Washington, DC | Lisbon
Technical Communications Lead
Development Seed seeks a storyteller and communications strategist to create and share insights about our planet. You will tell compelling stories with earth and location data, using tools created by Development Seed and our global partners to advance concerns surrounding the climate, conservation efforts, and social justice. You will advocate for actionable, accessible earth data by continually producing valuable open analysis and stories.
As the first communications professional at Development Seed, you will have a significant role in shaping our voice and communications strategy. You will amplify Development Seed values and messaging throughout geospatial and open source communities.
We believe in the power of data to enable decision-makers to solve the world’s toughest problems. We help NASA manage planetary-scale satellite data, work with the World Bank to expand electricity access and renewable energy, and built Washington Post’s live election maps seen by millions. At our core, Development Seed is an impact-driven organization, working to make positive social and environmental change by providing stakeholders with the information they need to make smart, well-informed decisions. We embrace diversity as a strength and believe that teams with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds deliver rich and humane data products.
As a communications lead, you will:
- Show, not tell. You will evangelize for accessible and actionable earthdata by producing compelling, actionable open geospatial analysis and stories.
- Lead Development Seed communications strategy and advance our values and messages in blogs, talks, and other channels.
- Communicate complex technical data and concepts in ways that resonate with non-technical decision-makers.
- Support rich data storytelling in our project work, helping our partners—big and small—to make greater impact with their data.
About You
You are deeply curious, love digging into data and have a knack for drawing out stories that other people find compelling. You are good at making complex concepts digestible and sticky.
You have experience regularly producing data-driven communications products—perhaps as a journalist, data scientist, information designer, technical writer, or communications professional. You are familiar with earthdata and geospatial data and tools OR have the ability to quickly develop a working understanding of earthdata tools and concepts through self-guided research.
You are creative and enjoy storytelling in all its forms - oral, visual, written, and digital. To be successful in this role you need to know where the story is.
Bonus points for sharing:
- A story that you’ve published (self-published is fine) that leverages complex data and maps.
- How you’ve driven a positive outcome on behalf of an organization or endeavor through thoughtful, strategic communications.
As a Development Seed team member, you:
- Collaborate — Working as a team makes us stronger than any individual contributor. You write clear Github tickets and communicate effectively on Slack and in-person.
- Learn — We constantly evolve our technology stack and techniques to deliver the best work to our partners. You don’t need to know any particular design library or toolset upfront but you need to demonstrate you’re able and excited to learn new ways to design.
- Care about the world and believe that we can do better — Social change is the foundation of everything we do. You are impatient about solving the world’s toughest challenges.
Not sure you tick all the boxes? We encourage you to apply. We have a culture of learning, and if this job description sounds exciting, we’d love to hear from you.
Development Seed embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.
Browse other jobs