Job Description

Career Coach

Remote

The Organization: Merit America

The American economy is broken. Today, 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. These talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time boot camp programs don't offer enough flexibility, and online courses don't have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: We start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we support our learners in their job search, helping them connect with a broad constellation of local and national employers such as JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to land higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. Since our founding in 2018, we've generated a projected $1 billion in near-term wage gains for our learners.

(We are specifically seeking candidates with weekend availability for this role)

Role Overview

The primary mission of the Career Coach is to coach and support Merit America's learners so that they have what they need to succeed in our program and beyond. This role is ideal for those seeking to make a meaningful, direct impact on the careers and lives of people who have been historically marginalized and excluded.

Career Coaches hold a variety of responsibilities related to learner management across various career tracks (e.g., IT Support, Data Analytics, UX Design, Project Management, Cybersecurity, Human Resources, Semiconductor, and Supply Chain Management). Both roles plan and deliver career coaching and facilitate professional skill development to ensure participants are prepared for a new career.

Both are exempt, full-time, remote roles.

The two roles:

Career Coach, Program supports learners during the program itself, from Foundations through Immersion. This role works with cohorts as well as individuals, delivers group programming alongside 1:1 coaching, and helps learners build momentum through their coursework and certifications. Reports to a Program Director or Associate Director, Coaching.

Alumni Career Coach supports learners after the Immersions Phase, through their job search and beyond, including alumni who come back for support. This role manages a high-volume 1:1 caseload focused entirely on employment outcomes. Reports to the Manager of Alumni Career Services.

These roles require flexibility in scheduling, as Career Coaches work a 4-day work week that includes evenings and weekends to best support learners across different time zones and work schedules.

Core responsibilities for both roles:

Learner Management

• Foster a positive and supportive environment for assigned learners
• Build strong, empathetic relationships with learners, offering regular coaching to provide motivation, guidance, and accountability
• Leverage quantitative and qualitative data to monitor learner progress and identify program insights and lessons, making adjustments to enhance both the program and learner experience
• Provide personalized feedback and motivation to learners throughout their experience
• Adapt coaching approach to individual learner needs while aligning with program goals and structures
• Maintain active communication across coaching teams and with cross-functional staff to ensure learner outcomes and operational alignment

Career Counseling & Job Readiness

• Deliver live and asynchronous personalized career coaching by identifying areas for improvement, providing constructive feedback, and guiding learners toward career readiness
• Facilitate job sourcing and promote high-quality entry-level opportunities in learners' chosen fields
• Support learners in career readiness by providing feedback on resumes and directly editing them to meet program standards, preparing learners for interviews through coaching and practice, assisting with building strong LinkedIn profiles, and guiding learners in developing effective networking strategies
• Identify and assess opportunities and challenges faced by learners, serving as the central contact to gather and disseminate relevant information
• Deliver targeted coaching on job search strategy, mindset, networking, and other professional skills topics
• Track job placement progress and verify job outcomes using internal reporting systems

Career Coach, Program

• Support learners from Foundations through Immersion
• Deliver both 1:1 and group coaching, including large and small group programming
• Monitor learners' progress in online courses through an online portal and proactively intervene to offer support when learners are falling behind
• Coach learners on time management, goal setting, and course navigation to build momentum and confidence
• Implement and evaluate experiments designed to improve learner engagement and program completion

Alumni Career Coach

• Support and manage a high-volume caseload of learners post the Immersions Phase who are seeking employment, including alumni who seek support, through a structured coaching cadence (e.g., weekly 1:1s, milestone tracking)
• Proactively offer 1:1 coaching, job search tools, networking events, industry best practices, and mentorship/internship opportunities through strong outreach efforts
• Collaborate with Employer Partnerships and cross-functional teams to connect learners with employer opportunities and prepare them for interviews
• Identify systemic barriers to job success and contribute insights to improve coaching and program design

Skills and Competencies

We recognize that some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don't meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Please don't let that discourage you from applying! We value the unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that each applicant brings, and we encourage you to apply if you believe your background demonstrates the required skills and competencies:

Must Haves for all roles at Merit America:

• Committed to Merit America's mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
• Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
• Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
• Committed to continuous learning and growth in advancing inclusive excellence and closing gaps across lines of difference
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity

Must Haves for both Career Coach roles:

Career Coaching & Development Expertise

• Strong knowledge of best practices with resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills, effective written and verbal communication, LinkedIn networking, and general job search strategies
• Previous experience with career coaching, tutoring, education, counseling, youth development, non-profits, or other mission-driven work
• Able to tailor support to the individual needs of learners

Interpersonal & Communication Excellence

• Strong relationship-building and communication skills
• Outstanding ability and desire to understand, empathize with, and serve people of diverse backgrounds, particularly those identified in Merit America's mission

Self-Management & Adaptability

• Able to take initiative and work autonomously in an evolving and changing environment
• Exceptional operational and organizational skills, and the ability to manage your schedule and balance multiple demands
• Demonstrated willingness to look beyond the obvious to find new information, continually seek new knowledge and skills, and develop our existing capabilities

Nice to Haves:

• Experience with databases and/or learning management systems
• Proficient with Google Workspace (Google Sheets, Docs, etc.)
• Experience leading or presenting to large groups in a virtual setting
• Prior experience in workforce development, edtech, or equivalent training programs
• Comfort using AI tools to support research, drafting, and preparation, with judgment about where they help and where they don't

Other Logistics

• This position is full-time: 4-day work week, which could include weekends (e.g., Wednesday-Saturday) based on learner needs and cohort schedules.

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