Contract Data Engineer at Climate Cabinet in Chicago, IL

Role: Contract Data Engineer
Role Purpose: Enhance and maintain Climate Cabinet's vital data infrastructure and tooling.
Location: Remote anywhere in the US
Priority Deadline to Apply: March 13, 2026
Expected Start Date: March 2026
Contract Duration: 6 months with option to extend
Hours: Open to time commitment of between 15-40 hours per week. Project assignments will be adjusted to match contractor capacity.
Compensation: We anticipate an hourly rate range of $60–$120 per hour, depending on experience and demonstrated skill level. Contractors with deeper experience, particularly in political data systems, AI infrastructure, and independent project leadership may be compensated at the higher end of the range. We expect total contract value to vary based on weekly hours and scope.

About Climate Cabinet

Climate Cabinet helps state and local champions win on climate. We support high-impact, under-the-radar offices who have “outsized impact” on our ability to solve the climate crisis - from clean energy buildout to zero-carbon transportation. These leaders drive progress regardless of who is in the White House. 

We are a dynamic, passionate team of experienced climate experts with staff on-the-ground across the country and a remote-first workplace. We create a clear, kind culture of agency and growth—sharing expectations openly, giving space for initiative, and supporting one another as full people to build their climate movement leadership in service of our climate mission.

Role Summary

Climate Cabinet is seeking a Contract Data Engineer to enhance and maintain our vital data infrastructure and tooling. This role is pivotal in identifying and leveraging opportunities to support the election of pro-climate candidates in overlooked but impactful electoral positions, and the passage of impactful pro-climate legislation in state houses across the country.

Scope of Work

This role will support Climate Cabinet’s small, tight-knit engineering team (the “Tech Team”), which is responsible for:

• Data Infrastructure and Pipeline Development: Design and maintain robust backend systems, data pipelines, and cloud-based storage and processing to support large-scale electoral and civic data analysis.
• Data Integration and Management: Ensure the accuracy and completeness of data related to 500,000+ local offices, and regularly update our databases with external data sources like LegiScan and Open States for up-to-date legislative information, demographics, and climate data.
• Application Development: Build out the internal toolset with applications that streamline operations, such as custom database interfaces for tracking electoral data and fundraising activities. 
• Data Analysis and Visualization: Develop defensible, well-thought-through methodologies for calculating useful metrics. Analyze and generate data visualizations to support Political, Policy, Comms, and Development teams, enforcing high standards for analysis quality and accurate data-driven storytelling.
• AI Infrastructure and Tool Development: Build out AI-powered tools and connect Climate Cabinet datasets to provide powerful self-serve policy analysis and data visualization tools to the broader team. 

The Contract Data Engineer will collaborate closely with the Tech Team, managing work via Jira and Github. This role will take the lead on specific projects that will be agreed with the team as well as provide code review and input on projects led by other team members.

Sample Projects:

• Build out Climate Cabinet’s repository of district-level data and expand tooling to support the creation of district-specific legislator briefs.
• Expand and future-proof Climate Cabinet’s political candidate metrics system to improve understanding of how competitive an incumbent legislator is in their district.
• Build a data pipeline and basic visualization interface for state-level campaign finance data.

Applicant Requirements

This role is ideal for someone who is excited about the challenges and opportunities of working in a small organization focused on meaningful climate action through political engagement. The ideal candidate has experience working with, building, and maintaining civic and political datasets and infrastructure, and has strong political data acumen and analysis experience, including the ability to make informed decisions about designing methodologies, assessing data quality, and developing visualizations.

This is a technical role, and an ideal applicant will have:

• Proficiency in Python for data analysis and manipulation
• Experience with SQL and database management (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• Fluency with Github for version control 
• Experience building and managing data systems via Google Cloud Platform (preferred) or AWS
• Experience orchestrating ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines on cloud infrastructure (using Apache Airflow, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, etc.)
• Ability to work with APIs and integrate various data sources
• Knowledge of data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, D3.js)
• Familiarity with political data sources and electoral processes (e.g. Legiscan, Open States, BillTrack50) and proficiency with data analysis, particularly political data
• Knowledge of AI tools (preferred)
• Comfort with AI in workflow (Github Copilot, Claude Code, etc)
• Knowledge of building AI applications (MCPs, LLM integrations, etc)

Application Process

• We are accepting applications via Greenhouse on a rolling basis with a priority deadline of March 13 – include a resume and a proposal that includes the following: 
  • Links to past work if available (e.g. personal Github)
• Introduction and relevant experience
• Availability: start date and hours
• Proposed contracting rate
• 2-3 References
• All applications submitted through March 13 will be reviewed and candidates will receive updates on their candidacy no later than April 3.
• The interview process will include 1-2 Zoom interviews with the hiring manager and engineering team, a real-time technical assessment, and reference checks.

No obligation to contract: This request for proposal does not obligate Climate Cabinet to contract for services specified herein.

Rejection of proposals: Climate Cabinet reserves the right at its sole discretion to reject any and all proposals received without penalty and not to issue a contract as a result of this request for proposal.

You should apply! We encourage applications from people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, women, first-gen and low-income people, and members of marginalized communities. 

Climate Cabinet is an equal opportunity employer. Climate Cabinet believes every employee has the right to work in an environment free from unlawful discrimination. Consistent with applicable federal, state and local laws, Climate Cabinet provides all employees and applicants with equal opportunity in all aspects of the employment relationship. This includes employment decisions related to hiring, promotions, transfers, disciplinary action, termination, and training. Climate Cabinet will comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in employment.

Want to learn more about Climate Cabinet? Check out our recent interview on Volts and climatecabinet.org