Fall 2024 Coding and Data Internship

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA), the independent, non-profit, campaign committee responsible for electing and supporting Democratic governors, is seeking a Coding and Data Intern for the Fall 2024 term. The DGA works closely with the state and Washington, D.C. offices of the Democratic governors as well as many other national Democratic and progressive organizations.

DGA internships allow interested students to obtain practical political experience with the DGA’s various departments. The DGA is seeking an intern with programming and data experience to assist the opposition research team, who is responsible for working with the nation's Democratic governors and candidates to promote their agendas, win elections, and hold Republicans accountable. Typical programming tasks will include writing code and using data analysis to help update and replace antiquated research methods, as well as assisting with candidate research, monitoring and summarizing news clips related to governors and their policies, transcribing interviews and news clips of governors and candidates, and providing other support to the DGA Research Team as needed.

DGA political coding interns will mainly report to the Research Associates for assignments and feedback, as well as regular check-in’s with the Intern Coordinator who manages DGA’s internship program.

For the Fall 2024 Term, DGA internships will be remote, with the option for interns located in Washington, DC to use the office on a limited basis. Selected interns are provided a program stipend of $4,000. Housing is not provided.

Applicants should submit a resume and 1-2 paragraphs on why you want to work as an Intern at the DGA and how you anticipate a DGA internship will benefit your career. Please include a draft work schedule at the end of your 1-2 paragraphs. Hour requirements are listed below. Potential applicants who have an interest working on Democratic campaigns or supporting Democratic Campaigns are strongly encouraged to apply. No calls or emails, please.

The application will remain open until all slots are filled.

Typical Responsibilities

• Assist in market research to ensure that the research department is up to date on new research tools.
• Assist in developing scrapers and other basic programming to improve the functionality of the research department.
• Scrape and use large datasets to recognize fundraising patterns, etc.
• Assist in media monitoring and the compilation of news articles pertaining to the political landscape of governors and gubernatorial candidates;
• Assist with transcriptions of media appearances of Republican governors and candidates for use in campaign communications;
• Help with other special projects, assignments, and tasks as assigned by the Research Associates, Analysts, or other members of the Research Team.

Desired Qualifications/Expectations

• A student working on a Bachelor of Science in computer science, data analytics, or engineering;
• Intermediate knowledge of Python, R, or another scripting language;
• Experience working with web scraping packages such as Beautiful Soup;
• Interest in natural language processing;
• Excellent punctuality and attendance;
• Good, professional verbal and written communication skills;
• Good and consistent attention to detail;
• Ability to cooperate and effectively communicate with a diverse staff and other interns;
• Ability to ask appropriate questions to gather information to complete a task on time and up to expectations;
• Strong commitment to the principles of the Democratic Party;
• For Fall terms, remote and/or hybrid availability for a minimum of 18 hours per week is required

Diversity Practices 

The DGA recognizes that its continued success requires a group of hardworking, intelligent interns from diverse backgrounds during each term. The DGA is committed to ensuring equal opportunity to participate in the DGA internship program regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or veteran status. 

The DGA strongly encourages individuals with a diverse background to apply to its internship program and to share why your demonstrated commitment to diversity and experience working in diverse communities makes you a strong applicant as part of your written application.

Closing

The DGA’s Intern Coordinator can work with selected interns and their school/program to obtain course credit for this internship.

The DGA offices are based in downtown Washington, DC and we are currently in a hybrid work protocol due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DGA will work with potential candidates to schedule remote interviews and process on-boarding procedures remotely, as necessary.