Research Scientist 2

Working at MIT offers opportunities that just aren’t found anywhere else, including generous and unique benefits that help to ensure that MIT employees are healthy, supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work/life balance.

We welcome people from all walks of life to bring their talent, ideas, and experience to our community. We strongly encourage applications from individuals from all identities and backgrounds – like yours. If you want to be part of our exceptional, multicultural, collaborative, and inclusive community, then take a look at this opportunity.

MIT provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the Institute reasonably expects to pay for a full time position at the time of posting (if you are applying for a part time salaried job, you will need to prorate the posted pay range). The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements. This pay range represents base pay only and does not include any other benefits or compensation.

Research Scientist 2

• Job Number: 26093

• Functional Area: Research - Other

• Department: Political Science

• School Area: Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences

• Pay Range Minimum: $74,000

• Pay Range Maximum: $111,000

• Employment Type: Full-Time

• Employment Category: Exempt

• Visa Sponsorship Available: No

• Schedule: M-F

• Pay Grade: No Grade

Posting Description

RESEARCH SCIENTIST 2, Political Science-MIT Election Data and Science Lab(MEDSL), to oversee the data science workflow of the lab's election-related data collection, processing, and dissemination efforts including assisting the director with designing and implementing research projects, gathering and analyzing data, designing research protocols, and documenting results; managing data science and quality control for the 2026 release of the Elections Performance Index (EPI); acquiring data from government sources and designing protocols to update indicators not provided by government sources; assisting with redistricting data collection/dissemination efforts; working with web designers to update EPI website and creating original content for MEDSL website; onboarding and monitoring the work of students/research support associates; tracking scholarship in the field of election science; and performing other data science/administative/reporting duties as assigned. MEDSL aims to improve the democratic experience for all U.S. voters by applying scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: Master's degree in data science, political science, or related area; experience analyzing data independently using statistical programs such as R Python, and Stata; excellent written and oral communication skills; flexibility; initiative; and ability to work as part of a team and as an independent researcher. PREFERRED: Research experience in voting, elections, election administration, redistricting, campaign finance, or similar subjects; demonstrated portfolio in data science and/or original computationally-intensive quantitative social science; candidates for and recent Ph.D. recipients in political science, economics, or related field with strong data science concentration; and knowledge of web design and architecture; or at least four years' field experience in elections and voting research and significant data science experience will also be considered.

9/23/2026