Policy Researcher (contract) // Applications now closed

Thanks to everyone who applied.

What we’re looking for:

Who Targets Me is looking for a Policy Researcher (Contract), to help us fulfil our mission of making targeted political communications more transparent and trustworthy.

The last two years has seen a growing debate about the role of social media, particularly social media advertising, in democratic politics. In most countries, electoral and other law has failed to keep pace with developments in the way campaigns communicate with voters.

We’re looking for someone to help us develop our ideas, and help policy makers understand….

About us:

We do three things:

1/ Build tools to help people understand the uses of targeted information. We have created a browser extension that helps people understand who is trying to win their vote with Facebook ads and are exploring a number of similar future projects to improve digital literacy and make data available for research and reporting.

2/ Explain targeting, as we see it happening. Modern political campaigns are hard to ‘read’. We try to improve understanding and coverage of them.

3/ Develop ideas to respond to these changes.

The way we work:

We’re a small team, working in a distributed way, mostly using Slack, video conferencing, and shared documents. We work a weekly cycle to make sure we’re on the same page, and help each other with anything hampering progress.

Who we’re looking for:

Someone talented and enthusiastic. None of us followed a particularly traditional career path to get here, so we have no problem whatsoever if the same is true for you. If you’re interested in this stuff, regardless of anything else, apply.

The terms:

  • Starts: Immediately
  • Contract: 3 months, full time (6 months part time is possible)
  • Pay: £10k (£40k pro-rata)
  • Holiday: 12.5 days (25 days pro-rata) plus public holidays
  • Place of work: Remote (+/- 2hrs GMT), or at our office in London.
  • Hours: 37.5hr / week
  • Flexible working: Happy to discuss your needs
  • Reports to: WTM founders

Primary tasks:

  • Assist in the development of a ‘gold standard’ approach to political ad transparency
  • Understand the EU and national regulatory context for political advertising in all 28 member states
  • Conduct research into the use of political ads across the EU using a variety of tools
  • Support the development of funding bids for our future work
  • Other administrative and support tasks to help ensure the smooth operation of WTM

Must have:

  • Experience of policy research and development, ideally in electoral law, technology or data.
  • Clear communicator and writer who can adapt to different audiences
  • Able to think strategically and understand what is possible now vs. what can be done later
  • Good organisation and time management skills
  • Comfortable working to goals
  • Cultural sensitivity in working across languages, political systems and timezones
  • Curiosity about the conduct of elections and campaign techniques
  • Fluent written and spoken English
  • Familiarity with common software tools – particularly Google (Docs, Sheets, Slides) and Slack.

Nice to have:

  • Experience manipulating and presenting data
  • Another major EU language (German, French, Spanish, Italian)

To apply, send a CV and a short note (< 500 words) highlighting one or two examples of relevant experience to contact@whotargets.me.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.