Assistant Audience Editor (Term-Limited)

Organization Overview  

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. It studies politics and policy; news habits and media; the internet and technology; religion; race and ethnicity; international affairs; social, demographic and economic trends; science; research methodology and data science; and immigration and migration. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. The Center’s work is carried out by a staff of 180.   

Position summary 

This is a term-limited, grant-funded position expected to extend 15 months. 

The Assistant Audience Editor will help connect Pew Research Center’s work with the public by supporting content creation, community engagement, and the day-to-day execution of our audience strategy. This junior role will focus on producing and adapting research content to text, graphics and short-form video for a variety of digital platforms and ensuring that the Center’s findings reach and resonate with broad and diverse audiences. The position will also play a key role in moderating conversations, fostering respectful engagement, and spotting opportunities to bring the Center’s research into discussions of current events. This position reports to the associate director, digital outreach. 

The ideal candidate is an adaptable, curious, and detail-oriented collaborator with strong communication and task management skills, driven by a passion for providing nonpartisan information to the public. 

Primary responsibilities 

• Content creation and posting (75%):  

• Collaborate with researchers, designers, producers, communications strategists and video editors to create text posts, infographics, and video to communicate the Center’s day-to-day findings to a general audience on social media.  

• Craft social messaging that makes complex research findings engaging and understandable while adhering to institutional voice and brand values of accuracy, humility and rigor. 

• Manage social media content calendar, promoting new content as it is published and resharing news-relevant research findings as appropriate. 

• Support major campaigns with first-pass drafts, campaign prep, and monitoring audience engagement.  

• Community engagement and moderation (20%):  

• Monitor social media channels for audience comments, questions, and discussions. Respond to community inquiries or escalate questions to the appropriate team when necessary. 

• Moderate community conversations to ensure they remain respectful and aligned with Pew Research Center’s standards. 

• Track social media conversations to spot emerging trends and public sentiment related to Pew Research Center’s work and key research topics, and use these insights to guide future content creation. 

• Administrative Support (5%): 

• Help with meeting prep (gathering examples, organizing assets).  

• Maintain shared content folders and archives.  

• Capture notes during project check-ins as needed. 

Education/Training/Experience Requirements 

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, media studies, public relations, political science, sociology, or a related field — or equivalent work experience. 

• One to two years digital media experience including managing branded social media accounts, ideally at a think tank, research or news organization. 

Knowledge, Skill, and Workplace 

Content creation & communication 

• Interest in current events and Pew Research Center’s wide-ranging research topics. 

• Strong news judgment and writi