Job Information
New America Senior Fellow - Data Engineering, New Practice Lab in United States
The New Practice Lab (https://www.newamerica.org/new-practice-lab/) is deeply committed to delivering on our north star: to improve benefits outcomes for 3 million Americans who belong to economically excluded families with children under six by the end of 2026 (https://nplimpact.org) . In early 2025, we are seeking to bring on a number of people excited to improve the way policy is made for American families by rolling up their sleeves, implementing a “ new practice (https://www.newamerica.org/new-america/articles/new-practice-public-problem-solving/) ,” and learning in collaboration with community, private, nonprofit and public sector partners.
We approach our efforts differently than other teams - we are a mix of designers, researchers, policy experts, data scientists and technologists working to build a tighter link (https://www.nplimpact.org/policy) between policymakers, civil servants, and the families they serve (https://www.nplimpact.org/listening) , always with a rigorous focus on implementation. Our team is funded to provide no-cost teams to governments (https://www.nplimpact.org/implementation) to improve benefits delivery such as income supports, care, and early education policies. We also convene practitioners across the country (https://www.newamerica.org/new-practice-lab/collections/implementation-working-group/) to learn from each other and inform better policy and program design.
Role Description
The Senior Fellow - Data Engineering, will serve as a member of the Product Team working to identify and scope how data engineering practices are embedded into the work of all New Practice Lab efforts (https://www.newamerica.org/new-practice-lab/blog/meet-npl-policy-delivery/) , driving project efforts and collaborations with delivery partners to improve the design and delivery of public benefits, and working collaboratively with team members on technical assistance and research sprints when the New Practice Lab has the opportunity to provide input to shaping policy and program delivery.
This role primarily involves strategizing and architecting data systems, understanding complex public sector organizations, and helping shape data teams and their processes at the Lab’s partner agencies. It is not a code-intensive role, but may occasionally involve writing code for data analysis or for a software proof of concept. At a high level, some of the duties and responsibilities of this role will include:
Serving as a key member of sprint teams during delivery and policy sprints (https://www.newamerica.org/new-practice-lab/blog/product-sprints-critical-tools-for-the-new-practice/) , including identifying high-impact areas of work and ways that engineering should be incorporated in the scoping phase of engagements and identifying meaningful opportunities for impact for the New Practice Lab to support
Developing the team’s robust approach to assessing and then improving the health of government data systems and software
Helping partners create and maintain robust data ecosystems during sprint engagements by analyzing existing systems and then making architecture and practice recommendations:
Lead data modeling conversations with partners, incorporating data science, service design, policy, and product management expertise
Help partners think about using data to model business events and decisions, not just collect numbers, and then collaboratively design the infrastructure to support those models
Advocate for data and software engineering best practices, such as automated testing, continuous integration, and monitoring, as well as evolving best practices around ethical use of data in the public sector
Advising the Lab’s government partners on suitable, scalable, and replicable data architecture and infrastructure, engineering models, as well as technical team structure, in both greenfield and brownfield contexts
Working closely with the Lab’s Data and Strategic Impact Lead and our Data Engineering Lead to understand our government partners’ data systems and propose and execute methods for making unstructured or loosely structured data usable, particularly as it relates to enabling the team to measure and create strong feedback loops between policy, implementation, and human outcomes
Participating in quantitative and qualitative research to better understand the populations served by the Lab’s work
Identifying and pursuing opportunities to productize and disseminate findings from sprints, collaborating with other team members to translate insights from sprints into broader recommendations for action by policymakers and public sector agencies
Representing the New Practice Lab in a variety of forums such as conferences and briefings
Developing relationships and collaborations with other organizations and experts working on similar issues, and identifying potential projects for the New Practice Lab
Experience
The ideal candidate has at least 5 years experience and demonstrated success in:
Serving on cross-functional teams and supporting a team culture that incorporates a wide variety of disciplines, such as policy (or other subject matter expertise), design, research, data science, engineering, and learning/evaluation
Communicating with a wide variety of stakeholders at different zoom levels about data-related concepts
Working across complex data systems and their associated organizational processes
Architecting and supporting the creation and stewardship of complex data systems
Developing and maintaining data pipelines, data models, and/or data standards
Performing quantitative analysis, supporting formal studies, etc.
Contributing to or participating in quantitative research design
Compensation and Benefits
This position is a full-time role with benefits. The annual salary is estimated to be between $140,000 – $180,000 and will account for commensurate experience. New America offers a highly competitive benefits package that includes health care, dental, and vision coverage; a generous retirement plan; paid time off; observation of all federal holidays; and an office-wide closure between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Location
The position is remote and is open to candidates in North America.
Application Process
To be considered in the first round of applicants, please submit your application by February 21st. Please submit:
A resume that includes 3 references (names, emails, phone number)
A cover letter that describes your qualifications and motivations to apply
New America is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization thereby creating a culture that allows us to better serve our clientele, our employees and our communities. We value and encourage the contributions of our employees and strive to create an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and drive outstanding results. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law. This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination. This is a bargaining unit position.
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