Principal Product Economist, Zynga
Poker
$120-183k
Salary applicable to candidates based in CA & IL, dependent on location, may vary in other locations. $114,000 to $160,000 CAD for candidates based in Toronto
Social game developer
Be an early applicant
Social game developer
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$120-183k
Salary applicable to candidates based in CA & IL, dependent on location, may vary in other locations. $114,000 to $160,000 CAD for candidates based in Toronto
1001+ employees
Company mission
To connect the world through games.
Role
Who you are
- Zynga is looking for a strategic, analytical, and hands-on Principal Product Economist with experience in mobile games to join the world’s biggest social poker game!
- 5+ years of experience working on digital games, at least 3+ years focused on economy design
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, strong presentation abilities, and the capacity to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization
- Self-motivated, with the ability to balance multiple projects in parallel while working in a collaborative, agile environment with aggressive deadlines and shifting priorities
- Autodidactic, with the ability to quickly learn new systems and tools, interpret technical specifications, understand feature configurations, and independently explore how game systems and economic models operate
- Skilled at modeling and simulating planned changes, anticipating downstream effects, and adjusting prior to release
- Analytical, detail-oriented, and capable of providing actionable solutions at every stage of the process
- Advanced proficiency in Excel and SQL. Python experience is a plus
- Passion for mobile and/or casino games
What the job involves
- As an economy designer, you will oversee, implement and tune the in-game economy while optimizing user experience
- You will utilize methodologies from economics, behavioral psychology, and business intelligence to strategically design and maintain a healthy free-to-play mobile game economy. The economy systems you will build and manage are core to game progression, reward payouts, and overall game economy balance
- You will lead the conceptualization, modeling, and continuous optimization of the game’s economy - driving player engagement, retention, and monetization through data-informed design and smart experimentation
- Own the live operations economy and collaborate closely with product managers and analysts to define and execute its strategic direction. Act as the point of contact and subject-matter expert on all live operations economic aspects
- Design and implement essential features that create a fun player experience, further the strategic vision of the product, and improve retention, acquisition, and monetization
- Model, simulate, and tune complex economy systems including multiple currencies, sinks, faucets, and progression loops
- Use A/B testing and other analytical methods to validate hypotheses, measure outcomes, and optimize performance
- Proactively identify and improve underperforming systems, leveraging data-driven insights to enhance player experience and revenue
- Develop predictive models and simulations to anticipate player behavior and maintain a stable, scalable economy
- Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure economic systems integrate seamlessly with design, live ops, and monetization initiatives
- Communicate economic insights and design rationales effectively to stakeholders and leadership
- Stay up to date with market trends and perform proactive analyses of economy tuning in relevant competitive products
Our take
Zynga is a games developer that rode Facebook's platform to success back in the late noughties and early 2010's. It is now one of the biggest casual game producers globally, with a presence across over 170 countries and regions and millions of monthly active users.
Though the company hit a number of roadblocks after its initial success - such as falling stock prices, and numerous calls it was copying other games - its subsequent resurgence is proof of its staying power. It continues to use social media as a distribution channel, and boasts titles such as FarmVille, Merge Dragons! and Words With Friends.
Future success will lie in the company's continued investment in building viral games that people love. It will also need to attune to the social media waves and keep track of where users can be found, as the landscape has become more mobile. In 2024 the company announced it was developing push notifications that enable gameplay without entering the application, which will be an interesting addition to its outputs.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
7% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Mar 2011
$490m
SERIES C
Oct 2010
$6.3m
EARLY VC
Total funding: $865.5m
Company benefits
- COMPENSATION - Performance bonuses, opportunities for equity participation & retirement/pension savings support
- HEALTH - Medical, dental & vision covered for employees, with participation for employees eligible dependents, plus disability and life insurance program
- FAMILY - Generous parental leave for birth parents, partners and adoptive families, plus Infertility support, emergency child care and flexible time-off policies
- WELLNESS - Gym benefits, wellness programs, employee assistance programs and generous time-off policies
- FOOD - Food and snacks made in-house or delivered, healthy snack kitchens with drinks and treats, coffee bars, regular social gatherings and happy hours
- WORK & LIFE - Flexible time-off policies (DTO), office rest areas, gaming spaces, employee discounts and more
- TRANSIT BENEFITS - Shuttle service in select locations, commuter/parking benefits, secure bicycle storage, business travel assistance
- RESOURCE GROUPS - Women at Zynga (WAZ), zCares charitable giving, zParents, zEndurance adventure club, BZU, zPride LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Mark Pincus
(Chairman & Co-founder)Previously founder and CEO of Freeloader, Supportsoft and Tribe.net, an early social network
Michael Luxton
(Co-founder)Previously an engineer at NetApp
Salary benchmarks
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