Director of Data Engineering

Title: Director of Data Engineering - Washington, DC or remote

Department: Data Systems & Analytics

Reports to: Vice President of Data Systems & Analytics

Job Classification: Exempt / Full-time

Organization Description: The Voter Participation Center (VPC) is the nation’s largest non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to registering and mobilizing voters from the New American Majority (NAM) – people of color, unmarried women and young people – who make up the majority of the potential electorate but have been historically underrepresented in political participation and power. Using direct mail, digital and social media outreach, guided by rigorous data science and experimentation, and working closely with a multitude of partner organizations, VPC connects with millions of voters each year, building the foundation for a more representative democracy.

Over 19 years VPC has helped more than 5.6 million people register to vote. In 2020, as COVID-19 shut down most forms of in-person voter contact, VPC helped more than 4.6 million people apply to vote by mail & cast ballots, registered more than 1.6 million people, and assisted millions of voters in voting early and safely to reduce pressures on polling places on Election Day.

VPC programs are flexible, nimble and scalable. VPC is driven by a commitment to constant research, testing, experimentation and evaluation, and thus offers many of the most cost effective, proven, high-impact programs in the civic engagement field.

The Center for Voter Information (CVI) is VPC’s partner organization, and is a separate but affiliated 501(c)4 non-profit that works to engage both the NAM as well as members of the broader electorate who share their values.

Position Overview: VPC and CVI seek a Director of Data Engineering to help build and maintain a new internal data and analytics ecosystem. This person will have extensive experience in software engineering, at all stages of the development lifecycle. They will contribute to the design, development and testing of software tools for data transfer, analytics, and reporting, as well as to the evaluation of vendor tools and services. The candidate will be joining a team that is responsible for bringing many of VPC and CVI’s pipelines, integrations and data tools in-house. The Director of Data Engineering will be expected to communicate extensively with stakeholders and exercise sound judgement in the design and implementation of these systems. An ideal candidate may have built and deployed their own ETL pipeline, and will bring previous experience with automation toolchains and modern deployment infrastructure to the team. Experience with cloud platforms is helpful but not required. This role could be based out of our Washington DC office or be remote.

Primary Responsibilities

Responsibilities Include, but are not limited to:

Designing and implementing data pipelines in SQL and Python
Maintaining data models across a wide variety of data sources
Creating best practices for data standardization and refinement
Mentoring team members in software engineering best practices
Working as part of a team to maintain a well documented, consistent codebase
Communicating with teammates and vendors outside of the analytics team and translating their needs into code
Striving for data practices that include traditionally underrepresented groups in our programs even when faced with potentially biased incoming data sources

Director of Data Engineering Skills and Qualifications:

The ideal Director of Data Engineering candidate will have:

Exceptionally strong communications skills
6+ years of experience in a software engineering role

Or

a bachelor’s degree and 4+ years of experience

Or

an advanced degree and 3+ years of experience

Or

3+ years of software or data engineer experience working with voter files or electoral/campaign organizations
Deep experience in Python
Previous experience with SQL
Comfortability developing in, and for, a POSIX-compliant (Unix-like) environment
Experience taking a software system from design all the way to deployment and maintenance

Nice-To-Haves:

Previous experience with data in politics and/or enhanced voter files
Previous experience in civic engagement, organizing or political campaigns
Deep experience in at least one of the following:
Ansible, Chef, Docker, Puppet, Terraform, or equivalent code-as-infrastructure tool

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $110,000 - $120,000 annually, commensurate with experience. This position is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not eligible for overtime pay. Our comprehensive benefits plan includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees; generous paid time off; access to retirement plan with 3% employer match, and more.

How to Apply

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references. APPLY HERE. The cover letter should be concise, compelling, and include why you would like to work for VPC-CVI. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until a successful candidate is identified. Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply by April 1st, 2022 for early consideration. References are not contacted until you are notified.

VPC-CVI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes people from all backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply. We strongly value the leadership of people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and other traditionally marginalized communities, and encourage candidates from these communities to apply.

We strive to create and maintain a working environment that is inclusive, equitable and welcoming. At VPC-CVI, diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly aligned with the fundamental belief that people are inherently capable but often lack opportunity. We know that a diverse workforce allows us to see problems in more nuanced ways, creating the thought leadership needed to fulfill our mission and reach our goals.

Nonprofit Remote Jobs

Nonprofit Remote Digest - Issue #764