Vote Forward is a nonprofit organization that builds tools to encourage average citizens to register and show up to vote. We work to increase the participation of traditionally under-represented groups in the electorate, and to engage the public at large by supporting the efforts of our volunteers on that project.

We're seeking a Data Scientist to devise, design, conduct, evaluate, and publicize the results of our experimental efforts. The ideal candidate has domain expertise in behavioral science, experience leading randomized trials, deep facility working with and analyzing data, and is an exceptional written and verbal communicator. The Data Scientist will report to the Executive Director.

Since 2018, tens of thousands of grassroots volunteers have used the Vote Forward platform to write hand-written letters to more than three million prospective voters to encourage them to register to vote and turn out for elections. As Data Scientist at Vote Forward, you will help maximize the impact of these efforts over the long term. This is an opportunity to use your technical and scientific skills to have an enormous positive impact on American democracy.

Vote Forward is closely affiliated with Swing Left, a grassroots network of 600,000+ volunteers led by professionals from the tech, media, finance, nonprofit and art worlds in collaboration with veteran political organizers and strategists. Vote Forward staff work with Swing Left on many projects of mutual interest.

What You'll Do

• Articulate and prioritize a thoughtful research agenda to increase the efficacy of our voter registration and voter turnout efforts over the long term.  
• Design and conduct appropriately powered and randomized experiments to test hypotheses about how to maximize the value of the efforts of our volunteers. 
• Measure and evaluate experiments and communicate experimental results and their implications to key stakeholders including colleagues, volunteers, and the public.
• Collaborate with academic and other external partners to amplify and expand our experimental capabilities.

What We're Looking For

• You have data analytics and/or data science experience. You're well-versed in SQL and have extensive experience using R, Python, or an equivalent toolset. 
• You're comfortable collaborating with professional software developers and contributing to a shared repository. You write testable and readable code and practice good software hygiene (testing, commenting, etc.)  
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills. We'll be looking to you both to conduct experiments and to help make their implications clear to a broad audience.
• Strongly preferred but not required: you're familiar with the structure and constraints of voter files sourced from individual states and/or from vendors like TargetSmart or Catalist, and you've worked on or studied elections and voting behavior in the past.
• You ideally have 6+ years of relevant research and/or analytical experience. 
• You have a commitment to our mission of strengthening American democracy.

This is a great opportunity for a data-savvy experimentalist to guide the deployment of significant volunteer and organizational resources to have a big impact on our civic fabric in a crucial period for American democracy. 

Vote Forward provides a competitive salary and benefits package. We are happy to answer any questions you have about our benefits, retirement, parental leave policies and other, similar benefits in interviews. We welcome all applicants regardless of age, citizenship, gender identity or expression, national origin, pregnancy status, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other differences.