Spring 2021 DNC Technology Internship
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is offering a unique and exciting opportunity to a select number of qualified individuals interested in the field of technology and politics.
Now accepting applications for spring 2021. The program will run from February 1 to May 14, and will be conducted remotely due to the recent events surrounding COVID-19. The deadline for applications is November 27. The DNC Internship Program provides a $3,000 stipend. Housing is not provided.
All applications must be submitted through our external application portal, linked here. Applications submitted solely through Handshake will not be reviewed.
We are currently seeking diligent, organized, and enthusiastic students or recent graduates with strong data / technology / software skills and a demonstrated interest in political campaigns to assist the DNC’s Technology team. Interns will gain an enhanced understanding of how technology plays a critical role in modern campaigns. The internship will also give real, hands-on technological and political experience that will be valuable for potential future employment opportunities.
DNC Tech works to enable our users -- data directors in state parties, sister committees, vendors, DNC employees outside the Tech team, and campaigns up and down the ballot -- to support and elect Democrats across the country.
Work on the DNC Tech team spans several sub-teams with different focuses. Work we do, and which you might join, varies among:
- supporting our key users with both internal and external tools,
- engineering (primarily in Python, JavaScript, SQL + various APIs),
- data analysis and organization (SQL & Google BigQuery, R, Python),
- statistical modeling and reporting,
- product management, user experience research, and product design,
- building and organizing complex spreadsheets,
- IT support, security support, and counter-disinformation work,
- and more.
As an intern, no matter what sub-team or teams you work most closely with, DNC Tech as a whole will support you and work closely with you to make sure you can access the resources you need to be successful.
Internships on the DNC Tech Team are generally 15 hours/week, but flexibility is possible. In a DNC Tech internship, you’ll be paired with a mentor to guide you in your internship experience. You’ll interact with many different people on the team and learn about all the work that the DNC Tech team does. You’ll be part of the spring 2021 DNC intern class, and will occasionally participate in activities and DNC support with interns from other DNC teams.
Tell us about how your experiences and/or interests match up with some of the work that we listed above, but don’t worry about having specific experience with the tools we use -- as long as you’re willing to learn! To work with the DNC Tech team, the key skills necessary are a willingness to explore, desire to learn, ability to stay organized and to present ideas and questions clearly, and readiness to ask questions and talk to people in order to understand and work on complex problems.
Who we are
The Tech team is a small, diverse team that provides the technology and infrastructure used by candidates and organizers in all 50 states and all 3,413 counties across the United States to analyze data, organize campaigns, raise money, and get out the vote for elections.
Do you want to:
- Secure the future of our country? Right now a lot is at stake in our country and our team has a huge opportunity to make a real difference.
- Work with and learn from amazing people? We’re building a diverse, distributed team, hiring the best people we can wherever they are—alumni from past Presidential campaigns working out of DC and New York, experienced product developers from the SF Bay Area and across the country, and much more.
- Never stop learning? There are people who know about politics and people who know about technology and a few who have figured out some things about how to combine the two, but we are blazing a lot of new trails and you should be comfortable exploring and learning from everyone you can.
Your day to day may consist of:
- Working with the rest of the DNC Tech team, and a smaller project team, in order to develop reporting, communication, and process / product improvements
- Ad-hoc tasks, including but not limited to building reports using Google tools, making queries, sending emails, reading other people’s work to understand it better, editing documentation for clarity or writing new documentation, building charts/reports, data entry, and/or reviewing other people’s code or writing your own
- Meeting with a mentor within the team to discuss your process, concerns, questions, work or anything else you’re interested in (via Zoom or Google Hangouts)
- Regularly scheduled meetings with a mentor and/or your project team(s)
You should be:
- A recent graduate or a current undergraduate or graduate student with an interest in data and technology
- A problem solver who is able to handle multiple tasks at once, working both independently and with others
- Willing to commit 15 hours/week in a remote internship (time zones flexible within the contiguous US time zones)
- Motivated to get Democrats elected up and down the ballot
You might also have familiarity with and interest in one or more of the following areas:
- Knowledge of VAN/Votebuilder - bonus points if you’ve ever been an administrator or a political volunteer using these tools
- Databases and data management using any of the following: Microsoft Excel, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server or similar systems
- Campaign data management relating to field campaigns, including volunteering -- any electoral campaign experience is a bonus
- Any experience volunteering in political spheres, including canvassing or phone banking
We are currently accepting applications for the spring 2021 internship term. Interested candidates should apply through our external portal.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC), is committed to diversity among its staff, and recognizes that its continued success requires the highest commitment to obtaining and retaining a diverse staff that provides the best quality services to supporters and constituents. The DNC is an equal opportunity employer and it is our policy to recruit, hire, train, promote and administer any and all personnel actions without regard to sex, race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity or expression, ethnic identity or disability, or any other legally protected basis. The DNC is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities in the hiring process and on the job, as required by applicable law. The DNC will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination and any such conduct is strictly prohibited.