strong econometric and time-series modeling skills, with experience linking micro data to macro outcomes.
Proficiency in Python and SQL, with comfort working directly with large, noisy, high-frequency datasets.
Ability to independently build data pipelines and handle raw transaction data, rather than relying on pre-curated macroeconomic datasets.
Strong written communication skills suitable for investor and executive audiences.
A practical, market-oriented approach focused on accuracy, robustness, and clear reasoning.

Nice To Haves

Experience in hedge funds, asset management, credit investing, central bank research, or fintech risk teams.
Familiarity with consumer credit behavior, household finance, and unsecured lending cycles.
Track record of forecasting under uncertainty with measurable performance.
Experience producing research or insights that influenced investment decisions or risk assessments.

Responsibilities

Work directly with large-scale, messy transaction data to build the transformations, filters, and statistical frameworks needed to extract reliable economic and credit-cycle signals.
Develop forecasting models that quantify household financial conditions, credit dynamics, and broader economic trends, emphasizing real-world performance and interpretability.
Identify leading indicators and turning points across liquidity, spending patterns, credit behavior, income stability, and other elements of household financial resilience.
Build methodologies that detect changes in economic regimes and risk conditions based on high-frequency data.
Produce rigorous backtests, scenarios, and real-time indicators that inform internal strategic decisions and external-facing research.
Create investor-grade written analyses, dashboards, and periodic briefings that synthesize model outputs with clear economic context.
Benchmark internal measures against official statistics and market expectations, highlighting where Plaid’s data provides differentiated early insight.
Collaborate with product, policy, comms, and GTM teams to shape how selected findings inform data products, strategic narratives, and outreach.

Benefits

Unlock financial freedom for everyone.
Build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable.
Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company.
We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process.
If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at [email protected].
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