Visual Lease is hiring: Visual Data Journalist in Arlington

OVERVIEW

CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is a leading global provider of commercial and residential real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces. Included in the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100, CoStar Group is on a mission to digitize the world’s real estate, empowering all people to discover properties, insights and connections that improve their businesses and lives.

We have been living and breathing the world of real estate information and online marketplaces for over 35 years, giving us the perspective to create truly unique and valuable offerings to our customers. We’ve continually refined, transformed, and perfected our approach to our business, creating a language that has become standard in our industry, for our customers, and even our competitors. We continue that effort today and are always working to improve and drive innovation. This is how we deliver for our customers, our employees, and investors. By equipping the brightest minds with the best resources available, we provide an invaluable edge in real estate.

ABOUT THE ROLE

CoStar is seeking an experienced Visual Information Journalist to help illustrate CoStar's biggest news stories and also deliver stand-alone infographic data analysis of the latest industry trends, including for Homes.com. This position is both technical and research/journalistic: working closely with and reporting to the creative director, news, you will collaborate and coordinate coverage with news editors, analysts, and developers to pitch story ideas, and enrich articles with interactive features delivering innovative web experiences.

In addition to your coding skills, we are looking for interest in diverse news areas, including the building industry, technology, legislation, housing issues, health care, economics, retail trends and the environment. You might be asked to use data to map areas affected by extreme weather, to illustrate retail trends, or the popularity of cities using data from CoStar analysis and elsewhere. As part of our news team, you will create work that pushes the boundaries of data storytelling and contributes to world-class reporting.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Source data from internal and external sources and/or work directly with analysts to develop story ideas and create engaging, explanatory, easily absorbed data visualizations based on reporting and research.
• Develop data interactives to publish on costar.com and associated news app platform
• Take stories from pitch to publication assist other team members with data research for graphics such as generating maps
• Monitor major industry trends, leaders and companies, including news and social channels, for inspiration and industry relevance.
• Adhere to CoStar’s visual-style guide
• Research and learn new coding languages or technologies as needed.
• Work samples/Portfolio Links are required to send along with your resume.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A high degree of curiosity, interaction design and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to look at data and quickly spot and extract news-worthy indicators.
• At least two years of experience of hands-on reporting and building data visualizations.
• Experience in sourcing and cleaning data
• Proficient in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript front-end technologies
• Experience in JavaScript libraries (including Node, D3, Canvas, WebGL or other rendering/animation libraries)
• Capable in R and/or Python programming languages for data analysis
• Ability to communicate complex ideas and coherently “speak data” in a clear manner to a wide range of audiences; Demonstrated ability to design compelling and intuitive user interfaces.
• Ability to partner and communicate with Product Development Engineers.
• Familiarity with Flourish, Plotly, Datawrapper, FusionCharts or similar
• Strong ability to support multiple activities concurrently.
• Prior experience and/or demonstrated interest in journalism through work experience or extracurricular activities
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
• Interest in commercial real estate/building industry, companies and economies

PREFERRED TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Experience with MapBox, ESRI, QGis, TopoJSON, and/or other mapping and data-viz tools
• Demonstrated ability to design compelling and intuitive user interfaces.
• Ability to partner and communicate with Product Development Engineers.
• Some experience with visual or graphic design using tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, or equivalents.
• Experience in this or related field and a formal education in Informational Technology, Interaction Design, Product Design, HCI, or related field is desirable but not required.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

Working at CoStar Group means you'll enjoy a culture of collaboration and innovation that attracts the best and brightest across various disciplines. In addition to generous compensation and performance-based incentives, you'll be supported in your professional and academic growth with internal training, tuition reimbursement, and an inter-office exchange program.

Our benefits package includes (but is not limited to):

• Comprehensive healthcare coverage: Medical / Vision / Dental / Prescription Drugs
• Life, legal, and supplementary insurance
• Commuter and parking benefits
• 401(K) retirement plans with matching contributions
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Paid time off and parental leave
• Tuition reimbursement
• Complimentary gourmet coffee, tea, hot chocolate, prepared foods, fresh fruit, and other healthy snacks

Become part of a team of professionals enjoying the opportunity to learn, do, and grow in a rewarding atmosphere. But don’t just take our word for it -- see why our team chose to work at and stay at CoStar Group:

CoStar Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer; we maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing

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