Researcher

Website weareoversight American Oversight

Advancing truth, accountability, and democracy.

American Oversight is looking for a curious and diligent researcher to join our team and help expose government misconduct and abuses of power. We’re a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that promotes truth, accountability, and democracy by enforcing the public’s right to government records.

From the federal Freedom of Information Act to state transparency laws, we file carefully crafted records requests to extract information from the government, and if officials fail to respond as required by law, our team has the expertise to take them to court and enforce the public’s right to hold our leaders accountable. American Oversight has obtained and published more than one million pages of emails, memos, calendars, text messages, and other records.

American Oversight’s Research and Investigations team is the engine of our research and investigative work. Researchers closely follow developments in their areas of focus, design investigations with an eye for impact, work with our legal team to craft targeted public records requests, and dive into government documents looking for new information. The job requires a great news sense, a strong sense of mission, and an ability to quickly and cleanly parse large amounts of information.

Job Responsibilities

Specific tasks will shift day by day with our work and the news cycle, but in a typical week, you will:

Work with American Oversight’s legal team to conceptualize and draft targeted, strategic, litigation-ready public records requests on important issues to federal, state, and local governments.

Analyze government documents to identify unreported details, trends, and stories, with an eye for accuracy, newsworthiness, and impact.

Amplify the impact of American Oversight’s investigations by briefing outside groups and journalists on our work and collaborating with our communications team to write blog posts and reports.

Support our legal team’s high-impact litigation by serving as an in-house expert on key issue areas and document sets.

Closely follow the news – including mainstream outlets, industry newsletters, and other sources – to stay up to date on your areas of focus and spot opportunities for American Oversight to make an impact.

Qualifications

Researchers have come to American Oversight from a variety of professional backgrounds, including government service, journalism, campaign research, law, policy analysis, and government oversight. We welcome candidates from any professional background who display the skills needed to be a successful researcher.

The essential qualifications for a researcher include:

One to three years’ work experience related to political research and investigations.

A strong news sense and ability to spot opportunities for impact using public records requests. (Experience with public records requests, however, is not required.)

Critical thinking and analytical skills, including an ability to distill large quantities of information to identify key details and themes, and how they related to gaps in existing public knowledge.

Excellent writing skills and ability to produce high-quality written work under pressure.

Ability to explain complicated topics in a concise and easy-to-understand manner.

Strong time management skills. Can juggle multiple projects at once while maintaining good judgment of relative priorities.

Self-motivation, collegiality, and the ability to work both collaboratively and independently.

A track record of honesty and accuracy, taking ownership of mistakes, and recognizing what you don’t know.

An understanding of how government actions impact the lives of ordinary people, and a commitment to American Oversight’s accountability mission.

Additional Information

American Oversight is proudly an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse team. We are dedicated to finding the best candidate for the job. Our hiring process is centered on assessing candidates with diverse lived experiences. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described. If you are unsure of whether you meet the qualifications of this position, or how this would be determined, please contact us to discuss your application.

The salary range for this position is $56,000 to $64,000, commensurate with experience. Generous and comprehensive benefits package.

American Oversight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

American Oversight is a remote-first organization, and our employees can work from anywhere in the country. Our office in downtown Washington, DC, is an optional workspace when pandemic-related restrictions allow.

We are hiring a researcher(s) for spring 2023 and this role has a flexible start date. If you are graduating in the spring of 2023 and are interested in the role, please apply now.

How to Apply

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Please include a Cover Letter with your submission. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis, with a first-round review by February 17, 2023.