Data Pod Director

Position: Data Pod Director

Program: DigiDems

Reports to: DigiDems Deputy Director, Electoral Program

Location: Remote in the United States (Washington, D.C. preferred)

Status: Exempt, Full-Time

Term: November 2023 - December 2024

Salary: $105,000 annual equivalent ($8,750 monthly)

Benefits: Health, Dental, Vision, Unlimited PTO, Tech Stipend and 401k for eligible employees

ABOUT US

The races that make majorities are won or lost by increasingly small margins, and tech can make the difference. DigiDems provides funding, expertise, and essential tech resources to keep Democrats competitive in the nation’s toughest races. 

Since our founding in 2018, DigiDems has recruited, trained, and placed over 200 full-time technologists (Campaign DigiDems) on critical races across the country to assist with data, tech, and digital work. Beyond bringing new tech skills into the Democratic ecosystem, the DigiDems program also focuses on diversifying the Democratic labor pool by placing an emphasis on recruiting and developing high-potential talent from marginalized groups. 

In 2024, we’re placing full-time technologists on the races that will determine control of the White House, Senate, and House. 

POSITION SUMMARY

DigiDems is currently seeking a Data Pod Director to join our diverse and high performing team for the 2024 election cycle. 

Reporting to the Deputy Director of the DigiDems Electoral Program, the Data Pod Director is responsible for hiring, placing, training, and supporting a pod of Campaign DigiDems (CDDs) embedded on an assigned set of key federal campaigns. To do this, the Data Pod Director will: 

• Build strong relationships with assigned campaigns to understand their needs and how an embedded Campaign DigiDem can help execute program plans, then provide regular and supportive customer service to those campaigns through the duration of their CDD’s deployment 

• Participate in a hiring process that will identify high-potential individuals with data management and reporting skills who could be great additions to the Democratic campaign space, even if they’ve never worked on a campaign before 

• Coordinate closely with key program partner organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Democratic National Committee (DNC), and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) to align on guidance and training our program provides to Campaign DigiDems on individual races 

• Provide ongoing support for Campaign DigiDems once deployed to their campaigns, help them navigate a new work environment, build trust with their teams, and develop meaningful portfolios of high-impact work 

• Set up Campaign DigiDems for success as they take their next steps towards developing a career in the Democratic campaign ecosystem 

This is a great opportunity for someone who is an expert on executing data strategy on federal campaigns, is passionate about coaching and developing high-potential talent, and eager to help diversify the campaign space – all while helping key races that will determine control of the House, Senate, and White House. 

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES 

Engaging with campaigns and partners

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with Congressional, Senate, and/or Coordinated campaigns to support the integration of the Campaign DigiDem (CDD) onto their assigned campaign

• Hold regular check-in meetings with CDDs and campaign contacts to ensure strong integration and satisfaction, for both CDDs and their campaign 

• Collaborate closely with key national partners (DCCC, DNC, etc.) to ensure our programming is aligned with their goals, priorities, and processes 

Identifying, supporting and developing high-impact talent

• Play a key role in the interviewing, hiring, matching, and onboarding 2024 DigiDems Cohort

• Serve as the primary DigiDems HQ point of contact for CDDs as they integrate with their campaigns and establish personal portfolios of high impact work  

• Develop in-person and virtual training curriculums to provide CDDs with technical and strategic support as they execute data programming. These could include maintaining voter file systems, data integrity, reporting and data visualization, building automations and integrations etc. — depending on each campaign’s individual needs.  

Supporting overall program planning and execution 

• Work closely with other Pod Directors to identify and understand themes, common challenges, and areas for further impact across campaigns

• Work with Deputy Program Director and Training team to design and lead in-person and virtual training sessions for CDDs

Coaching on career pathing and development

• From onboarding to their final day with DigiDems and beyond, engaging actively and purposefully with CDDs to plan for their post-DigiDems career in Democratic campaigns 

THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT MUST DEMONSTRATE THE FOLLOWING EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

• Multiple cycles of experience as a full-time data staffer on a political campaign at the Congressional level or higher, with a strong understanding of campaign structure, operations, and lifestyle 

• At least one cycle of staff management experience on a campaign or advocacy organization, experience with remote management is even better

• First-hand experience executing campaign data programs with the following tools:

• Voter file systems including NGP VAN (VoteBuilder), PDI, etc.

• Data warehousing tools like Civis, Phoenix or Portal

• Programming language for data management like SQL, Python, R, etc.

• Data visualization platforms like Google Data Studio, Tableau, etc.

• Spreadsheet applications including Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets

• Knowledge of the general Democratic Party data infrastructure such enforcing national data standards and maintaining data integrity as well as how the DNC and state parties interplay Civis, DDx, etc. Experience with Phoenix (BigQuery) and its schema structure

• High level of emotional intelligence with a proven track of record of building strong relationships with direct reports, teammates, supervisors, and partners 

• Ability to adapt and self-motivate frequently (“figure out what to do” will always be part of both your role and the role of the DigiDems)

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

• Commitment to recruiting and developing talent that may be brand new to the campaign space 

• Comfortable in a hyper-paced and exciting values-based work environment, with tight deadlines and even higher stakes!

THE MOST COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS WILL DEMONSTRATE SOME OF THE FOLLOWING EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

• Experience as a Deputy Data Director or higher, and/or managing data programs on a Congressional or statewide campaign

• Great diagnostic and debugging skills—the ability to work remotely with less technical individuals to diagnose and resolve technical problems

• Experience developing a training curriculum and leading in-person and webinar-based training

• Hiring experience for political campaigns or organizations

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary for this position is $8,750 monthly or $105,000 annual equivalent.

Zinc Collective provides the option of enrolling in medical, dental, and vision coverage plans for both the primary employee and applicable dependents. In addition, we provide a generous PTO policy, Tech Stipend and the ability to contribute to a 401k, with a match, after 6 months of employment. 

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit your resume online at the Zinc Collective job board or by using the apply link on this post. Only applications submitted through this process will be considered. Please do not include a cover letter as those will not be reviewed or factored into consideration. The deadline to apply is 2:00pmET 10/13/23 and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Additional writing assignments, skills assessments, and references may be requested during the interview process. 

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at jobs@zinccollective.com.

All employees are required to receive a CDC-approved vaccination against COVID-19 (including any eligible boosters) unless a reasonable accommodation is approved. Employees not in compliance with this policy may be required to wear face coverings when in the office or otherwise interacting with employees or other stakeholders.

DigiDems, Blue Leadership Collaborative, and Zinc Collective provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, hair texture, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws, and strongly encourages women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and all qualified candidates to apply. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.