The Pulitzer Prize-winning International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is partnering with graph database company Neo Technology on a newly created Neo4j Connected Data Fellowship, announced today at the GraphConnect Europe conference. The program will allow a data journalist or a programmer to work at ICIJ for six months making sense of complex data and finding stories inside networks.
The fellow will work full time from one of our offices in the United States (Washington, D.C.), France (Paris) or Spain (Madrid) and will be part of the Data & Research Unit, a multidisciplinary team of programmers and data reporters that uses technological innovation to enrich cross-border investigations with data analysis and reporting.
ICIJ’s most recent exposé, the Panama Papers, has received close to 20 awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and has led to at least 150 investigations in 79 countries. ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks Database, a graph database of offshore companies registered in tax havens and secretive jurisdictions, has been visited by more than six million visitors in the past year.
While Neo Technology is sponsoring the fellowship, ICIJ alone will have complete editorial control over the fellow’s work and the topics covered. The selected candidate will actively participate in our current projects, which involve hundreds of reporters around the globe. Tasks include integrating different data sources into graph databases, discovering story leads inside datasets and implementing the best tools for analysis and visualization.
The background of candidates could range from recent graduates of journalism or computer engineering programs to experienced data journalists or programmers. The successful applicant will have some experience working with graph databases and know how to connect the dots to produce data-driven investigations. Knowledge of web scraping, and data cleaning and analysis are preferred.
ICIJ is committed to hiring employees from diverse backgrounds. People of color, women, LGBTQ, and differently-abled people are strongly encouraged to apply. To work out of ICIJ’s Washington, D.C., office, candidates must be U.S. citizens or already have a valid work visa to work in the United States. Candidates who are able to work in Europe will also be considered if they’re willing to work from Paris or Madrid. The fellow is expected to start in early July 2017 or sooner. Salary will be based on experience.
Are you interested in applying? Please send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you think you’re the right candidate for this fellowship to Mar Cabra, editor of the ICIJ Data & Research Unit: mcabra@icij.org. Feel free to email too if you have any questions. Applications close on June 1 at 23:59 PDT.