Data Analyst for Data Stories

We are seeking an **extremely detail-oriented Data Analyst** to support the development of original data stories, rankings, and research projects. This role will be responsible for sourcing, cleaning, analyzing, and validating large datasets—particularly data from government agencies and other authoritative public sources—to uncover meaningful insights and develop accurate, defensible rankings. The ideal candidate has significant experience working with complex public datasets, including sources such as the **U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, CDC, FBI, Department of Transportation, and other federal, state, and local government databases**. They should be comfortable navigating government websites, APIs, downloadable data files, data dictionaries, methodology documentation, and datasets that may require significant cleaning or restructuring before analysis. Attention to detail is critical. The analyst will be expected to carefully validate data, identify inconsistencies or anomalies, understand changes in methodology or definitions across datasets and years, and ensure calculations can be independently reproduced. They should be comfortable questioning results that appear unusual and tracing numbers back to their original source rather than simply accepting outputs at face value. The candidate should be highly proficient in **Excel and Google Sheets**, including advanced formulas, lookups, pivot tables, conditional logic, data cleaning, filtering, joins, and working with large datasets. Experience with additional analytical tools such as **SQL, Python, R, Tableau, or similar platforms** is strongly preferred. This person will work closely with writers, editors, and digital PR teams to transform raw data into compelling, newsworthy stories. They should be able to move beyond simply producing calculations and help identify interesting patterns, regional differences, trends, outliers, and potential story angles within the data. Key responsibilities include: * Researching and identifying credible datasets from government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofits, and other authoritative sources. * Working extensively with U.S. Census Bureau data and similar large-scale government datasets. * Cleaning, standardizing, merging, and organizing data from multiple sources and formats. * Developing methodologies for city, state, metro, and national rankings. * Building scoring models, indexes, weighted rankings, percent changes, rates, per-capita metrics, and other calculations used in data-driven stories. * Creating clear, well-organized Excel and Google Sheets workbooks that allow calculations and methodologies to be easily reviewed and reproduced. * Performing rigorous quality assurance on datasets, calculations, rankings, and final results. * Cross-checking findings against source documentation and identifying potential errors, missing data, or methodological limitations. * Reviewing data dictionaries, technical documentation, survey methodologies, and definitions to ensure datasets are being interpreted correctly. * Identifying compelling findings, trends, correlations, geographic differences, and outliers that can become strong story angles. * Creating charts, tables, maps, and other visualizations that clearly communicate findings. * Documenting sources, calculations, assumptions, exclusions, and methodology for each project. * Collaborating with writers and editors to explain complex findings in a clear and accessible way. * Maintaining a very high standard of accuracy, particularly for studies that will be published and cited by journalists or other organizations. The ideal candidate will have: * Several years of professional experience in data analysis, research, data journalism, economics, statistics, or a related field. * Extensive experience working with **government and public datasets**, particularly U.S. Census Bureau data. * Advanced proficiency in **Excel and Google Sheets**. * Strong data-cleaning, validation, and quality-assurance skills. * Experience combining multiple datasets using geographic identifiers, FIPS codes, ZIP codes, metropolitan statistical areas, or similar geographic classifications. * A strong understanding of percentages, rates, averages, medians, normalization, weighting, indexing, and ranking methodologies. * The ability to identify when a result is statistically or logically suspicious and independently investigate the cause. * Experience creating data visualizations and presenting analytical findings clearly. * Strong documentation skills and the ability to create transparent, reproducible methodologies. * Excellent organizational skills and an exceptionally high level of attention to detail. * The ability to manage multiple data projects simultaneously while maintaining accuracy. * Strong communication skills and the ability to explain analytical decisions to nontechnical stakeholders. Experience supporting **data journalism, digital PR, SEO-driven research, or original research studies** is especially valuable. We are looking for someone who approaches datasets with curiosity and skepticism, cares deeply about accuracy, and can turn messy, complex information into reliable findings and compelling stories.