Our vision is to become the country’s integrated workforce development system, replacing separate brick-and-mortar job centers with an integrated, technology-driven solution that meets low-income individuals right where they are. Today, the federal government spends billions annually on education and training programs, yet only 70% of participants graduate, only 38.6% secure training-related employment, and average first-year earnings are approximately $34,708.
In contrast, our seven-person team outperformed job centers in two entire states (Vermont and South Dakota) just last year. With an 89% graduation rate and 92% of graduates achieving training-related employment, our alumni are not only finding jobs – they’re starting new lives with average first-year earnings of $77,352. The results speak for themselves, and we’re just getting started.
Before Emerge, our founders Zoe and Gabe co-founded Amelio, an award-winning tech nonprofit that is dismantling the prison communications monopoly. Backed by tech giants like Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Jack Dorsey, and major criminal-justice philanthropies like Arnold Ventures and the Mellon Foundation, Amelio became a recognized leader in the field. This experience allowed both Zoe and Gabe to understand what it took to create change within the system. Having served more than 1 million people impacted by incarceration, he has seen firsthand the gap in second chance opportunities and chronic unemployment that plagues those impacted by the justice system. Emerge Carrier is committed to resolving this issue.
Our students are at the center of our work. His travels have received national attention on CBS, NBC and The Boston Globe, and our programs now serve entire states and cities. And we’re not doing it alone: Our vision has attracted support from Alexis Ohanian (776), Michael Seibel, Y Combinator, the Opportunity Fund, and public figures like Diana Taurasi, Deandre Ayton, and Marshawn Lynch. We all believe that, with the right mix of technology and practical practice, we can redefine workforce development and provide true second chances at scale.
Emerge Careers was designed to tackle two systemic issues: recidivism, post-incarceration unemployment and poverty, and labor shortages in key industries. More than 60% of formerly incarcerated people remain unemployed a year after being incarcerated, looking for work but unable to find it. The reality is shocking, workforce development programs inside prison are severely limited, with only one-third of incarcerated people participating. What’s worse, the prison jobs available pay very low wages, often less than $1 an hour, and often do not equip individuals with the skills for long-term stable employment.
we call it a Founder Design Engineer The role – even three years in and with multiple contracts under our belts – for two reasons. First, you’ll be our first engineer, joining our co-founder, who has single-handedly built the entire platform to date. Second, our growth is now outpacing our systems, and we cannot focus solely on maintenance. We are at a turning point: We can either hire someone to take care of what exists, or we can bring in a talent that believes that with the right mix of technology and practical practice, we can integrate the workforce-development system and deliver second chances at the right scale. We hope that could be you.
This is not traditional engineering work. You’ll be doing high-impact technical work, but often you’ll be on the phone with a student, writing documentation, debugging support issues, or figuring out how to turn a one-time solution into a repeatable system. You’ll ship features, talk to users, and fix what’s broken, whether it’s in the product or the process. You’ll create things that matter, not just things that are asked for.
This role blends engineering, product, support, and program operations. We’re looking for someone who is energized by ownership, passionate about user outcomes and excited to work across all domains to make things better. If you’re someone who wants to be hands-on with everything—students, code, strategy, and implementation—then you’ll be successful here.
- You like to contribute to the development of other people. This role will sometimes feel like case work and you will be attracted to it. You’ve dedicated your life to volunteering, working in social impact, or finding ways to make the playing field more fair. You find joy in helping others move forward. You don’t hesitate to call, send a message, or reach out to a student who needs you. You show up consistently, personally, and from the heart.
- You believe everyone deserves a second chance. You treat everyone with respect. You know how to meet people exactly where they are – with empathy and compassion – helping to create a place where everyone feels seen and valued, no matter their background.
- You identify yourself as a successful engineer. You like to find or create a way. You take extreme ownership of ideas, driving them to completion, even when others need convincing. Every time you hit a problem, you think of three new ways to solve the problem.
- You’re tech-forward, but not tech-first. You look for ways to automate and scale, but you know not everything should be automated. You recognize that with the right builder mindset, one coach can support hundreds of individuals – but you also understand that in a program like ours, many moments require the human touch. You know when to hand it over to the system, and when to pick up the phone.
