Social Scientist

Organizational Overview

Do you want to help ensure that every organizer, advocate, and changemaker in the progressive movement has what they need to create bold, people-powered change? Join us in making that vision a reality. Launched in 2018, The Movement Cooperative (TMC) is a nonprofit member cooperative uniting more than 80 national and state-based organizations and over 1,400 affiliates through shared infrastructure and collaborative support. We bridge the gap between vision and capacity—democratizing access to tools, data, and strategic expertise that help our members organize more efficiently, campaign more effectively, and drive lasting impact across the movement. As a cooperative, TMC is governed by and for its members, with a board(s) made up primarily of staff from member organizations. Together, we’re reimagining what’s possible when movement groups have the infrastructure they need to thrive.

Position Overview

The Research team at The Movement Cooperative (TMC) is seeking a Social Scientist who is intellectually curious, technically rigorous, and deeply committed to progressive politics. As a key member of our mixed-methods team, you will design, implement, and conduct analysis on studies—using randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and other rigorous techniques—that equip our member organizations with the evidence-backed strategies they need to build and steward power. We are a collaborative, small team that bridges the gap between complex data and actionable strategy. We don’t just produce reports; we work in lockstep with our partners to identify critical questions, implement studies, and translate findings for both technical and non-technical audiences. Our mission is rooted in ensuring the progressive movement has the evidence base and tools necessary to win systemic change.

Responsibilities

• Executing quantitative, statistical, and experimental projects from beginning to end — including project scoping and project management, identifying research questions, research design, survey design, randomization, implementation, analysis, writing up results, and presenting.
• Maintaining strategic research partnerships and relationships with member organizations, progressive organizations, and key stakeholders.
• Ensuring that our research translates into actionable insights and clear programmatic recommendations for our member organizations.
• Communicating findings to technical and non-technical audiences and stakeholders.
• Paying particular attention to underexplored topics with an equity lens.
• Working alongside other members of the team to continue to articulate the team’s vision and priorities, and to help generate ideas for new avenues for research or ways to deepen existing research.

Qualifications

Experience

• Proven track record of independently designing and executing multiple quantitative, applied social science projects.
• 1+ years of experience managing the full lifecycle of experimental research, including design, implementation, and analysis.
• Experience in building and maintaining relationships with diverse external organizations and clients.

Skills

• Extensive knowledge of causal inference, survey methodology, and/or statistics.
• Deep familiarity with Python or R.
• Familiarity with SQL.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to juggle multiple complex projects at once.
• Strong communication, writing, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex concepts across varied audiences, including funders.
• Interest in working collaboratively as part of a small team and trying new things.
• Dedication to furthering the reach and impact of TMC members’ work.
• Commitment to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into everyday work.

Preferred Qualifications (Not Required)

• 2+ years running field experiments in the progressive political space — e.g., involving individual-level turnout data, precincts, or surveys.
• Any experience in a research, data science, or analytical role in the progressive political space (e.g., polling, survey experiments, modeling).
• Wide methodological repertoire for causal inference using observational or qualitative data.
• Wide methodological repertoire around data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence.
• Having a range of pre-existing relationships within the pro-democracy political space.
• Experience with AWS and GCP tools (e.g., BigQuery, Google Cloud Storage, S3).
• Experience working on campaigns, electorally focused, advocacy, or political data organizations.
• An advanced degree in the social sciences (e.g., political science, sociology), statistics, or an equivalent.
• Experience and/or interest coordinating with external contractors and vendors.
• Experience working with voter file data and data associated with common political tech tools (e.g., VAN, peer-to-peer texting, dialers).

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of working on a computer.

Location Requirements

• While TMC’s workplace is remote, we require staff members to reside in and work in the continental United States.

Benefits

The Movement Cooperative is dedicated to providing all employees a competitive salary, world-class healthcare, dental and vision benefits, retirement, unlimited paid vacation and sick days, flexible holidays, and all-staff holidays, remote virtual office stipends, paid parental and adoption family leaves, and health and wellness benefits. The starting salary range for this position is $97,470 - $100,547. TMC adheres to a 5 year compensation plan allowing for time-in-role based raises. This is a full-time exempt position. This position is within a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment may be subject to a future collective bargaining agreement between TMC and the Union.

Next Steps

Applications must be submitted by 6:00 p.m. ET on June 22, 2026. We are looking to fill this position by August 2026.

Here’s what you can expect from our interview process:

• Application Review
• Take-Home Skills Test
• Code Along + Panel interview (~1.5 hours)
• Interview with Deputy Director of Research (~30 minutes)

The Movement Cooperative is an equal opportunity employer.
The Movement Cooperative recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, citizenship status, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. At The Movement Cooperative, we have a clear vision: to be an organization where a diverse mix of talented people are inspired to do their best work, incentivized to stay with us year-over-year, and can progress in their careers in meaningful and impactful ways. We pride ourselves on bringing the best to our members, and we know our organization runs on the hard work, well-being, and dedication of our passionate and creative employees.