Job Posting: Director of Research, Web Integrity Project

The Web Integrity Project’s mission is to monitor changes to government websites, holding our government accountable by revealing shifts in public information and access to Web resources, as well as changes in stated policies and priorities. WIP’s monitoring work is amplified by working with journalists who cover WIP’s findings and production of policy analyses to evaluate and recommend changes to Web governance practices and help ensure access to valuable Web resources.

WIP has worked extensively to report on removals of public information from health and healthcare websites, with early work on immigration-related websites and plans to expand into other topic-matter areas.

The Web Integrity Project is looking to bring on a new Director of Research to help lead its work. This position will report to the Director of the Web Integrity Project and will oversee a team of investigators and website monitoring analysts.

Start date: September/October 2018

Location: Washington D.C.

Compensation: This is a full-time employee position, with competitive compensation that will be commensurate with experience and with full benefits. This is not an entry-level position.

The Director of Research of the Web Integrity Project will coordinate with WIP’s Senior Investigator and will oversee one or more Website Monitoring Analysts and WIP’s team of Website Monitoring Volunteers. Core roles and responsibilities:

  1. Researching and scoping agency websites for monitoring
  2. Using WIP’s software to monitor key websites on a regular basis and using public archives to identify past changes
  3. Researching changes to, removals of, and discrepancies in public databases and information or document repositories
  4. Managing a team of volunteer website monitoring analysts
  5. Writing and vetting reports based on investigations of important identified changes
  6. Working with journalists and civil society groups to disseminate findings
  7. Updating and maintaining WIP’s website change tracker
  8. Writing blog posts that provide context for particularly significant changes

There will also be opportunities for further analysis and investigation, which might include:

  1. Working to understand the decision-making process leading up to changes at agencies, including investigating emails, memos, or other communications
  2. Analyzing how changes to Web resources impact the public’s capacity to benefit from or understand governance and engage in democratic processes, like notice-and-comment rulemaking
  3. Analyzing trends of changes that may affect the public’s access to public information, resources, or benefits

Preferred qualifications, experience, and skills:

  • Strong experience in research or investigative work
  • Good written and verbal communication skills, some experience editing written work products
  • Ability to take initiative to explore monitoring leads and additional topics for focus
  • Experience leading small teams and/or projects
  • Proven ability to work as a member of a team, and to successfully manage multiple projects and changing priorities
  • Comfort learning and using new software
  • Detail-oriented with demonstrated experience of planning and leading meetings and production timelines
  • Ability and willingness to work independently
  • Proactivity in organizing, documenting, and communicating effectively with stakeholders

Want to apply? Send an email with the subject “Director of Research Application” to Toly Rinberg (webintegrity@sunlightfoundation.com), indicating how you heard about this position and including the following:

  1. Resume
  2. A cover letter
  3. A separate submission briefly addressing the prompt: Describe a time you used a new means of investigation that you hadn’t in the past to write a story or conduct an analysis (for example, use of a Freedom of Information Act request, new data analysis method, new programming tool that you developed, etc.)
  4. Writing sample(s) (include at least one sample for which you are the single author, but feel free to include additional samples for which you are one of multiple authors)
  5. List of 2 references with contact information