BlockScience is seeking an economics and mechanism design engineer to engage in both client-based projects and research initiatives, under the supervision and direction of one or more Senior/Staff engineers. Responsibilities include interfacing with the client, deriving an understanding of the client problem space, formulating solution requirements, assisting in solution mechanism design from the economics perspective, and assisting in the implementation (where required) of the solution mechanism in a computational environment.
Core Competencies
The engineer will serve as part of an interdisciplinary team applying scientific principles to discover, analyze, and design complex socio-technical and economic systems meeting high level descriptive goals, using tools from an array of disciplines from multi-agent control to mechanism design. To that end, core competencies within the position include the ability to understand and apply:
Incentive Design
Market Design
Deterministic and Stochastic Optimization and Optimal Control
Discrete Time Dynamical Systems
Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Analysis
Position Type
The type of employment position is dependent upon qualifications, experience and applicant preferences, and may be one of:
Full time
Part time
Post-doctorate
Technical Background
The engineer will have proficiency in:
Single variable and multivariate calculus
Probability theory and stochastic processes
Linear algebra
Differential equations (difference equations an advantage)
Static and dynamic optimization (e.g. dynamic programming, calculus of variations, Lagrangian/Hamiltonian formulation)
Computer programming (python an advantage)
LaTeX mathematical typesetting language
Communication (written and verbal) in English
Collaborative technologies an advantage (e.g. GitHub)
Subject Matter Background
The engineer will have familiarity with at least two of
Intermediate price theory
Auction theory
Contract theory
Monetary economics
Risk analysis
Model-based systems engineering
Financial engineering
Agent-based modeling
Learning paradigms (e.g. reinforcement learning)
Application Requirements:
Curriculum Vitae
Letter(s) of Reference an advantage but not required
Cover Letter (within body of application email is fine)
BlockScience is a complex systems engineering, research and development, and analytics firm focused on the development and governance of safe, ethical, and resilient socio-technical systems. Sourcing insight and expertise on technology, economics, and governance from a diverse, interdisciplinary, and international community of scientists and engineers, we provide services to a wide range of clients, including for-profit, non-profit, academic, and government organizations, and contribute to open-source projects and academic literature. We have done extensive research and contributed to a wide variety of projects related to model-based systems engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning, operations research, market design, network science, distributed systems, and modeling and simulation. We bring unique value to our client projects and research contributions by leveraging insights from our partner communities of practice and focusing on reliable engineering in spaces dominated by disruptive technologies.