Data Scientist

Protect Democracy•Dc, WA

25d•Remote

About The Position

VoteShield (a project of Protect Democracy) seeks a highly motivated and civic-minded Data Scientist to join our growing team. VoteShield supports election officials in maintaining complete and accurate voter data in order to protect free and fair elections for all qualified voters. As a member of this world-class analysis and engineering team, you will analyze public voter registration data, work with election administrators, support Protect Democracy on a variety of data projects, and grow your technical skills. This position is remote based in the US. Ideal candidates will be critical thinkers with a command of data analysis techniques and the ability to distill findings into clear, accessible reports, presentations, and other data tools. We are seeking people who bring an interest in civic data, commitment to non-partisanship, and passion for defending and strengthening our democracy through free and fair elections. At Protect Democracy, we bring an integrated advocacy approach to solving issues facing U.S. democracy. As a part of our integrated advocacy approach, our data scientists conduct analyses that support our mission alongside legal and policy experts, organizers, and communications strategists. Together, we run novel data experiments that address a range of critical pro-democracy use cases, from enhancing the security and confidence in our elections to making federal spending more transparent and accountable, to informing and inspiring advocacy for proportional representation. We do not expect that any one candidate will have all of the experiences and requirements listed — our current data science team comes from a variety of professional backgrounds, including academia and the public and private sectors. We highly encourage you to apply if the job description gets you excited about the role and the work of Protect Democracy & VoteShield.

Requirements

Interest in public or civic data and commitment to data-driven and non-partisan analysis
Ability to communicate a clear story with data, both in writing and presenting, that describes the context, insights, conclusions, and open questions
Proficiency in Python
A relevant bachelors degree, or equivalent experience
Growth mindset and comfortability with an open and transparent culture that values feedback up, down and sideways
Excellent critical thinking skills, demonstrated by enthusiasm for investigating novel problems and exercising sound judgment about how to get to optimal solutions
Rigorous attention to detail and the highest standards for excellence in execution
Ability to track, prioritize, and, where necessary, triage work in order to use time in the most efficient and productive way
Comfort working with small teams, proactively working to build the organizational culture and figure out what’s needed to move your work forward

Nice To Haves

Experience in social science research
Knowledge of public policy and/or political science
Experience with election administration or voting data

Responsibilities

Review and analyze changes in public voter registration data and absentee ballot data in order to provide election officials with timely insights and answers to data questions
Write and present data reports that are accessible to the team, partners, and election administrators
Conduct legal/policy research as needed to provide context for your reports
Contribute to research that utilizes VoteShield’s unique datasets and skills to assess election administration policies
Partner with colleagues across Protect Democracy to enhance their work with data analyses, custom tools, automation, and more
Expand and enrich our current data with external datasets
Create, refine, and document your standards for reporting, and compare and collaborate to develop best practices for the team
Build and maintain relationships with current and prospective partners in the election community