[Hiring] Data Scientist @Priorities USA

Role Description

We are looking for a data science contractor who will support R&D efforts to prototype Priorities USA’s next generation of digital intelligence tools in addition to experimentation on new data methods to be applied to digital campaigns. This role will sit at the intersection of data science and software engineering, requiring a strong intuition for understanding and applying data & statistical methods as well as the ability to maintain rigorous shared software development standards within a team.

• Involved with prototyping, evaluating, and implementing methods and features to help digital media practitioners run more efficient and effective campaigns.
• Work directly with the Senior Director of R&D.
• This is a remote engagement; contractors must be based in the United States and will provide their own equipment.
• Expected availability for regular check-ins during Eastern Time business hours.

Qualifications

• Strong programming skills in SQL and Python.
• Demonstrated ability to apply statistical and data science methods in real-world contexts.
• Strong software engineering habits (version control, code review, testing, documentation).
• Hands-on experience applying LLMs in real projects (e.g., prompt and context engineering, classification or extraction pipelines, evaluation of model outputs, or agentic frameworks).
• Experience working with agentic software development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Codex).
• Experience working with GCP (and preferably AWS), including building and maintaining data pipelines.
• Experience using git + GitHub.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across teams with different working styles and levels of technical experience.
• Demonstrated curiosity and self-directed exploration through side projects, prototypes, experiments, or other evidence that you build and try things on your own initiative.
• Experience communicating with diverse groups, working in a multicultural workforce, and bringing a sensitivity and appreciation of cultural differences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with digital advertising, media performance, social listening, or media consumption data.
• Experience working with political, advocacy, or campaign data such as voter files.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration.
• Experience developing front-end applications or dashboards.
• Experience building evaluation frameworks or benchmarks for LLM or ML systems.

Compensation

Compensation for this engagement is $125–175 per hour, commensurate with experience.

Application Information

• Applications will be accepted until the role is filled.
• Applications should include a resume and a link to a GitHub profile or relevant work samples; a cover letter is optional.
• The process for selected candidates will consist of a compensated take-home exercise and two rounds of interviews with members of the team.
• Aiming for a start date in mid-October.
• This engagement runs through December 31, 2026.