- You are entrepreneurial. You are irritable, resourceful, autonomous, and low-maintenance. You know process matters—but at this level, speed and repetition matter more. You are comfortable building quickly and changing processes frequently to get the right solution. You roll up your sleeves and solve problems. No Job is too small.
- You play to win. You remain optimistic when things get tough and keep going when others slow down. You are not afraid of change or new ideas. You don’t have to agree with everything, but you bring a “yes, and” mentality that helps ideas grow rather than shut them down.
- you work hardYou come early, stay late, and do what needs to be done—no ego, no excuses, You neither wait nor ask for permission, This is not 9 to 5, The team puts in 10+ hours a day because we care about the mission and each other, If this sounds sad, it’s not for you, If this sounds exciting, you’ll fit right in,
- You are a straight shooter. You don’t shy away from difficult conversations, internally or externally. You bring clarity, care, and responsiveness to every interaction.
- You like to learn. You understand that recent advances in AI have changed the way we work and what it means to be a high performer. You tinker with new equipment. You enjoy being an early adopter. You’re always rethinking and adapting the way you work so you can keep moving forward. No one needs to tell you to keep upping your game.
- You have an eye on operational details. This doesn’t mean you’re simply organized. At Emerge, operational excellence isn’t just about efficiency – it’s about protecting the real lives and futures of the people in our programs. You have an almost insane attention to detail, because you understand that even small mistakes have real, human consequences.
- You are one straightforward writer. This doesn’t mean you need to write the next great novel, but you need to communicate ideas simply and clearly. You value accuracy, clarity, and brevity. You understand that good writing reduces confusion, speeds up decisions and ensures everyone stays on board, especially in a high-risk environment like ours.
- You are a powerful motivator. You’ve seen firsthand how a few thoughtful prompts can turn dirty tasks into scalable, repeatable AI workflows. You love tinkering with signals, contexts, and configurations to get exactly the right output, and you take pride in translating cutting-edge AI into practical processes that anyone can use.
- Willingness to relocate to New York City and work in person
- Experience taking a project from 0 to 1. Maybe you’ve led a project, been the first founder, built an impressive side project, or been one of the first 10 employees at an early-stage startup
- You love working with React and TypeScript
- Experience with Figma
- Experience collaborating with operations or support teams
bonus points
- Experience in Ed-Tech
- Experience with UX research
- Giving coaching to students. You’ll support students throughout their training journey – not just by building the tools, but by engaging with them directly. This means texting, calling, and providing one-on-one help to students when needed. Plus, you’ll take what you learn from those interactions and turn it into scalable systems and smart automation. You will perform both engineering and non-engineering work to ensure students are successful and the product continues to improve.
- Conversation with students. Good founding engineers read feedback and iterate quickly. Great founding engineers have users they are friendly with, talk to them often, bounce ideas off of them, and iterate with them when they ship new things.
- am supportingThis is an engineering role with key program management responsibilities, You will work directly with students every day, It requires patience, empathy and a willingness to meet people where they are, You’ll help investigate and resolve product issues, and take ownership of improving the product through what you learn,
- Documenting your work and its impact. Our work is complex, lasts months and involves multiple teams. Clear documentation and communication are important. You will be responsible for creating awareness when a change impacts operations and helping others understand how features impact different parts of training and service delivery. Accuracy matters.
- End-to-end ownership of products and featuresYou won’t just buy a ticket, You’ll generate ideas based on users’ interactions, your own instincts, and our bigger strategy, You’ll test MVPs in production, iterate based on real feedback, and be held accountable for the long-term success of your work, We build in React and TypeScript, If you just love shipping, this role is not for you, If you like shipping with purpose and ownership, you’ll love it here,
- Implementing AI features and operational workflowsIt’s last for a reason, We do not move towards automation, We work manually first to fully understand the problem – then we build, If you care about applying AI in a meaningful way, not just about hype, this is the right place,
Benefits you get: Add
start date: as soon as possible
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