Director, Data & Elections Experiences, NBC News

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Comcast NBCUniversal has announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company ('Versant') comprised of most of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025.

NBC News is seeking a Director for Data and Election Experiences to lead the strategic and editorial development of cross-platform journalism driven by NBC News data reporting and the NBC News Decision Desk teams. This director will be focused on election data, polling on politics and broader sentiment, and voter demographics. The director will also partner with the wider newsroom on data reporting to streamline efforts across platforms, elevate impact, and generate reporting targets. As part of the focus on data, this role will also explore emerging applications of AI in journalism — partnering with the NBC News Group AI team, NBC News Standards, and editorial leadership to pilot reporting tools, develop analytics models and frameworks, and bring together cross-functional teams to identify and test responsible newsroom use cases. Oftentimes, this role will operate at the intersection of editorial, product, and technology to help drive coverage that informs audiences and fuels innovative storytelling across core editorial topics. 

The ideal candidate is a newsroom leader with broad and deep experience covering elections, politics, and national news, working closely with product teams and business leaders to build editorial packages. The person must be exceptionally organized and detail-oriented. This candidate will help shape and facilitate how we tell data-driven stories on NBCNews.com, streaming platforms, broadcast, and social media. As such, this candidate must be an excellent cross-team collaborator, partnering with various platforms and being flexible to their storytelling needs.

This person will manage a team of data and elections-focused journalists and report to the Director of Elections. The role is based in New York and requires a minimum of three days in the office.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-platform strategy for data, polling, and demographic coverage related to U.S. elections in partnership with key stakeholders across editorial teams and the Decision Desk
• Lead analysis of polling and demographic data and surface meaningful trends, voter behavior patterns, and sentiment shifts
• Manage a small team of data and elections-focused journalists
• Oversee and/or edit writing coming directly out of the Decision Desk teams, in cooperation with the digital politics team
• Partner with editorial, product, design, and technology teams to build and enhance reporting tools, dashboards, and data visualizations
• Partner with editorial, product, design, and graphics teams to execute NBC News Election and Race Results pages on NBCNews.com and across other platforms
• Coordinate with external polling partners and data vendors as needed.
• Connect data reporting efforts across teams and platforms to produce a unified approach to data journalism 
• Serve as a key point of contact on the editorial side for AI in the newsroom
• Partner with key stakeholders, the NBC News AI team, Standards and Legal; and editorial leadership to explore and apply AI tools and analytics, convene teams, and define responsible use cases
• Collaborate with television and streaming editorial leads to translate data and polling into compelling on-air segments and digital-first explainers.
• Clearly and concisely communicate plans, goals, and priorities
• Uphold data integrity and editorial standards, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and accessibility.
• Travel as often as one day a week to the NBC News Decision Desk offices in Philadelphia

• 10 or more years of experience in a newsroom or media organization focused on politics, elections, or data journalism.
• 10 or more years covering politics and/or elections.
• 5 or more years of experience working with product, tech, and design teams.
• Proven ability to work across product teams, data graphics, and editorial teams on large data sets and polling results.
• Strong editorial judgment and ability to tell clear, compelling stories.
• Strong ability to collaborate across teams and responsiveness to platform needs.
• Proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools.
• Deep knowledge of the U.S. political system and electoral trends.

Desired Characteristics

• Experience with in-house polling or polling partnerships.
• Ability to present data insights across multiple platforms.
• Familiarity with election modeling or forecasting.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Passion for public service journalism and NBC News mission.

Additional Requirements:

• Hybrid: This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of three days per week.

This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks. Learn more about the benefits offered by NBCUniversal by visiting the Benefits page of the Careers website. Salary range: $175,000 - $210,000 (bonus and long-term incentive eligible)

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].