Events Team Staff Writer (Remote)
Ballotpedia is seeking a full-time, 100% remote Staff Writer to join our Events Team. The team specializes in becoming experts on the stories, conflicts, and elections that matter most to voters, constituents, and the public. We neutrally present key facts and news updates about these stories, focusing on those with broad impact and significant influence on political power and outcomes at all levels of government—from presidential elections to school boards.
About the role
A successful staff writer will be passionate and knowledgeable about politics, comfortable designing research methods, and adept at conducting extensive research using media, political websites, official government sources, and direct outreach. They must write about complex topics in a neutral, clear, and concise manner, with a strong commitment to accuracy, completeness, innovation, and neutrality. Excellent writing, organizational skills, proofreading ability, and familiarity with style guides (Ballotpedia uses its own guide based on the AP Stylebook) are essential. Candidates should embrace critical feedback as an opportunity to deliver greater value to readers and maintain orderly habits to innovate and improve.
Responsibilities
- Produce articles with strong introductions and ledes that capture key elements of elections and political stories.
- Build and manage assigned articles in line with Ballotpedia's writing guidelines and quality standards.
- Monitor breaking news daily and make timely updates to articles based on reader impact.
- Respond to news by quickly developing new articles as needed.
- Contribute to Ballotpedia's newsletter products.
- Use and generate complex procedure checklist documentation for key tasks.
- Keep the managing editor informed of project progress.
- Learn and master Ballotpedia's taxonomy of bias.
- Interact professionally and helpfully with co-workers, customers, and the media.
Requirements
- Demonstrated passion for Ballotpedia's mission.
- Knowledge of the United States political system.
- Experience working with databases and spreadsheets.
- Professional or academic writing and/or editing experience.
- Interest in or experience using AI tools to increase productivity.
- Superb organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Desire to collaborate with staff across departments.
- Comfort seeking and responding to feedback.
- Drive for innovation, flexibility, and proactive problem-solving.
- Self-awareness and commitment to constant improvement.
Environment
The Events Team Staff Writer will work remotely from their home location. All Ballotpedia staff work remotely and must have a computer with internet access. Familiarity with Google Suite (Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive), Slack, and Asana is helpful. Ballotpedia offers a flexible work environment (BP Flex) with unlimited vacation and scheduling flexibility.
Pay
The starting pay range for this position is $42,500–$44,000, commensurate with experience. Ballotpedia also provides an annual benefits stipend of $8,000, paid in equal increments with each paycheck once an employee becomes benefits-eligible. The stipend can be used for health, vision, and dental insurance; retirement accounts; and other benefits. If benefits are not elected, the stipend is taxed as regular income and added to salary.
About Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia is a mission-driven organization dedicated to providing Americans with accurate, relevant, and unbiased information about politics, elections, and public policy. Our mission is to ensure that the only unknown on your ballot is who gets your vote. We value innovation, humility, intellectual curiosity, drive, and collaboration, and are committed to continuously improving our offerings to better serve our audiences.