Senior Data Visuals Developer

The Texas Tribune • Austin, TX

3d • $95,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Texas Tribune, the state’s go-to source for Texas politics and public policy news, is hiring a Senior Data Visuals Developer to build data tools to empower Texans and help them understand where they fit within the state's complicated political landscape. This position is part of the Tribune's award-winning data visuals department, an experimental R&D storytelling team living between product and editorial.

This person will report to the Data Visuals Editor and can be based anywhere in Texas. The Tribune is headquartered in Austin, and we have journalists in cities across the state. The Senior Data Visuals Developer’s primary focus will be our statewide newsroom, with occasional collaborations with our new local newsrooms in Waco and Austin.

The salary for this position is $95,000.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years of relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience
• Experience building and maintaining back-end and API workflows using tools such as Django
• Familiarity with JavaScript frameworks like React or Preact, charting libraries like D3 and other front-end tools in NPM
• Experience with basic spreadsheet tools and running data analysis using tools such as Python, SQL or R
• Experience creating clear and concise data visualizations and the journalistic skills to evaluate when a story needs a big lift or could benefit from simplicity
• As a senior staff member, you’ll show an interest in leadership and be comfortable representing the data visuals team in editorial and product meetings when needed.
• Experience or desire to experiment with AI tools, both internally to help streamline workflows and externally to help us reach and serve more Texans. When using AI, we value rigorous experimentation, high ethical and privacy standards, and cautious publishing and distribution.
• A collaborative spirit and the ability to work with rigor while knowing that you are still learning and growing. (The data visuals team mascot is the capybara in a yuzu bath because we are pretty chill.)
• the ability to collaborate is required — you’ll frequently partner with Tribune product designers on and off the data visuals team

Nice To Haves

• Visual design skills are a plus, but not required.

Responsibilities

• You will use data to create personalized tools designed to make the political process clear and accessible to Texans.
• This includes a suite of tools to help Texans navigate the electoral process, including accessible ballot pages, voter guides, real-time election results and an elected officials directory. These tools are built using Django, Node, React and D3.
• After the elections, you will also help analyze the results to help Texans understand what happened.
• Each election cycle, our coverage gets more visually ambitious. We are looking for someone with new ideas on how we can continue to serve our audience well.
• You will be in charge of maintaining the Django API that powers our election tools and optimizing this process in collaboration with our in-house engineering team.
• We’re looking for someone who is future-minded and eager to experiment with how and where we publish election information, including with AI.
• You will become a Texas campaign finance expert and help produce impactful reporting on powerful politicians and donors. We have an internal Django app that helps gather state campaign finance data and are open to ideas for how we can make this tool more useful for our reporters.
• You will find creative ways to use data to cover Texas’ congressional delegation and biennial legislative sessions. While you will be primarily focused on political data, you will have opportunities to report on other topics such as immigration enforcement, unreported hate crimes, and Texas’ affordable housing and water crises.
• You are eager to help the organization strategize about how to provide information on local elections for our audiences in Austin and Waco.

Benefits

• Medical, vision and dental insurance
• Monthly cellphone stipend
• 20 days of paid time off each year
• 12 paid holidays
• Up to 16 weeks of paid family leave, plus four weeks of additional job protection
• Annual 401(k) match
• Support for professional training and career development
• Remote working flexibility

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level