Director of Survey Research

Location: Chicago, IL or Washington, DC 

Reports to: CEO

Salary: $185,000-$219,000 + bonus + equity

About Tavern Research

Tavern Research is a political tech startup building tools and insights to help our customers win elections and make better, evidence-based decisions. We specialize in scaling expert human work, such as content generation and survey research to support thoughtful, data-driven civic engagement. We're a venture-backed, mission-driven, fast-moving, and mostly technical team focused on supporting campaigns and organizations working to strengthen democratic participation. We are experimental by design and expect every team member to continuously improve how they work using new tools and technology. Everything else is on our website. If you still have questions, let us know when you apply!

About You
You've spent a career doing serious political polling at the highest levels, the kind that shapes how candidates talk to voters and how organizations make decisions that actually matter. You've led teams, advised under pressure, and built a reputation on delivering results when the stakes are real. You believe Democrats can win more if they use data better, and you want to be part of building what that looks like at the frontier of AI and political research. This isn't a role for someone who wants to maintain the status quo. It's for someone who wants to define what comes next.

About the Role
This is a senior leadership position. As Director of Survey Research, you'll own Tavern's public opinion research function end-to-end: setting the methodological standard, leading the team, advising on strategy, and serving as the credible public face of our research work. You'll work closely with the CEO and be the go-to voice when a client needs a deep briefing or a reporter needs a credible source.

We value in-person work and expect employees based in Chicago to work regularly from our South Loop office. We also welcome remote candidates, ideally based in Washington, DC.

If you have strong team members you'd like to bring along, we'd love to talk to them too.

Responsibilities

Research & Quality Leadership

• Own Tavern’s polling, opinion research, and strategic insights functions
• Design and oversee large-scale survey research, message testing, audience segmentation, and longitudinal tracking studies
• Establish and enforce methodological standards for rigor, reliability, and statistical validity across the organization
• Serve as the final quality control layer for all research deliverables, catching what others miss while mentoring researchers and partnering with engineers to build LLM systems that improve research accuracy over time.
• Develop and champion AI-assisted methodologies for sentiment analysis, behavioral forecasting, and opinion modeling
• Translate complex datasets into clear, actionable strategic recommendations for leadership and clients

Strategic Advisory

• Serve as a senior thought partner to the CEO and leadership team on public perception, communications strategy, and stakeholder sentiment
• Identify emerging trends, narrative shifts, and risks before they surface publicly
• Advise clients on policy, messaging, and the political landscape in real time
• Inform Tavern's product roadmap through research-backed insight

Team & Organizational Leadership

• Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing research team
• Establish research operations, vendor relationships, and governance processes
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across product, communications, and client teams
• Handle in-depth polling briefings with clients and campaigns when needed; you're a key backstop for client-facing depth

External Engagement & Communications

• Serve as Tavern's primary public voice on polling, methodology, and political opinion research
• Brief media, engage with campaigns, academic institutions, and think tanks with fluency and credibility
• Know what a reporter will find interesting and how to deliver it well

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in political polling or public opinion research
• Deep expertise in survey methodology, statistical inference, sampling, and experimental design
• Track record in Democratic campaigns and advocacy at a senior level (presidential, Senate, or gubernatorial experience a plus)
• Demonstrated success managing and developing research teams
• Excellent communicator with strong media instincts, comfortable briefing everyone from candidates to reporters to boards, and serving as a public-facing voice through press, panels, and published work.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted research tools, or genuine curiosity about building new methodologies
• Bonus: You have a trusted team member who’s ready to join alongside you.

To be explicit: you don't need a degree to work here. You just need to be exceptional at what we're asking from you.

Benefits

• Premium health insurance
• Unlimited PTO
• Office closed for all federal holidays
• 401k match
• Equity

Tavern Research is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.