Machine Learning Engineer
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Protect Democracy seeks a highly motivated Machine Learning Engineer with experience working at the intersection of research and production systems to join our VoteShield project team. VoteShield’s platform uses machine learning and anomaly detection to support election officials in their quest to maintain complete and accurate voter data in order to ensure free and fair elections for all qualified voters. In this role you will be responsible for staying up to date on the cutting edge of anomaly detection research, conducting applied anomaly detection research with our rich dataset, and applying your findings to build solutions in production environments.
The ideal candidate will have a desire to learn more about how elections work in the USA and the ability to reason from first principles about how modern anomaly detection techniques should apply to voter registration databases. You bring an interest in civic data, commitment to non-partisan analysis, and passion for defending and strengthening our democracy through free and fair elections.
You can work from any location in the United States, and candidates from diverse backgrounds and from across the political and ideological spectrum are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Machine Learning Engineer will:
- Contribute to applied research on anomaly detection and present results in conference publications
- Integrate research findings into VoteShield’s anomaly detection system
- Work closely with Director of Engineering and senior research staff to define anomaly detection projects
- Build features to support the ETL and data analysis pipelines
- Ship production code
- Interface with other stakeholders at organization who have requests regarding the machine learning systems we run
- Refine existing anomaly detection techniques to increase efficacy and usability
- Make architectural decisions about database schemas as they relate to the needs of the anomaly detection system
Requirements
- Deep understanding of modern machine learning techniques
- Python programming experience in a production environment
- Experience using version control collaboratively on a team (git)
- Experience with relational databases and constructing queries
- Ability to use techniques described in publications to build production code
- Ability to reason about practical machine learning problems e.g. hyperparameter optimization, model selection
- Comfortable with self-directed research
- Interest in elections and civic tech
Pluses, but not required
- Deep understanding of anomaly detection techniques
- Ability to reason about computational complexity
- Experience with ETL job orchestration solutions e.g. Apache Airflow, AWS step functions, Luigi
- Experience working with big data tooling e.g. Redshift, Snowflake, Spark, Hadoop
- Experience with Docker
- Experience with AWS or Google Cloud
- Experience programming web applications
- Experience working in a research environment (w/ publications to show for it etc.)
- C/C++ programming experience
About Protect Democracy
- Open to applicants from all over the country. Location requirements are flexible. The only requirement is that your location be one that allows you to complete the demands of the position and mission. We currently have staff in Washington, DC, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, California, and elsewhere around the country. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we offered shared workspaces in those locations for staff members who enjoy working in an office environment, and we are reopening our workspaces in line with current guidance.
- Commitment to a diverse workplace. Protect Democracy is an equal opportunity employer. Our culture principles emphasize that there is strength in diversity as we believe diverse teams are more innovative, creative, and productive. Protect Democracy encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.
- Competitive pay and phenomenal benefits. This position is full-time and offers a salary and benefits commensurate with experience and designed to be at the leading edge of competitiveness for the social justice and non-profit sector. While we cannot match for-profit sector salaries, our staff generally make more than typical nonprofit salaries. And our benefits package is equivalent to the most competitive for-profit firms. Our intent is that finance not be a bar to people who want to do this work on the theory that paying for top talent will result in greater impact towards our mission. In addition to a competitive salary, our benefits package includes three months of paid parental leave, a 401(k) plan in which we match employee contributions dollar for dollar up to 6% of salary, and full coverage for an excellent health care plan.
- Ample opportunities for personal & professional development. Candidates who do not meet all listed criteria should still apply, as our organizational structure focuses on providing mentorship and opportunities for professional growth.
To apply for this position, please fill out the application here and upload your resume and cover letter as a single PDF. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Please contact hiring@protectdemocracy.org if you require accommodations at any point in the application process.