[jobsthatareLEFT by GAIN] The Voter Participation Center is Seeking a Data Scientist

February 18, 2020

[jobsthatareLEFT by GAIN] The Voter Participation Center is Seeking a Data Scientist

Position: Data Scientist/Senior Data Scientist

 

Who we are: For the last 17 years, the Voter Participation Center (VPC), a 501(c)(3) civic engagement organization, has led the way in recognizing and harnessing the potential power of the Rising American Electorate (RAE) – unmarried women, people of color, and young people – as a vital voting bloc. VPC has positioned itself as the leading experimental and scientific civic engagement organization by accumulating more than a decade's worth of knowledge and experience in registering and turning out the new majority of eligible voters. VPC's programs have consistently proven to be some of the most impactful and cost-effective programs—and to date VPC has registered almost 4 million Americans to vote. VPC continues to innovate with its approach and techniques to impact greater civic engagement, registration, and turnout. VPC's approach to programs incorporates a rigorous approach to data analysis, incorporating randomized trials, and other methods and technologies to determine effect. 

 

The Center for Voter Information (CVI) is a separate but affiliated progressive 501(c)(4) nonprofit that works to engage and persuade both the RAE as well as the broader electorate. CVI also engages in rigorous work to determine net effect and uses other technologies to determine the goals reached in each of its program areas. 


Position Overview: VPC/CVI seeks either a Data Scientist or Senior Data Scientist (depending on level of experience) who will be at the forefront of VPC/CVI's effort to expand its analytics and research capabilities by utilizing the latest data science applications to solve some of the toughest challenges in the civic engagement space. The data scientist will take a leading role in improving VPC/CVI's data processing and analytics work, such as evaluating the quality of data sources and tools, applying statistical methods to generate actionable insights, and building machine learning models to refine program targeting. The data scientist will work on a broad range of statistical, AI/ML, and business intelligence solutions to elevate the impact of VPC/CVI programs. 


An ideal candidate has deep passion for increasing voter participation among underrepresented constituencies, and is a collaborator who thrives in a team environment and takes ownership of the work. They will also actively contribute to improving processes, workflows, and communication.


This position reports to the Director of Data and Analytics.


Specific Duties: 

  • Draw actionable insights from past program and external data by formulating research questions, testing hypotheses, and determining solutions with statistical/ML tools 

  • Evaluate the quality of alternative data sources, model scores, and matching algorithms

  • Design, develop, test, deploy AI/ML models that improve program impact and cost-effectiveness

  • Take ownership of the entire data science project lifecycle

  • Develop metrics on key program performance drivers and trends for standardized reporting

  • Proactively identify new data sources and analytics opportunities

  • Develop and maintain documentation for the analytics team's workflow and code

  • Help teammates troubleshoot their SQL and Python code and provide training on those skills

  • Effectively communicate results with teammates and external partners using data visualizations and presentations tools

  • Support the adoption of industry best practices for data science and analytics


Skills and Qualifications 


Must-Haves: 

  • Proficiency in: 

    • Statistical inferences (probabilities, hypothesis testing, effect estimate, power analysis, regressions, etc)

    • Machine learning techniques (supervised and unsupervised learning, NLP, etc)

    • Every stage of the data science lifecycle, including data mining, cleaning, exploration, feature engineering, modeling, evaluation, optimization, and visualization

    • Python or R and their corresponding ML libraries (Scikit-learn, XGBoost, PyTorch, etc) and visualization libraries (Seaborn, Plotly, etc)

    • SQL for data querying and processing

    • UNIX shell scripting (Bash/Zsh)

    • Version control (Git and Github)

  • Strong track record of bringing industry-standard predictive models to production

  • Solid understanding of distributed storage and big data computing frameworks (Cassandra, Hadoop, Spark)

  • Solid understanding of cloud-based (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, etc) computing resources and infrastructure

  • Experience in applying advanced research methods and analyzing/interpreting complex research findings

  • Experience in analyzing household-level or person-level data sets including large numbers of features

  • Extensive track record of writing clear code that is well-documented

  • Demonstrated ability to learn new techniques and troubleshoot code without support; work independently and be a self-starter

  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively in teams, in both a lead and support role

  • Demonstrated ability to coach teammates to improve their skills and teach new skills

  • Effective time management skills, including demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks and projects


Preferred: 

  • Knowledge of randomized control trials, experimental design, and survey research

  • Knowledge of deep learning techniques

  • Experience in data mining using API calls, web scraping, etc

  • Experience in building data pipelines and ETL workflows

  • Experience in object-oriented programming

  • Familiarity with Stata

  • Familiarity with reporting and dashboarding tools such as Tableau and Periscope

  • Experience in or knowledge of large scale voter registration and civic engagement programs

  • Professional experience in commercial direct mailing programs strongly desired


VPC/CVI is open to candidates at either the Data Scientist or Senior Data Scientist level. The annual salary range is $90-100k for the Data Scientist position, and $100-120k for the Senior Data Scientist position--both commensurate with experience. VPC/CVI offers an excellent benefits package, including 100% coverage of healthcare premiums. To apply, email resume, cover letter and at least two professional references to info@voterparticipation.org. References are not contacted until you are notified. 

 

VPC/CVI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We strongly value the leadership of people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and other traditionally marginalized communities, and encourage diverse candidates to apply.

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