Data & Media Insights Lead

About Middesk

Middesk makes it easier for businesses to work together. Since 2018, we’ve been transforming business identity verification, replacing slow, manual processes with seamless access to complete, up-to-date data. Our platform helps companies across industries confidently verify business identities, onboard customers faster, and reduce risk at every stage of the customer lifecycle.

Middesk came out of Y Combinator, is backed by Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners, and was recently named to Forbes Fintech 50 List and cited as an industry leader in business verification by digital identity strategy firm, Liminal.

About The Role:

You'll own Middesk's data-driven storytelling for national media. This role turns real-time news cycles, government and fraud trends, and Middesk data into timely, credible insights that earn coverage in top-tier outlets.

This is not a content marketing role or a PR generalist role. It's an investigative research and analytical storytelling role for someone who can read the news, spot where data adds clarity, conduct original research, and work closely with a data scientist to produce insights journalists actually want.

Your output is clear: original data stories backed by rigorous research that land in national media and build Middesk's credibility in high-visibility conversations.

What You'll Do:

• Original research & investigations: Lead deep, proactive research that uncovers novel insights, including:

  • Filing and tracking Freedom of Information requests to surface public data others aren't using

  • Researching and synthesizing academic studies, regulatory filings, and government reports

  • Interviewing subject-matter experts, academics, regulators, and industry practitioners to build context and credibility

  • Identifying emerging patterns in fraud, business formation, and enforcement before they hit the news cycle

  • Building ongoing relationships with researchers and experts who can validate or challenge findings

• Data-driven media storytelling: Own Middesk's external, data-led media narratives, including:

  • News-cycle-driven data insights

  • Original data analyses tied to fraud, business identity, and government trends

  • Media-ready narratives, charts (in collaboration with our brand designer), and story angles

  • Translate complex data into clear, defensible insights that journalists can quickly understand and trust

• News cycle & trend intelligence: Proactively identify moments where Middesk data can add signal, context, or counterpoint to the public conversation. Be the first at the company to spot and react to:

  • Fraud trends

  • Government enforcement actions

  • Regulatory changes

  • High-profile cases and policy moments

  • Broader business and economic news tied to entities and identity

• Partnership with data science: Work in tight partnership with a dedicated data scientist to:

  • Shape hypotheses based on news, research findings, and emerging trends

  • Define analyses that are fast, relevant, and defensible

  • Pressure-test findings before they go external

  • Turn raw outputs into clear storylines, headlines, and talking points

• Media narrative packaging & pitching: Develop complete, media-ready story packages, including:

  • Clear story angles and headlines

  • Key findings and takeaways

  • Supporting charts or data points

  • Quotable context journalists can reference

• Credibility & quality bar: Act as the final editorial checkpoint for all external data stories, ensuring Middesk earns trust through rigor and evidence. Do this by:

  • Maintaining a high bar for accuracy, defensibility, clear sourcing and methodology, and non-promotional, insight-first framing

  • Ensuring Middesk's data stories can withstand journalist skepticism, public scrutiny, and regulatory or policy-aware audiences

How Success Is Measured:

• Media impact

  • Consistent placement of Middesk data stories in national and top-tier outlets

  • Journalists proactively referencing or returning to Middesk for data-backed context

• Research quality & depth

  • Original insights that couldn't exist without your investigative work

  • Freedom of information requests, expert interviews, and academic research directly inform published stories

• Timeliness & relevance

  • Middesk data is tied to active news cycles, not retrospective thought pieces

  • Stories feel timely, necessary, and additive to the conversation

• Data credibility

  • Insights are quoted accurately and not walked back

  • Middesk is seen as a reliable and serious source, not a hype-driven commentator

• Internal leverage

  • Middesk leadership relies on your work to respond quickly to breaking news

  • Data stories reduce the need for reactive scrambling by creating a repeatable motion

We're Looking For Someone With:

• 8+ years in data storytelling, investigative journalism, investigative reporting, research, or insight-driven content roles

• Proven experience conducting original research including filing FOI/FOIA requests, analyzing public records, and synthesizing academic or regulatory sources

• Experienced interviewing academics, experts, regulators, customers, and subject-matter experts to build depth and credibility

• Proven experience turning research and data into stories that land in national or top-tier media

• Strong instinct for news value: you know what's interesting now

• Comfortable working closely with data scientists and questioning assumptions

• Clear, disciplined writer who can explain complex findings without oversimplifying

• Calm under pressure and comfortable working on tight timelines

• Calmly opinionated: you can defend narrative choices without being rigid

• Motivated by clarity, credibility, and long-term impact, not content volume or trends