Director, Data & Democracy Research Initiative

Department

• PSD Data Science: DDRI Tech Staff Leadership
• About the Department

• The Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago was established to support the development of emerging efforts in data science across the University. The staff in the Data Science Institute support the University's community of scholars, their shared ideals, and the core values that make the University a singular intellectual destination. Together with the University's deans and department chairs, the Data Science Institute provides the opportunities, infrastructure, and resources that encourage our faculty and other scholars to pursue their finest work.
• Job Summary

The Data & Democracy Research Initiative (DDRI), led by Professor Moon Duchin, brings mathematical and computational tools to the study of democracy. The Director of the Data & Democracy Research Initiative will report to Professor Duchin, with a dotted-line reporting to the DSI Senior Director of Research Programs & Strategy.

The Director is a substantive intellectual partner to the PI and the public face of the lab's external engagement. The role combines active research participation in structural democracy — the study of systems and mechanisms of democratic representation — with primary responsibility for the lab's partnerships, fundraising, and public communications. The Director will work at the intersection of math, law, policy, and open-source software, translating academic research into policy recommendations and implementation with governmental, legal, and civic partners.

The Director will serve as a thought partner for research initiative leadership, combine administrative oversight with active fundraising and partnership management, supervise other administrative staff, and ensure smooth operations for DDRI. DDRI seeks a dynamic, broad, and self-directed individual who can build lasting relationships with diverse external stakeholders and move fluidly.

Responsibilities

• •Working with Professor Moon Duchin, the Director will advance DDRI’s mission across the study of systems and mechanisms of democratic representation.
• •Manages a team of lab professional staff involved in overall lab administration, including daily operations, personnel support, compliance functions, financial oversight, and grant administration. Advises other researchers on long-range plans for research projects and DDRI partnerships.
• •Ensures smooth administration of initiative and partnerships aligned with DDRI’s mission, including financial and administrative oversight, grant reporting, budget oversight, and corrective action when appropriate.
• •Identifies and manages new engagement opportunities with external stakeholders, beyond the realm of traditional academic publishing, to advance relationships with both internal and external constituencies and successful execute key projects.
• •Provides high-level project management and strategic support for the Faculty Director in support of partnership management; tracks high-priority projects and activities in which the Faculty Director is the lead.
• •Identifies fundraising opportunities aligned with DDRI’s mission, including from foundations, government agencies, and civic funders.
• •Leads grant proposal development that support core initiative activities, in coordination with the PI.
• •Lead consulting projects with DDRI civic partners, defining and expanding DDRI’s consulting and technical assistant capabilities while closely collaborating with the PI and other key faculty across the DDRI ecosystem.
• •Oversees the development and dissemination of narratives and visualizations to broad public audiences, making technical findings more accessible for non-technical and non-specialist audiences.
• •Maintains evaluation metrics of the program.
• •Assists in data analysis and interpretation in collaboration with technical staff.
• •Proactively presents research findings and progress reports to internal and external stakeholders including funding agencies, program officers, and various other funding audiences.
• •Leads conversations with civic partner organizations - advocacy groups, legal organizations, community coalitions – to plan, design, and execute collaborations for research and consulting purposes.
• •Establishes strong working relationships with NGOs, legal advocacy organizations, state and local governments, and other external partners, and represents DDRI at external meetings, convenings, and conferences relevant to democracy, redistricting, and voting rights.
• •Leads collaborations with journalists, policy advocates, and public audiences to promote and disseminate DDRI's work.
• •Delineates new directions of research and executes research and operational milestones in collaboration with principal researchers, research professionals, and other partners. This includes developing long-range plans for research projects and coordinating with principal researchers.
• •Actively participates in DDRI research projects, including as a co-author on scholarly publications and white papers where appropriate.
• •Supports the development of program materials, including website content, public reports, event communications, literature reviews, policy briefs, and white papers.
• •Develops frameworks, materials, and policies regarding DDRI capabilities and engagements with potential partners.
• •Manages media inquiries and public communications about DDRI's research in coordination with the PI, developing and maintaining the lab's external-facing presence and serving as its spokesperson.
• •Manages program operations and administrative functions which may include planning and scheduling, program evaluation, policy implementation, personnel administration, budget, marketing, fundraising and proposal development.
• •Manages the dissemination, interpretation and application of program policies and recommends or makes exceptions.
• •Contributes to design of program content, policies and strategic planning efforts.
• •Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

• Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
• Work Experience:

• Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.
• Certifications:

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P referred Qualifications

Education:

Advanced degree in a related field.

Experience:

• •Experience in research, teaching, policy advocacy, civic engagement, or a related field.
• •Demonstrated familiarity with democratic systems, voting rights, redistricting, or an adjacent domain; willingness to gain domain expertise for the Initiative.
• •Demonstrated success in research, scientific, and/or academic program management.
• •Experience working within or alongside a research group in a university setting.
• •Grant-writing experience for foundations and/or government agencies.
• •Experience with quantitative or computational research in a collaborative setting.
• •Existing relationships in the democracy, voting rights, or redistricting advocacy community.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

Familiarity with Python or a similar programming language (not required, but valued for collaboration with technical staff).

Preferred Competencies

• •Domain fluency: engages substantively with researchers, lawyers, and civic advocates in the democracy space.
• •Relationship-building: builds trust with diverse external stakeholders over time.
• •Strategic communication: translates technical work into narratives that resonate with funders, partners, and the public.
• •Interdisciplinary curiosity: moves fluidly between research, policy, and advocacy contexts.
• •Self-direction: identifies opportunities and executes independently with limited PI availability.
• •Discretion: handles sensitive partner, funder, and institutional information professionally.
• •Service orientation: commitment to supporting voting rights and to enabling the work of the research initiative.
• •Strong written communication s