Associate U.S. Economist, Business and Economic Insights

Tink

Tink

Foster City, CA, USA

USD 123k-190,900 / year + Equity

Posted on May 1, 2026
About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Job Description

We are seeking an intellectually curious recent economics graduate student with a passion for applied economic analysis and interest in learning more about the payments industry to join our team of economists covering the U.S. market. The role will leverage data to help tell the economic and payment industry stories most relevant to our clients and executives.

Are you passionate about applying data to help businesses navigate changes in the economy? We have an exciting opportunity for a recent economics graduate student to contribute to the work of our macroeconomics team covering the U.S. region. The Associate U.S. Economist) will work as part of a team of U.S. economists to apply economic analysis to the payments industry, generating business intelligence for internal and external clients.

Key Responsibilities Include

  • Assist members of the U.S. economics team in researching and analyzing key macroeconomic trends as they impact consumer spending and the payments industry.
  • Build and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) agents to generate insights from data, including from our proprietary consumer survey dataset.
  • Work with other members of the U.S. economics team to develop economic content for the team’s client presentations and U.S. economics publications.
  • Utilize internal Visa data along with external data sources to generate key economic and payments industry insights.
  • Build and maintain data visualizations for key macroeconomic and payments industry data.
  • Support the team’s merchant focused content generation and client facing deliverables.
  • Participate in the team’s economic and industry forecasting efforts including forecast model construction and maintenance.
  • Provide general research support for special reports and ad-hoc requests.
  • Aggregate third-party research and update other team members through verbal and written summaries.
  • This position is project focused and typically requires managing multiple projects and priorities within strict time constraints.
  • Develop and maintain relationships with internal Visa stakeholders and partners.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

  • 2 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD, or PhD)

Preferred Qualifications

  • 3 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or more than 2 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD)
  • Graduate degree in economics or an undergraduate degree with a Certified Business Economist (CBE) designation required.
  • Strong interest in economics with knowledge attained through coursework, individual study or prior work experience.
  • Advanced problem solving skills and basic understanding of econometrics is required. Experience constructing time series economic forecast models would be a plus.
  • Previous experience conducting applied economic research using AI tools including Copilot, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc. required. Experience building AI agents to streamline research and data analysis would be a plus.
  • Intellectual curiosity and willingness to learn or expand knowledge of the payments industry and financial services.
  • Self-starter with the ability to manage priorities and adapt as required to a fast-paced work environment.
  • Ability to work effectively in a team environment as well as independently.
  • Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word required.
  • Experience using statistical software such as EViews, STATA, SPSS or SAS; functional knowledge and experience with S&P Global DataInsight Desktop, Haver Analytics and Bloomberg would be a plus.
  • Prior experience using Tableau visualization software and/or large data applications (SQL, Hadoop, etc.) would be a plus.

U.S. Applicants Only

The estimated salary range for this position is $123,000.00 to $ 190,900.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity.Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.

Work Hours

Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements

This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements

This position will be performed in an office setting. The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa is an EEO Employer

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protect veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.