Researcher

Summary

Join American Oversight, a nonpartisan nonprofit watchdog, as a Researcher. As an integral member of the Research team, you will proactively identify and develop in-depth investigations, draft public records requests, analyze government documents, and synthesize findings into compelling narratives. You will collaborate with the Research Director and Deputy Research Director to achieve strategic goals advancing American Oversight's mission of government accountability and transparency. This role requires strong research, analytical, and communication skills, along with experience in government investigations or related fields. American Oversight offers a generous benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance, a retirement plan, and remote work flexibility.

Requirements

• 1+ years’ previous experience with government investigations, investigative journalism, or policy research, or a related field involving in-depth investigative, research, analyses
• An understanding of and fluency in relevant news developments, the political landscape and how public records can inform news coverage, government action, and accountability
• Interest in American Oversight’s mission of government accountability and transparency; commitment to public interest advocacy
• Strong skills in the following areas: Attention to detail: Thoroughly and accurately completes tasks, ensuring that all details, no matter how small, are correct and align with American Oversight’s standards
• Collaboration: Is an inclusive, highly engaged team player; proactively seeks and provides thought partnership, assistance, and/or resources with/to colleagues
• Communication (Oral): Effectively conveys information, ideas, and emotions in a clear, concise, and engaging manner; uses language that is understandable and relevant; appropriately adapts language to different audiences and contexts
• Communication (Written): Effectively distills complex ideas into clear, concise, and engaging written content; appropriately adapts language to different audiences and contexts; ensures work product is free from errors, typos, or inconsistencies
• Judgment and Decision Making: Carefully assesses information and weighs competing priorities before making sound and timely decisions; predicts likely results based on patterns, experiences, and logical inferences; considers potential consequences and ensures alignment with American Oversight’s values and objectives; makes thoughtful recommendations or decisions that lead to effective outcomes
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking: Identifies and anticipates problems and surfaces creative solutions to achieve desired outcomes; scans the landscape and connects dots among many disparate data points and situations
• Project Management: Ability to multitask and independently manage multiple projects with varying scopes, timelines, and stakeholders; adapts priorities as necessary to meet organizational goals while maintaining good judgment of relative priorities
• Strategic Thinking: Obtains information and identifies key issues and relationships relevant to achieving a goal or vision; evaluates potential risks and benefits to potential plans of action before recommending courses of action; adjusts plans as needed to achieve key objectives
• Self-motivation, collegiality, and the ability to work both collaboratively and independently
• Experience working in and/or desire to contribute to workplaces with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Strong technology skills with an aptitude to learn quickly, ramp up on, or test new platforms or technology, including Microsoft Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint); Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides); file-sharing platforms (Drop Box)

Responsibilities

• Proactively identify and propose strategic, high-impact areas of investigation and research that align with American Oversight’s strategic goals
• Draft targeted, strategic, litigation-ready public records requests on important issues to federal, state, and local governments
• Analyze complex government documents and draw upon available information to identify unreported insights and emerging trends. Synthesize findings into compelling narratives, with a focus on accuracy, newsworthiness, and the broader implications for government accountability
• Develop expertise and serve as in-house specialist on key issue areas, states, and document sets related to American Oversight’s strategic priorities and core impact areas
• Follow through on opportunities to increase the impact of American Oversight’s work, including opportunities for litigation or other action, or suggesting new external audiences for our work
• Produce clear, well-contextualized content that distills complex information from government documents and available information into formats like blog posts and reports
• Amplify the impact of American Oversight’s research by representing American Oversight on the record and briefing outside groups and journalists on our work
• Support American Oversight’s partnerships and communications teams by contributing to briefing documents, talking points, and other collaborative work products
• Closely follow the news—including mainstream outlets, industry newsletters, and other sources—to stay up to date on areas of expertise and spot opportunities for American Oversight to make an impact
• Supporting the implementation of projects that synthesize and present American Oversight’s investigative and research findings using innovative techniques. Coordinate internally to ensure that projects are aligned with strategic goals
• Maintain active communication and follow up with government agencies about active open records requests as needed, using expertise to prioritize requests and prompt appropriate response from American Oversight’s legal team
• Process incoming documents as needed to create searchable, paginated productions for internal and external use
• Other duties as assigned

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Experience conducting investigations or research within American Oversight’s priority areas (attacks on U.S. democratic institutions, threats to civil rights and liberties, and erosion of government transparency); or investigations and research experience focused on federal government waste, fraud, and abuse
• Previous experience with the Freedom of Information Act and public records requests
• Experience with other datasets and information sources (e.g., IRS Form 990s, campaign finance data) that could be used to enhance American Oversight’s existing accountability work
• Experience with American Oversight’s core tools (e.g., Airtable, DocumentCloud) and/or with data analysis and visualization tools

Benefits

• 80% of health, dental, and vision premiums paid by the organization
• A retirement plan with a matching contribution
• Remote office reimbursements for personal devices and wireless connectivity