The Position

Ballotpedia seeks a 100% remote, full-time Lead Data Engineer to help us expand our elections coverage.

Ballotpedia’s Tech team supports the organization in making high-quality political data and unbiased encyclopedic content available to the American public by improving many aspects of Ballotpedia’s web presence and the behind-the-scenes tools used by staff. This position will be tasked with enhancing our ability to mine and ingest political data and with technical leadership for our software developers, junior data engineers, and data engineering interns.

For example, we are interested in developing interfaces to pair human and computer transformations on messy data sets about candidates seeking election (names, dates, political parties, and similar). We are less interested in analytics at this time and are primarily focused on tools to help us acquire and clean data to be used as public-facing content.

The ultimate goal of this role is to help close the ballot information gap in the U.S., where voters in many locations cannot find 1) who will be on their ballot in upcoming elections and/or 2) robust information about those candidates and what they stand for.

The ideal candidate has at least three years of career experience in data engineering.

Responsibilities

As a Lead Data Engineer, you will:

• Lead data pipeline architecture and software decisions, collaborating with other software and data engineers creating actionable projects for the data team out of department goals.
• Supervise and monitor the work assigned to data engineering team members, ensuring the system is built as architected and designed and meets business goals and objectives as intended. 
• Design, develop, and maintain data pipelines, data mining tools, and user interfaces, optimizing for research and cost efficiencies.
• Champion data governance best practices among the team.

Qualifications and Characteristics

An ideal Lead Data Engineer will:

• Have at least three years of career experience in data engineering.
• Have proven experience with modern database languages and technologies, including SQL and Python.
• Experience with cloud-based technologies, preferably AWS. 
• Be dedicated and willing to work hard to support the mission of Ballotpedia.
• Be humble, seek to improve the rest of the staff's work, and approach projects as a team member.
• Have an unending appetite for learning and mastering new technology.
• Be innovative and willing to take a leadership role within the team.

Environment

The Lead Data Engineer will work remotely from their home location. All Ballotpedia staff work remotely. To join Ballotpedia, you must have a computer with Internet access. Ballotpedia uses Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, and more), Slack, and Asana to accomplish our goals. Some familiarity with Google Workspace, Slack, and Asana is helpful.

Ballotpedia has a flexible work environment, BP Flex, in which every employee enjoys unlimited vacation and flexibility in scheduling. During new employee training, each employee will be oriented to the principles of Ballotpedia’s flexible environment.

Compensation

The starting pay range for the Lead Data Engineer is $95,000-$110,000, commensurate with experience.

In addition to salary, Ballotpedia offers bonuses based on performance and a $8,000 annual benefits stipend, which may be used to pay for a complete benefits package, including health, vision, and dental insurance; retirement accounts; and more. If benefits are not elected, the $8,000 stipend is taxed as regular income and added to salary.

To Apply

To apply, click ‘Apply for this job’ below and complete the form.

Please attach:

• Résumé
• Cover letter detailing your interest in Ballotpedia’s mission and this position

Please ensure that your current address is included in your résumé or cover letter. Applications without addresses will not be accepted.

Please note that if you are hired for this position, Ballotpedia participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, Ballotpedia is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9. For more information on E-Verify, or if you believe that your employer has violated its E-Verify responsibilities, please contact DHS.

About Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia is a mission-driven organization dedicated to providing Americans with accurate, relevant, and reliable information about politics, elections, and public policy. Our goal is to close the ballot information gap and help voters make informed decisions. We value innovation, humility, hunger, and a collaborative spirit and are committed to continuously improving our offerings to better serve our audiences, readers, and candidates.