Overview

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is hiring a Data Science Lead to work with the Data Director to ensure the DNC is efficient, and is also working with all Democrats to share results and lessons learned. The Data Science Lead, as well as the Democratic Tech team as a whole, will work closely with candidates, parties, and constituents to make what we do efficient and effective. Our mission: optimize the future of our country. Our need: you.

Come join us. We are about to change everything.

Who we are and who we want to be

The Democratic Tech team is a small and diverse team that understands the power of technology to help accelerate change, and our mission is to secure the future of our country. Our team already powers the technology that candidates and organizers use in all 3,413 counties and all 50 states across the United States — but we’re hiring engineers, researchers, product managers, designers, security experts, IT professionals, and data scientists who can bring the philosophies of user-centered design and rapid iteration, as well as world-class tools and experiences, to this work. We must build rock-solid infrastructure and tools to enable state parties to support their candidates and voters, and amplify the progressive message. This team is responsible for driving the Democratic party forward with technology.

The team’s goals are to:

  • Understand the needs of Democratic candidates, state parties, and constituents, and make a measurable impact on their ability to execute.
  • Make available secure and foundational technology for all Democratic candidates so they can harness world-class data analytics, run grassroots organizing and voter empowerment programs, raise money, and use cutting-edge technology to get their messages out.
  • Provide tools to Democratic voters and the American people who want to make an impact for the Democratic party and our country.
  • Build an ecosystem of progressive technology by partnering with other enthusiastic companies and organizations, and creating connections and opportunities for us to amplify each other.
  • Change the culture of the Democratic party to be one around rapid iteration and moving quickly.

To that end, we will be working on everything from data to voter registration and volunteer mobilization, engaging the American people directly, as well as helping Democratic campaigns do the same (e.g. through training).

About this job

The Data Science Lead works with the Data Director and is concerned both with the near-term operational efficiency of the DNC, state parties, and various candidates, and with the long-range development of game-changing products. The overriding goal is to provide lift in the field for state parties and candidates.

Internally, you will lead a team focused on developing analytics products. Major (but not exhaustive) areas of work include building predictive models to inform resource allocation, designing and analyzing experiments for the DNC and other groups, and online panel and phone survey methodology. Externally, you will work with state parties and candidates to help them leverage those analytics products and promote their adoption.

You will work with other teams around the DNC as well as around the country. We strongly believe that sometimes the best work is the work we can avoid needing to do — as they say, working smarter, not harder.

Why should you take up this challenge?

  • You and your team will be able to work on fascinating problems: developing survey methodology for the post-phone era, figuring out the determinants of voter turnout, and learning how to integrate social media data into a major political party’s field program. You’ll never stop learning, and you’ll certainly have stories to tell.
  • You’ll get to work with, and hire, amazing people. We’re building a diverse team from a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and walks of life. You’ll get to work with engineers, organizers, campaign managers, volunteer coordinators, communication experts, and numerous others — we’re finding ways to celebrate our differences and use them to make our team better; and
  • Last, but certainly not least, you’ll be in a high-leverage position. Rather than publishing papers or improving one organization’s operations, you’ll be able to help the entire Democratic Party work better.

However, to be forthright:

  • We’ve done a lot of budget hacking to get competitive when it comes to salaries. We know we can’t beat Google, Facebook, and others, but we’re not too far off.
  • We’re doing something aggressive. We know we are following a non-traditional path and are not in the private sector. We won’t let this hold us back, but, there are different realities when it comes to fundraising and schedules (e.g. elections are immovable dates).
  • We have a ton of legacy systems, and this is not a “build everything from the ground up” position. We need to take stock and plot a path forward given what we have.

What we’re looking for:

  • We are currently looking for a Data Science Lead to join the D-Tech Data team. We need someone who can do feature selection in their sleep but also communicate well with non-technical audiences. You have high emotional intelligence, value elegant solutions, are pragmatic, and are a stickler for good documentation. You do not need experience in politics or civic tech to apply.
  • We are looking for someone who is passionate about statistics and process automation and how the combination of the two can provide decisive edges to our candidates and state parties. Those people are and have
  • A strong background in statistics, especially its application in i) predictive modeling, ii) experimental design, and iii) survey methodology;
  • A keen understanding of the importance of process automation and reusable tools to a data science team (having engineering skills or experience in this area yourself is a significant plus);
  • A vision for how technical disciplines can improve the effectiveness of candidates and state parties, and the ability to communicate that vision — to field organizers, statisticians, candidates, and computer scientists;
  • A passion for documentation, knowledge sharing, and process engineering: coworkers should be able to learn from each other and avoid repeating mistakes.

We also love people who have:

  • Previous experience managing people;
  • A desire to collaborate and work closely with cross-functional partners;
  • A natural curiosity and humility to the way you approach your work;
  • A desire to change politics for the better, support the Democratic Party, and optimize the future of our country.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC), is committed to diversity among its staff, and recognizes that its continued success requires the highest commitment to obtaining and retaining a diverse staff that provides the best quality services to supporters and constituents. The DNC is an equal opportunity employer and it is our policy to recruit, hire, train, promote and administer any and all personnel actions without regard to sex, race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity or expression, ethnic identity or disability, or any other legally protected basis. The DNC is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities in the hiring process and on the job, as required by applicable law. The DNC will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination and any such conduct is strictly prohibited.