Economist

About the Role Navan is seeking a driven, proactive and experienced Economist to shape the research and economic function at Navan, the leading all-in-one business travel, payments, and expense management platform. This first-of-its-kind role will build economic indicators from Navan's data to deepen the world's understanding of global business travel and corporate spend, and position Navan as a global authority on the space. What You'll Do

• 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 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 Marketing and Comms teams to serve as an internal expert and external spokesperson, presenting 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 Navan's proprietary trends.
• Serve as a key economic advisor to leadership and strategy teams, translating macro findings into concise, high-level briefings on risks, opportunities, and the business's competitive positioning. What We're Looking For
• 5-7 years of 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.
• 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 impact. Nice to Have
• Voice on business, economics or data on Substack or X (bonus).