Computational Social Science Assistant

Position Summary

The Computational Social Science Assistant works with other staff at Data Labs to produce original research that expands on the work of the Pew Research Center using new methods, data sources and tools. The primary responsibilities of the role include: writing data collection scripts and analysis code for a wide variety of data sources; reviewing code written by other team members and fact-checking our publications; and helping to build and evaluate machine learning models.

The ideal candidate will have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science or in the social sciences with strong quantitative training. But we are open to all educational backgrounds.

This position reports to the Associate Director of Data Labs.

Primary Responsibilities

• Executes well-defined data collection and analysis tasks under the guidance of more senior researchers.
• Writes code that is clear, well documented and follows the team’s best practices for analysis and development.
• Thoroughly reviews the team’s published products – as well as the code that produced them – for accuracy and clarity.

Education/Training/Experience

• Demonstrated experience writing production-level data collection and analysis code, preferably for data science or other social science research projects.
• BA preferred.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

• Experience programming with standard statistical tools, particularly Python and R
• Some familiarity with git and GitHub, SQL, CLI tools and machine learning models preferred.
• Ability to work collaboratively and collegially with other team members.
• Highly organized, able to balance multiple projects under deadlines while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.
• Intellectual curiosity

FLSA Status: Non-exempt

A Computational Social Science Assistant position typically starts at $70,200. 

Location

Pew Research Center staff are required to be present in the Center’s Washington, D.C., office two core days weekly (Tuesday, Wednesday). Staff may work virtually from remote locations on other days in a typical work week. 

Application Procedure

Click on the Apply button and complete the required fields. Both cover letter and resume are required.

When requested, please upload a copy of your resume/cv, as well as a copy of your cover letter in the section labeled Resume/Cover Letter. If the documents have successfully uploaded, you should see 2 attached files beneath the “Drop files here” box. Please make sure you have uploaded a resume AND a cover letter before moving on to the next page.