Location: Chicago, IL or remote considered
Reports to: Head of Research & Strategy
About Tavern Research
Tavern Research is a political tech startup building tools and insights to help our customers win elections and make better, evidence-based decisions. We specialize in bringing a strategic lens to the tools of political communication (polling, content generation, ad placement, and beyond) for campaigns and organizations working to strengthen democratic participation. We’re a venture-backed, mission-driven, fast-moving, and mostly technical team. We’re experimental by design, and we expect everyone to keep improving how they work with new tools and technology. Everything else is on our website. If you still have questions, let us know when you apply!
About You
You've spent years doing serious political polling, the kind that shapes how campaigns talk to voters and how organizations make decisions that matter. You light up at the chance to tear apart a crosstab, love obsessing over question wording, and can sniff out a methodological problem long before it turns into a client problem. You believe Democrats can win more if they use data better and ask better questions, and you're hungry to be part of making that happen. You're not just curious about what AI and new technology can do to the craft of polling; you're genuinely excited to help build what that looks like in practice. If that sounds like the next chapter you've been waiting for, we should talk.
About the Role
You'll be one of Tavern's primary polling voices, running sophisticated studies, owning deliverables, and doing the work that's hard to scale: translating data into sharp, credible guidance on campaigns and policy issues. A big part of this role is editorial: sharpening messaging across a wide range of issues and candidates, pressure-testing findings, and bringing seasoned political judgment to content at every stage of the process. You’ll work closely with our leadership, research, and product teams, and you’ll also serve as a trusted partner for developing client briefings and press interactions when senior leadership needs backup.
We value in-person work and expect employees based in Chicago to work regularly from our South Loop office. We also welcome remote candidates, ideally based in Washington, DC.
Responsibilities
Research Design & Methodology
- Design and execute polling, ad-testing, message-testing, and audience research studies
- Develop questionnaires and sampling methodologies with strong methodological rigor
- Manage weighting, segmentation, and statistical modeling processes
- Apply RCTs, MaxDiff, conjoint, and other advanced survey designs to answer clients’ toughest strategic questions
- Apply a quality-first mindset, catching problems in the data before they become problems for clients
Data Analysis & Insights
- Synthesize survey results into clear, actionable strategic recommendations
- Identify demographic, geographic, and behavioral trends that shape campaign strategy
- Write, edit, and refine persuasive political messaging translating survey research into language that moves target audiences
- Conduct cross-tab and subgroup analysis with a practiced eye
- Translate findings into written memos, presentations, and briefings that non-experts can act on
Client & External Communication
- Deliver in-depth polling briefings to clients and campaign leadership when needed
- Represent Tavern's research work with professionalism and political instinct in external settings
Operational Oversight
- Manage timelines, budgets, and deliverables across multiple simultaneous projects
- Mentor junior researchers and analysts
- Coordinate with survey vendors, data teams, and field operations
- Ensure compliance with research ethics and privacy standards
Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience in polling, public opinion research, or political consulting
- Strong command of survey methodology and statistical analysis
- Experience with statistical and data tools (R, Python, or similar)
- Proven ability to synthesize complex data into concise strategic guidance
- Experience presenting findings to clients, executives, or campaign leadership
- Experience with political campaigns or at advocacy organizations
- Political instinct: you know what will land with clients and what won't
- Comfort in external-facing settings: client briefings, press interactions, or conference panels (existing experience or strong willingness to grow into it)
- Familiarity with voter files, turnout models, and audience segmentation
- Love for using new technology to improve systems and outcomes
- Bonus: people management experience
To be explicit: you don't need a degree to work here. You just need to be exceptional at what we're asking from you.
Benefits
- Premium health insurance
- Unlimited PTO
- Office closed for all federal holidays
- 401k match
- Equity
Tavern Research is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Skills Required
- 7+ years of experience in polling, public opinion research, or political consulting
- Strong command of survey methodology and statistical analysis
- Experience with statistical and data tools such as R or Python
- Ability to synthesize complex data into concise strategic guidance
- Experience presenting findings to clients, executives, or campaign leadership
- Experience with political campaigns or advocacy organizations
- Strong political judgment and instinct
- Comfort with client briefings, press interactions, or conference panels
- Familiarity with voter files, turnout models, and audience segmentation
- Interest in using new technology to improve systems and outcomes
- People management experience
What We Do
AI-powered content creation and reliable survey research in a single loop—smarter with every cycle. We help our customers win by turning voter feedback into more effective content and sharper strategy, faster and more reliably than ever before.
