FiveThirtyEight is looking for a savvy Visual Journalist to cover U.S. politics and elections. The ideal candidate will be eager to contribute in a number of capacities – through daily graphics production, collaboration on reported stories and work on our “big swing” interactives. We’re looking for a web developer and designer who can exercise strong news judgment and constantly work to ensure all our output meets the highest standards of quality. The ideal candidate will be a team player who thrives in a collaborative work environment. 

The Visual Journalist will report to the Editorial Director of Data Analytics and work closely with the rest of the interactives team as well as reporters and editors across the newsroom. This full-time role with benefits is a U.S.-based position. This is a hybrid role with our offices in New York City or Washington, D.C. We have a preference for candidates based in those areas.

Responsibilities: 

• Collaborating with other members of the interactives team as well as reporters and story editors to conceptualize thoughtful, exciting stories and projects that inform and engage our readers, including our 2024 election forecast. 
• Developing smaller interactive projects as a sole contributor and larger ones in collaboration with other members of the interactives team. 
• Designing bespoke static charts and providing feedback and visual guidance to reporters and editors as needed. 
• Participating in larger strategic conversations about visual style, site design, branding, accessibility and more. 
• Giving thoughtful, candid feedback to colleagues and managers and openly receiving it in turn. 

Basic Qualifications: 

• Two or more years of relevant experience. 
• Passion for data visualization and a demonstrated ability to build interactive graphics using modern web tools, including substantial experience using front-end web-development technologies, such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript (preferably including experience with D3). 
• Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator. 
• The ability to balance deadlines with opportunities to experiment and create new ways to visualize

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience programming in R, Ruby, Node or Python — particularly for data analysis or web application development.
• Experience pitching and reporting original stories. 
• A solid understanding of U.S. politics, particularly electoral politics. 
• A background in data analysis and/or statistics.