Associate Director, Data Labs

Pew Research Center; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 150,660 - 184,140; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health care

Generous paid leave

Employer-paid disability and life insurance

401(k) contributions

Flexible telework options

Job summary

Pew Research Center is seeking an Associate Director for its Data Labs team in Washington, D.C. The position involves managing junior and mid-level data scientists, guiding research methodologies, and overseeing technical project developments.

The ideal candidate will hold a PhD and possess strong social science research and NLP expertise. Compensation starts at $167,400 annually, with a hybrid work schedule that requires presence in the office three days a week.

Qualifications

• PhD-level research experience or equivalent.
• Experience leading research teams or managing people preferred.
• Deep expertise in applied NLP and model evaluation best practices.

Responsibilities

• Manage team’s junior and mid-level data scientists and their career development.
• Select appropriate methods and project designs for ongoing research efforts.
• Contribute to AI governance and use of LLMs in research processes.

Skills

Technical research project management

Communication and conflict resolution skills

Large data set management

Applied NLP expertise

Familiarity with multimodal data processing

Education

PhD-level research experience

Tools

AWS

HuggingFace ecosystem

Job description

Pew Research Center’s Data Labs team uses data science tools and techniques to produce original research. The team contributes to the Center’s reputation for experimentation and tells interesting stories about the behaviors and life experiences of the public.

The Associate Director is responsible for managing the team’s junior and mid-level data scientists; weighing in on technical and methodological decisions across the team’s various internally- and externally-facing projects; and establishing research standards and best practices across the team. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in social science research paired with a deep understanding of the technical and methodological decisions needed to produce research that is on par with the Center’s standards.

While the Associate Director will have opportunities for individual research contributions, the primary focus of the role is facilitating the broader research portfolio of the team. This position reports to the Managing Director of Data Labs.

Primary Responsibilities

Team management

• Responsible for day-to-day management and career development of junior and mid-level research staff.
• Public spokesperson for the team at conferences, the media and elsewhere.
• Interface with internal partners and stakeholders around research production, dissemination and budgeting.

Methods, research standards and process guidance

• Works with research staff to select most appropriate methods and project designs for ongoing research efforts.
• Manages the team’s technical toolkit, ensures that research best practices are being followed and sufficiently documented.
• Contributes significantly to AI governance and use of LLMs in the research process for the team and across the Center.
• Helps to pitch, select and refine the team’s ongoing research portfolio. Helps to shepherd projects from conception to production.
• In collaboration with the Managing Director and VP of Methods and Innovation, sets the overall strategic direction and focus of the team.

Education / Training / Experience

• PhD-level research experience or equivalent
• Experience leading research teams or managing people preferred

Knowledge And Skills Requirements

• Experience conducting or managing technical research projects using diverse data sources (including web, social media, text, geographical, and/or audiovisual data).
• Strong understanding of the technical infrastructures that enable and support social science methods at scale.
• Excellent communication and conflict resolution skills. Ability to speak fluently about complex research topics with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience working with large data sets, managing large compute workloads, and monitoring cloud computing infrastructure such as AWS.
• Deep expertise in applied NLP, including transformer fine-tuning, zero-shot and few-shot classification, LLM prompt engineering, and model evaluation best practices. Can articulate and champion a technical vision that is grounded in social science research.
• Experience with multimodal data processing, including audio, video, and image data; familiarity with HuggingFace ecosystem preferred.

FLSA Status: Exempt

Compensation

The typical starting salary for this position is $167,400 annually.

Hybrid Work Schedule

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

Total Rewards

• Affordable, comprehensive health care that includes medical, dental (including adult orthodontia) and vision benefits.
• Generous paid annual leave plan, including a winter break between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
• Employer-paid disability, life insurance and paid family leave plans
• Up to a 12% employer 401(k) contribution, with vesting at the end of the first year.
• Health savings or flexible spending account options with employer funding component.
• Flexibility to telework a portion of each week, with an additional four telework 'flex weeks' each year for most staff.

EEO

Pew Research Center makes employment decisions without regard to age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, military/veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. We encourage applications from candidates who represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.