Catalist Director of Analytics

[mamara...@catalist.us]

DIRECTOR OF ANALYTICS

For nearly 15 years, Catalist has been a leader in civic data and data science innovation. Our mission is to provide progressive organizations with the data, software, and services needed to better identify, understand, and communicate with the people they need to engage and mobilize. Our clients include the largest, most influential organizations in the U.S. active in civic engagement, advocacy, and political campaigns.

Catalist is home to a dedicated, creative team of technologists, data scientists, and campaign experts committed to using our talents and technology to nurture a vibrant and growing progressive community. 

The Catalist Analytics department supports data-driven progressive organizations that boost civic participation and run successful electoral programs. We develop new statistical methods for solving unique problems associated with systematic missing data, latent variable detection, supervised modeling, and unsupervised modeling. 

As the Director of Analytics you’ll help shape and manage an ambitious progressive research and development agenda. You will investigate the most effective tools and methods to identify universes for voter contact programs, assemble coalitions for long-term electoral victory, adapt to a fractured and siloed media environment, and more. The depth of Catalist’s data allows us to answer questions others cannot tackle – we have over a decade of voter files, mountains of historical election results, tons of survey research, a whole host of other data, and it’s all organized and ready for analysis. 

The Director of Analytics reports directly to the CEO and manages a team of 5-8 analysts and data scientists. You'll work closely with members of the data, product management, client services, and technology teams. You will also help Catalist recruit and develop new talent, shape Catalist’s culture, and support our continuing effort to make progressive data and the progressive data community more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible. We take our individual and collective responsibility on these fronts seriously and want to make sure that the next Director of Analytics can help realize these goals. 

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

• Hiring and Staff Development: This is a management position, and we take seriously the role that senior leadership plays in recruitment, growth, and retention of staff. Finding and developing staff with a diversity of personal and professional backgrounds and with varied experiences is an essential part of the position.
• Being a partner and strategist with the progressive community: Making sure that we fully understand the needs of the organizations that are executing program, distilling these needs into discrete projects, and shaping a strategy from these projects that meets both current and future needs for our clients and our community.
  
• Being a strong teammate and internal communicator: The analytics department works closely with all the other departments – most of the core Catalist products start off as prototypes coming out of analytics. You will play a central role in facilitating cross-departmental success and preserving the fidelity of the work as it moves from prototype to product.
  
• Being a skilled and nimble analyst: This is a management position, but in light of the technical nature of the work conducted within the department it is important that you have a background in data science, modeling, survey work, or similar fields. You’ll need to guide and develop members of your team and effectively communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences. 

Skills & Experience:

• Team Management Experience: We recognize that the skills required to be a great analyst or data scientist are different than the skills required to effectively manage those people. While it’s not a requirement that you’ve led a team of analysts in the past, we want to know that you have managed a team and been responsible for someone else’s technical work.
  
• Project Management Experience. Our analytics department works on short and long-term projects, many of which have multiple phases dependent on progress by internal and external stakeholders. A demonstrated history managing multiple projects and resources concurrently is essential. Experience working with hard deadlines is critical.
• Domain experience: It’s not a requirement that you have experience in progressive politics or advocacy, though that experience will make transitioning into this role easier. If you haven’t worked in progressive politics or advocacy, we’re looking for broad industry experience that demonstrates familiarity with managing analysts and research. If you’re coming out of progressive politics or advocacy, that will be all the domain experience you need.
  
• Technical experience: While you don’t need to be a full stack developer to succeed in this role, you will be deeply involved in shaping the technical agenda of the team, including weighing priorities and complexity of projects. The ideal candidate will have experience building models, conducting technical analyses, and presenting detailed research results to stakeholders. 
• Education: There are no formal educational requirements for this position, but you will be engaging in highly technical work, so we recommend a working familiarity with statistical methods used in political campaigns.

Salary:

This is a full-time job, located in Washington, DC. Catalist is currently working remotely due to the pandemic. Compensation will range from $120,000-$140,000 per year, commensurate with experience. Catalist offers a strong benefits package, detailed below.  

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to jo...@catalist.us with the subject line “Director of Analytics.”

BENEFITS

Medical, Dental, Vision, and Prescription Drug coverage

Catalist offers comprehensive PPO medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage. Coverage for eligible staff begins the first of the month following the date of hire.   

Group Term Life Insurance & Long Term Disability

Group Term Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability Coverage is available for eligible full-time employees  provided at no cost to Catalist’s employees. Enrollment will occur automatically on the 1st of the month following your date of employment. 

Betterment 401(k) Safe Harbor Plan

The Betterment 401(k) Safe Harbor Plan is available to all full-time employees from date of hire. Employees may contribute pre-tax or post-tax from their salary up the legal limit set forth by the IRS.

• Employer Contribution: All participants are eligible for this contribution.
• Catalist, LLC will contribute up to 3% of your compensation into the plan for each eligible participant.
• Catalist, LLC 401(k) plan allows qualified employees to enroll on their first day of work.

Transit Benefits

Catalist, LLC also makes available Transit Benefits to its employees. These benefits allow you to have funds deducted on a pre-tax basis from your gross salary amount to pay for Transit.  

Student Loan PayDown or SaveUp

Catalist is pleased to offer a Student Loan PayDown and College SaveUp benefit. We have partnered with Gradifi to make direct contributions to either your student loans or 529 college savings plan. You get to choose which one will be most impactful to you!

Professional Development Benefit

All Catalist employees are eligible for an Individual Development Budget of $750 per calendar year. We have seen, and want to recognize, the immense interest Catalist staff has demonstrated in expanding knowledge and improving skills. We are committed to your professional development and are excited to support this benefit for our staff.

Personal Leave & Vacation

Catalist offers vacation benefits to all full-time, permanent staff. During the first year of employment, employees will accrue one vacation day per calendar month. Employees are eligible to take vacation leave after the initial ninety days of employment. At the beginning of the second year of employment, employees will be issued fifteen days of vacation per employment year. In addition to vacation, each employee will be allowed three personal days per calendar year, to be used as needed, but no more than one personal day may be used in any calendar month unless approved in advance by a supervisor. Personal leave may be used for medical appointments scheduled during work hours. 

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Catalist commits to fostering a culture of equity, inclusion, and accessibility and to serving the community by finding strength in our diversity. We commit to data as a force for good in the world, where we use data to tell stories, effect change, and have a positive impact in the progressive community. As part of our commitment, our Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility committee focuses on four key areas: Data, Talent, Language, and Training & Education. This work consistently improves our data, communication, and company culture and also benefits the larger progressive data ecosystem.

Catalist, LLC (Catalist or Company) is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity, family responsibilities, disability, veteran's status, or any basis prohibited by the law. This policy covers all programs, services, policies, and procedures of the Company, including opportunity for employment and treatment as a Company employee.

No recruiters or agencies. Direct hires only.