How to hire a senior economist

How to hire a senior economist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior economist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior economist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior economist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior economist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior economist you need to hire. Certain senior economist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A senior economist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior economists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior economists.

   Type of Senior Economist	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Economist	Economists study the production and distribution of resources, goods, and services by collecting and analyzing data, researching trends, and evaluating economic issues.	$29-91
   Economic Development Internship	An economic development intern is responsible for supporting an organization's market performance, analyzing trends in the industry, and strategizing techniques to improve business services. Economic development interns perform administrative duties under the supervision of tenured staff and managers... Show more	$12-25
   Economic Developer	While a development specialist works on creating plans for community development, the economic developer helps implement the development strategies set forth by specialists. They help in the distribution of survey questionnaires and the collection of data, as well as the interpretation of results... Show more	$17-33

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Econometrics
   • Macro
   • Research Projects
   • SAS
   • Data Analysis
   • Economic Analysis
   • Economic Research
   • Financial Markets
   • Stata
   • Policy Issues
   • Risk Management
   • Statistical Analysis
   • Economic Models
   • Medicaid

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead the department research in forecasting and econometrics.
   • Lead training session and mentore of co-workers in using SAS programming to perform quantitative analysis.
   • Organize and lead strategic meetings between senior management and local communities, NGOs, and government agencies.
   • Manage junior employees, teaching them SAS and company data, and ensuring their deliverables are accurate and clearly present.
   • Lead the advanced receiver hardware prototyping and evaluate the receiver performance.
   • Work with the banking industry to develop lending facilities for the SME segment.

   More senior economist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior economist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior economist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, senior economists' average salary in wyoming is 53% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior economists 68% less than senior-level senior economists.
   • Certifications. A senior economist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior economist's salary.

   Average senior economist salary

   $108,720yearly

   $52.27 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior economist salary

   $61,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior economist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$129,145	$62
   2	California	$123,904	$60
   3	Virginia	$115,611	$56
   4	Washington	$114,449	$55
   5	Massachusetts	$110,332	$53
   6	Illinois	$109,411	$53
   7	Texas	$104,398	$50
   8	New York	$103,688	$50
   9	Maryland	$103,144	$50
   10	New Mexico	$94,456	$45
   11	Oregon	$93,420	$45
   12	Colorado	$93,318	$45
   13	Minnesota	$91,906	$44
   14	Pennsylvania	$85,922	$41
   15	North Carolina	$84,640	$41
   16	Georgia	$84,416	$41
   17	New Jersey	$83,722	$40
   18	Florida	$69,922	$34
   19	Arizona	$69,911	$34
   20	Tennessee	$61,774	$30

   Average senior economist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Cornerstone Research	$191,990	$92.30
   2	Federal Reserve Bank of Boston	$187,427	$90.11	1
   3	Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis	$187,409	$90.10
   4	Federal Reserve Bank Services	$186,675	$89.75
   5	Federal Reserve Bank of New York	$180,625	$86.84
   6	Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco	$180,292	$86.68	1
   7	Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas	$175,504	$84.38
   8	Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond	$157,770	$75.85	3
   9	Baker McKenzie	$156,759	$75.36
   10	Hess	$150,217	$72.22
   11	Federal Reserve Bank	$149,771	$72.01	6
   12	Ginnie Mae	$146,214	$70.30
   13	Expedia Group	$144,554	$69.50
   14	Genentech	$143,358	$68.92
   15	Compass Lexecon	$142,587	$68.55	1
   16	LECG Corp	$142,069	$68.30
   17	Econ One Research	$140,096	$67.35
   18	Navigant Consulting	$139,043	$66.85
   19	FTI Consulting	$138,570	$66.62
   20	Economists Incorporated	$137,440	$66.08

4. Writing a senior economist job description

   A job description for a senior economist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior economist job description:

   Senior economist job description example

   Work for the IMF. Work for the World.
   
   The Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the IMF is seeking to hire up to three (3) Economists/Senior Economists, specialized in issues related to climate change, to shape and support the advice given to IMF member countries both directly and more broadly through the development of policy analysis and guidance.
   
   The successful candidates will help drive FAD's climate agenda in one or more of the areas below:
   
   * Mitigation and energy pricing reform: quantifying the environmental, fiscal, economic, and incidence impacts of carbon pricing and other mitigation policies to implement countries' emissions objectives and analyzing fiscal measures to address the broader environmental impacts of fossil fuel use.
   
   * Transition/Mitigation: assessing the macroeconomic impacts of energy transition in fossil-fuel exporters and developing guidance on adaptation strategies towards low-carbon economies, including policies in greening the post-COVID-19 recovery strategies.
   
   * Adaptation and natural disaster management: core tasks would include assessing, and developing guidance on, fiscal aspects of the design and implementation of countries' climate resilience plans and their place in wider macroeconomic strategies and prospects.
   
   * Green public financial management (PFM): core tasks would include providing advice and developing countries' capacity to integrate climate-related concerns into the PFM framework, including public investment management and the budgetary process.
   
   The successful candidates will be expected to collaborate extensively both within the IMF and with external stakeholders.
   
   The position is expected to require international travel.
   
   Qualifications
   
   Applicants should have an advanced university degree in economics or other relevant area with at least four (4) years of relevant experience, and a strong record of analytical and applied policy work in one or more of the areas above. S/he will have strong communication skills, an aptitude for innovation, working with others, and a strong drive for results. Experience in academia, an international institution or a ministry of finance would be an asset.
   
   This vacancy shall be filled by a 3-year Term appointment in accordance with the Fund's new employment rules that took effect on May 1, 2015.
   
   A regular staff member who is selected to fill the vacancy will maintain their open-ended status. If the selected candidate is a contractual employee, they will be offered a Term staff appointment. Staff members already on a term appointment will continue their current term but may receive an extension provided that their current term appointment has not already been extended.
   
   Department:
   
   FADCP Fiscal Affairs Department Climate Policy
   
   Hiring For:
   
   A11, A12, A13, A14
   
   The IMF is committed to achieving a diverse staff, including age, creed, culture, disability, educational background, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, nationality, race, religion and beliefs, and sexual orientation.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior economist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior economists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior economists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior economist job on Zippia to find and recruit senior economist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior economists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior economist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior economist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior economist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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