Public data start-up hiring Research Manager

[mi...@vigilant.cc]

About Vigilant:

Vigilant is helping users make better-informed decisions and more deeply understand the world through our platform for real-time search and monitoring of thousands of public records data sets. Have you always imagined being able to search all the public data sources you needed, in seconds? That’s Vigilant.

Our team is a mix of technologists and developers, open data geeks, and folks with a political research background. If you’re interested in helping build cool and important tools on top of public data, we’re your folks. You’ll get to work with a team that has a deep background in political research, but has a broader base of experiences and skills as well.

We value a deep commitment to learning and growth, tenacity, collaborative and direct communication, diverse opinions, humility, and deep-seated empathy for – and interest in – the needs of our users.

We work with mission-aligned organizations to support the research work they do. Since getting started last year we’ve worked with a range of progressive campaigns and organizations, including Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, NextGen, Everytown for Gun Safety and others. Our customer base runs the gamut from campaigns and advocacy groups, to non-profits, finance, legal services and media.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We value diverse opinions, backgrounds and experiences, and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

About the Role (Research Manager):

We’re looking for someone with a background in political opposition research and/or investigative journalism to join our small but growing team. What that mainly means is you have experience digging into and leveraging public records data – you likely know the difference between Schedule A and Schedule C on an FEC report, for example.

The role will mix product development support (i.e. helping our engineering team accurately extract the right data, or making the sure the right data is delivered in the right way to users), and investigative work, leveraging our data sets to tell stories that highlight their value.

This isn’t an entry level job – we’re expecting that you’ll come at it having done a professional research or investigative role for 2-3 years. You could probably be an RD or deputy on a big race at this point in your career, but you might be interested in taking a different path and you’re excited about what we’re building (even if you just want to check it out and get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!).

We’re looking for a team member with:

2 + years professional experience in political campaigns and public records research, journalism with an investigative bent, or similar.

A passion for public records and open data, and the ways technology can be leveraged to support transparency.

Who is a hustler, a team player, and an open and clear communicator.

Who writes clearly and effectively across different types of content (blogs, reports, training materials, etc.)

This position is based in New York City. If this sounds like it might be a fit for you, please send a brief cover letter, resume, and 2 references to hir...@vigilant.cc