The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world's population sees AP journalism every day.

Why this role matters:

The Associated Press seeks a skilled software engineer to join the AP Elections team. You will design, build, and maintain automated ETL pipelines, web scraping systems and internal web applications that support AP’s elections business. Reporting to the Elections Automation manager, you will develop scalable pipelines and tools to ensure accurate, timely, and secure delivery of election results and related data and analytics. This position is based in Washington, D.C., though exceptional candidates elsewhere will be considered, and is covered by AP’s agreement with the News Media Guild.

What you will do:

• Join a team of engineers, data scientists, researchers and editors who transform complex elections data workflows into robust, automated systems.
• Leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance automation across elections data workflows, including optimizing ETL pipelines, improving data quality and supporting predictive or anomaly-detection features.
• Evaluate, prototype and operationalize AI tools that strengthen AP’s ability to collect, validate, and deliver accurate elections data at scale. While primarily an engineer, you also believe data is journalism and are eager to advance AP’s tradition of excellence in elections reporting.
• Develop, deploy, and maintain internal web applications and APIs (e.g., Flask-based services) supporting data management, quality control, reporting workflows, and operational dashboards.
• Implement scalable solutions using cloud and big-data platforms, including AWS, Databricks, Redshift, Spark, Hadoop, Hive, and Kafka.
• Architect and optimize relational and non-relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB) to support production pipelines and real-time workflows.
• Collaborate with researchers, analysts, editors, and news leaders to ensure the reliability, accuracy, and efficiency of elections-related systems.
• Maintain and deploy Python-based services in Linux environments like CentOS. Manage system packages, configure virtual environments, monitor application performance, and ensure reliability of long-running services.
• Participate in pre-election testing, quality assurance, and production-day operations to ensure resilient, fail-safe delivery of critical data.
• Support exploration and responsible adoption of automation and AI technologies that enhance elections reporting and data workflows.
• Contribute to documentation, coding standards, and best practices to ensure long-term maintainability of systems and services.

Who you are (Required):

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in computer science, software engineering, data engineering, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience
• Professional proficiency in Python (including Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, scikit-learn, Flask), SQL, JavaScript and Shell scripting. Familiarity with data science languages such as R would be a plus.
• Experience developing production data pipelines and distributed data systems using AWS, Databricks, Spark, Hadoop, Hive, Kafka, Redshift, and related technologies. Experience with relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB).
• Familiarity with containerized deployment workflows using Docker and orchestration of multi-process Python applications.
• Experience with web scraping tools and frameworks such as Requests, BeautifulSoup, Selenium, or Playwright.
• Applicants must be able to work in the U.S. or obtain permission to do so.
• Willingness to work nights and weekends, as AP operates 24/7 and polls often close after business hours.
• Advanced professional competency in written and spoken English. Proficiency in another language is a plus.

What will set you apart:

• Experience with elections data or in a newsroom, civic-tech, or public-data environment.
• Familiarity with U.S. election mechanics, including how results are collected, reported, and verified.
• Experience contributing to high-pressure, high-availability systems with strict deadlines.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code frameworks, and automated testing.
• Ability to build tools serving diverse technical and non-technical users.
• Experience collaborating with data analysts, editors, and software engineers in mission-critical environments.

We will consider strong candidates who do not meet every listed qualification. You may use a cover letter to describe the unique qualifications you would bring to this role.

Salary & Benefits:

This position is covered by The Associated Press’ contract with the News Media Guild, which provides for a minimum annual salary for Class A staff of between $53,477.32 to $85,214.48, based on location and years of professional experience. The anticipated salary range for this position is $110,000 to $120,000. Additional compensation is negotiable based on a job candidate’s skills, qualifications and market location. The Associated Press offers comprehensive benefits, which include:

• • Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage
  • Retirement benefits
  • Company paid life insurance
  • Paid vacation and sick days
  • Paid parental leave for any new parent
  • Mental well-being resources

Application deadline is February 9, at 11:59p.m. ET.

AP seeks to build an inclusive organization grounded in respect for differences. We support all aspects of diversity and provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, status as a veteran, or other characteristic protected by law.