Principal Game Economist

At Zynga, we bring people together through the power of play. As a global leader in interactive entertainment and a proud label of Take‑Two Interactive, our games have been downloaded over 6 billion times—connecting players in 175+ countries through fun, strategy, and a little friendly competition.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in California, our teams span North America, Europe, and Asia, working together to craft unforgettable gaming experiences. Whether you’re spinning, strategizing, matching, or competing, Zynga is where fun meets innovation—and where you can take your career to the next level.

Join us and be part of the play!

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Principal Game Economist to join our team in either London or Barcelona. Reporting directly to the Director of Economy and working closely alongside another Lead Economist, you will operate as a centralized expert resource across three different studios.

Unlike traditional game economy roles focused on a single title, you will lead economic strategy and systems design on a project basis, supporting various games across our extended portfolio. While this is a high‑level Individual Contributor role with no direct reports, your leadership impact will be massive. You will analyze each game, identify key opportunities and challenges, and build sustainable solutions while elevating our internal economy practices.

You will establish best practices, develop robust frameworks, and mentor embedded game teams so they can eventually own and manage their economies independently.

This role is highly strategic and deeply hands‑on: blending advanced research, complex system design, cross‑studio collaboration, and technical mentorship.

You aren’t just working on one game; you are a key economic architect across three studios. You will step into different projects to diagnose economic health, design robust pricing and reward systems, and empower local teams to execute your designs.

• Drive Cross‑Studio strategy: Serve as the shared expert supporting multiple games across distinct studios. You will take ownership of the economic design phase for targeted projects, identifying gaps and implementing tailored solutions to drive engagement and business performance.
• Collaborate at the highest level
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  Work in tandem with another Lead Economist and report directly to the Director of Economy to align on portfolio‑wide strategies, tackle complex systemic challenges, and ensure consistent design standards across all studios.
• Mentor and Empower teams: Act as a technical leader and mentor for game‑level economy designers and PMs. While you won’t have direct reports, you will lead through influence, training internal teams on advanced economic frameworks and ensuring they have the tools to manage their game’s economy long‑term.
• Design and simulate
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  Leverage your quantitative expertise to build complex predictive models, run simulations, and design A/B tests that validate your design decisions and forecast the impact of new features.
• Bridge the gap globally: Drive cross‑functional efforts with Product Managers, Data Scientists, and Engineers across different teams and geographies, acting as a technical bridge to ensure seamless execution from concept to live ops.

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Economics, Math, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, paired with a proven track record of designing and optimizing complex game economies at a senior or lead level.
• Advanced analytical skills with a "must‑have" mastery of Excel. Experience with SQL, R, or Python is a significant advantage for deep‑dive research and modeling.
• Demonstrated ability to drive strategic initiatives and upskill junior or mid‑level talent across multiple studios or departments without formal reporting lines. You excel at matrix leadership and cross‑functional collaboration.
• A deep‑seeded interest in Free‑to‑Play mechanics and a sophisticated understanding of how to balance player experience with sustainable monetization.

• Additional background in Monetization strategy to complement your economic expertise.
• Experience working…