Backend Software Developer – Justice Reform Innovation Lab

San Quentin SkunkWorks is an incarcerated-led innovation lab transforming prison from the inside out. We unite incarcerated leaders with outside professionals to design bold solutions — from art and gaming to research and software — that shift prison culture and create scalable models of reform.

The Project

One of our current builds is Gate Clearance, a workflow app designed to replace the outdated, paper-heavy system for volunteer onboarding at San Quentin. Today, volunteers must pass through multiple steps (fingerprinting, TB testing, training, approvals), tracked by email and spreadsheets. The result: long delays and lost data.

Gate Clearance will:

• Provide clear dashboards for both volunteers and staff.
• Automate reminders to reduce errors and bottlenecks.
• Store sensitive data securely from forms.
• Integrate with Google Workspace, Gmail, and Calendar.
• This tool is scaffolded and ready to move from a starter app into production — and it’s just one of many insider-led solutions we’re building.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js (App Router), React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS v4
• Backend/API: Next.js API routes (Node.js), Postgres with Drizzle ORM
• Tooling: ESLint, PostCSS, Turbopack
• Integrations (planned): Google Workspace, Gmail, Calendar
• Hosting: Vercel (or comparable)

Role

• Collaborate on feature design and workflow mapping.
• Build intake forms, dashboards, and API endpoints.
• Help shape the Postgres data model and secure document handling.
• Contribute to authentication, security, and scaling discussions.

Why Join?

Be part of a skilled, hybrid team of incarcerated leaders and outside professionals working shoulder-to-shoulder.

See your code have immediate, real-world impact — cutting through bureaucracy so hundreds of volunteers can bring education, healing, and opportunity into prison.

Join a tech-for-good movement where software isn’t just a product — it’s a lever for systemic change.