Arena Careers

Location:​ Portland area, This position is based in our Portland office, and is not remote.

Salary:​ Salary is commensurate with experience and begins at $4,256/month

Position Category: Full Time, Exempt, Limited Duration

The Democratic Party of Oregon is seeking a Research Assistant for the 2026 Coordinated Campaign. The Research Assistant will be a key member of the research team responsible for monitoring and reporting on candidate events, statements, media appearances, and activities both in-person and virtually as well as coordinating and organizing volunteers to attend events. The Research Assistant will work closely with both the Research and Communications teams, including senior leadership.This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position based in our Portland office. The role involves extensive statewide travel and regular evening and weekend work. This role is not a remote position, and is an entry-level position.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Identify and monitor real-time interviews, news coverage, and opponent events
• Maintain and regularly update an event calendar of opponent events and appearances
• Attend and record events attended by opponents
• Coordinate and organize volunteers to attend events that we know or suspect our opponent will be attending, in addition to attending events themselves
• Recruit, train, and manage all volunteer tracking and provide regular and proactive updates to senior staff
• Transcribe audio and video and write and distribute timely reports describing events, interviews, and media appearances
• Provide additional research support to the department as needed

The ideal candidate will have:

• A valid driver’s license and consistent access to a reliable vehicle to get to and from events (required)
• Must be an Oregon resident or be willing to establish Oregon residency
• Flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances and travel to events upon short notice, including nights and weekends as needed
• Ability to monitor a 24-hour news cycle
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and work under pressure
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and critical thinking ability
• An interest in starting a career in electoral politics or political research
• Previous campaign volunteer or internship experience preferred, but not required

To Apply: Submit a resume with three references and a one-page cover letter detailing your interest and qualifications to [email protected]. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with the intent to hire as soon as possible.

This is a full-time exempt position, based in Portland, available immediately. Benefits include a phone stipend, fully paid health, vision, and dental coverage, guaranteed weekly time off and weekly work hours caps, paid family leave, sick and vacation leave. Salary is commensurate with experience and begins at $4,256/month. This entry-level position is represented by the Campaign Workers Guild.

Please note, this position is a campaign cycle position. You will be expected to work at least 40 hours per week, but may work as many as 60 hours a week as we get closer to election day. This is a limited duration position which is expected to end no later than November 15th. This is not a remote position, and the applicant must be an Oregon resident or be willing to establish Oregon residency.

The Democratic Party of Oregon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all interested applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. We know there are great candidates who won’t fit everything we’ve described above, or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We are dedicated to constantly improving our organization, in part by making sure our staff reflects the communities most impacted by our work. We are committed to building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition.