Computational Social Science Assistant

Organization Overview 

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research in the areas of U.S. politics and policy views; media and journalism; internet and technology; science and society; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and U.S. social and demographic trends. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Center’s work is carried out by a staff of about 180. 

Position Summary 

The Computational Social Science Assistant works with other staff at Data Labs to produce original research that expands on the work of the Pew Research Center using new methods, data sources and tools. The primary responsibilities of the role include: writing data collection scripts and analysis code in R and Python for a wide variety of data sources; reviewing code written by other team members and fact-checking our publications; and helping to build and evaluate machine learning models.  

The ideal candidate will have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science or in the social sciences with strong quantitative training. But we are open to all educational backgrounds. 

This position reports to the Associate Director of Data Labs. 

Primary responsibilities 

Executes well-defined data collection and analysis tasks under the guidance of more senior researchers. 

Writes code that is clear, well documented and follows the team’s best practices for analysis and development. 

Thoroughly reviews the team’s published products – as well as the code that produced them – for accuracy and clarity. 

Contributes to exploratory data analysis, literature review, and project brainstorming in collaboration with senior researchers 

Education/Training/Experience 

Demonstrated experience writing production-level data collection and analysis code, preferably for data science or other social science research projects. 

BA/BS preferred 

Knowledge and Skill Requirements 

Experience programming with standard statistical tools, particularly Python and R required 

Some familiarity with git and GitHub, SQL, CLI tools and machine learning models preferred 

Clearly and effectively communicate project updates and technical roadblocks with collaborators 

Highly organized, able to balance multiple projects under deadline while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail 

Intellectual curiosity 

Interest in quantitative social science topics, such as political science, media studies, sociology, or other social science preferred 

FLSA Status: Non-exempt 

Salary: The starting salary for this position is based on compensation market data and candidate experience. The typical starting salary for this position is $71,604. 

Location 

Pew Research Center staff are required to be present in the Center’s Washington, D.C., office on core in-office days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as of January 2026). Staff may work virtually from remote locations on other days in a typical work week. 

Application Procedure 

Click on the Apply button and complete the required fields. Both cover letter and resume are required. 

When requested, please upload a copy of your resume/cv, as well as a copy of your cover letter in the section labeled Resume/Cover Letter. If the documents have successfully uploaded, you should see 2 attached files beneath the “Drop files here” box. Please make sure you have uploaded a resume AND a cover letter before moving on to the next page.