Technical Director

What to know

In this role, you’ll help set a vision for technology and data strategy at Blue State, with a focus on analytics platforms including ARC, Blue State’s set of proprietary reporting platforms and tools. The work you do will be critically important both for Blue State and for our mix of leading charities, campaigns, advocacy organizations, and brands. You love to use your problem-solving skills to further clients’ missions through use of data, personalization, automation, and AI.

You are a technical expert, a campaign practitioner, and a mentor to others, with the ability to communicate well with everyone from digital strategists and analysts to CMOs and CTOs. You’ll partner with business and craft leaders at Blue State to shape our offerings, upskill staff, evolve our methods, and put data at the heart of our partnerships. You’ll develop new and novel solutions to solve the complex challenges faced by our clients and our teams of strategists, creatives, and analysts who lead the work we do for them.

You’ll report to the Chief Technology Strategist.

The company

Blue State is a purpose-driven agency. We partner with leading causes, brands, and campaigns and create real change. From Google and UNICEF to Amnesty International and Oxfam, we transform how brands and causes raise money, influence policy, build platforms, and grow communities of supporters. Led by the most creative and analytical minds from the political, nonprofit, and brand worlds, Blue State is a part of WPP Digital and has 150+ employees in the US and London.

A day in the life

• Build data models, pipelines, and products that allow our team of analysts to scale their talent and deliver more actionable insights. Focus on automation and repeatability of solutions. Help to define and evolve the product vision and roadmap for ARC.
• Bridge our Analytics, Strategy, and Tech/Product consulting offerings and help position Blue State for growth in this area. 
• Mentor staff, coaching them on how to solve analytics challenges and fostering their growth as data professionals.
• Review other team members’ work from technical design, performance, and code review perspectives, helping to share your expertise and build skills.
• Work with other senior leaders to introduce new approaches and models for reporting, forecasting, projections, benchmarking, measurement, optimization, supporter scoring, and attribution.
• Assess a client’s data systems, data collection, and data usage, and make recommendations that align with their business goals and Blue State’s campaign tactics.
• Contribute to a vision for the smart use of data to improve outcomes for our clients. 
• Help pursue new business and maintain the health of existing accounts. As needed, assist with regular development and review of data- and analytics-focused pitches and proposals.
• Speak publicly on behalf of the company at events and in publication.

The team

You will be a part of our technical strategy team in NY, working closely with our Analytics, Strategy, and Technology teams and working with project and client teams across our offices.

What we offer

• Unlimited time-off (inclusive of sick, personal, and vacation days)
• $1,000 annually in professional development funds
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Inclusive family planning coverage, including fertility, surrogacy, and adoption benefits
• Flexible and health savings accounts
• 401K & employer match
• Generous paid holiday schedule
• 12-week fully-paid parental leave for all parents-to-be
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Remote work flexibility

We approach in-office working with a hybrid model. On-site presence is welcome for US staff who are within commuting distance of the NY or DC office. Managers retain discretion to require in-person attendance for folks on their discipline or client teams as necessary, including for those whose roles require them to be in person. To enter our US offices or attend Blue State events, staff and visitors must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including with a booster shot when eligible. Exceptions for protected grounds will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The salary range for this position is $125,000–$155,000; compensation will be commensurate with experience.

Some things we're looking for

• 8+ years of experience in data science and data strategy with direct experience working with CRM data.
• Experience with a range of marketing technologies, including a mix of CRM systems, messaging platforms, journey management tools, media platforms, and business intelligence tools. Knowledge of emerging categories like CDPs and personalization tools is a plus, as is experience with technology platforms typically used by non-profit organizations.
• Experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a big plus.
• You can code when needed, with experience in SQL, Python, R, or Javascript. You know what it takes to operationalize solutions, from development and release processes to deployment strategies to monitoring and issue resolution.
• You have experience telling stories through data visualization. In addition to data manipulation and processing, you’re familiar with more advanced libraries or packages for stats modeling and machine learning. Experience building robust ETL or ELT pipelines is a definite plus!
• Excellent communication skills. Ability to interact with all levels of end users, and colleagues.
• Strong collaborator and relationship builder.
• Ability to adapt to new situations, solve problems on the fly, and communicate with those around you. Teamwork and scrappiness required.
• A shared passion and curiosity for making change. This includes comfort with ambiguity, a restlessness that resists the status quo, and a commitment to quality that ensures we’re always making progress.

At Blue State, diversity is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. We encourage those from underrepresented communities — women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, those with disabilities and people at all the intersections in between — to apply. Even if you don’t think your current skill set checks every box, but this role seems to align with your strengths, we want to hear from you.

Blue State is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible application and interview process. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a disability, please contact us at [email protected] with the subject line: Accommodation Request to get started.