Economists - ML, Industrial Organization or Environmental Economics

Auger is seeking an Economist specializing in ML, Industrial Organization, or Environmental Economics to join their AI Economics Team in Bellevue, WA. The role involves developing causal inference frameworks and economic models for supply chain optimization using AI. Candidates should have a PhD in economics, programming skills in Python, and experience in applied econometrics and ML methods. This position is focused on practical implementation rather than traditional research.
Build at Auger

Auger is the autonomous operating system for supply chains. It connects enterprise supply chain systems—ERP, WMS, TMS—into a single data layer, then uses AI to detect problems, evaluate trade-offs, and execute decisions automatically. The platform eliminates the coordination tax: the time and capital lost when disconnected systems force humans to become the integration layer between planning and execution. Actions that previously required days of meetings and manual coordination happen in seconds, within constraints the customer defines.

Founded by Dave Clark and backed by $100M from Oak HC/FT. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

About The Role

The AI Economics Team at Auger is building an AI and agentic-powered market intelligence system that enables our customers to forecast supply chain risk, optimize sourcing decisions, and respond to global disruptions in real time. We are looking for an Economist to lead the development of causal inference frameworks, policy impact models, and economic scoring systems embedded in our platform.

What You'll Do

You will design the methodology behind core platform capabilities: estimating causal drivers of delivery performance; modeling the cost and carbon impact of tariff policy changes; forecasting input costs as functions of commodity prices, exchange rates, and macroeconomic conditions; and building scenario simulation tools that quantify tradeoffs across cost, risk, and sustainability.

This is not a traditional research economist role. You will work directly with ML engineers to implement your methods in production systems, validate models against real customer data, and iterate based on observed outcomes. Your causal frameworks will inform automated sourcing recommendations, your tariff models will power interactive scenario planning tools, and your carbon accounting methodology will help companies meet important environmental protection goals and regulatory requirements.

We are particularly interested in candidates with backgrounds in industrial organization (firm behavior, market structure, supply networks) and environmental economics (carbon pricing, emissions accounting, regulatory impact analysis). You should be fluent in both applied econometrics (causal methods, bayesian estimation, forecasting) and modern ML methods, and comfortable translating academic rigor into practical systems that operate at scale.We are looking for an Economist to lead the development of causal inference frameworks, policy impact models, and economic scoring systems embedded in our platform.

What You Bring
• PhD in economics, with coursework in econometrics and causal inference
• Experience with causal inference methods with ML: DML or causal forests, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, synthetic control.
• Strong programming skills in Python; comfort working in production codebases
• Ability to translate business questions into well-specified causal or economic frameworks
• Experience with at least one of: policy impact analysis, market structure modeling, carbon/emissions accounting, or trade economics
• Clear written and verbal communication; ability to explain methodology to engineers, product teams, and business stakeholders

Compensation & Benefits

As part of our commitment to People Powered Greatness, we invest in our team members with competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits to support your health, financial future, and daily life. The package includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k) with company match, and commuter benefits. Total compensation may include a combination of a competitive base salary and equity. Your initial placement within our salary range will be based on your experience, qualifications.

The base pay range for this role is $180,000 – $250,000 per year.

Auger considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.