Career Coach

Are you an experienced Career Coach looking to make a difference?

The position: Code the Dream, a growing national non-profit, is seeking an experienced, full-time Career Coach to provide personalized, strategic one-on-one coaching and job search support to a diverse caseload of early-career tech job seekers, helping them build skills, stay motivated, and successfully navigate the job search process.

About us: Code the Dream creates opportunity that changes lives, builds technology that benefits our communities, and expands access to the skills we need for a more innovative world.

We are a growing nonprofit organization where people from diverse low-income backgrounds learn to code. After months of intensive training with Code the Dream’s online curriculum and mentors, new coders have a chance to apply to join CTD Labs, where they gain invaluable real-world experience as full-time software development apprentices.

In our CTD Labs apprenticeship program, experienced developers work alongside student apprentices to produce high quality work for our partners that also offers real experience that will help the apprentices launch life-changing careers.

CTD Labs works with a wide range of companies, nonprofit and government partners, and we are very proud of the broad range of projects that come through CTD Labs every year. Examples of projects include:

• An app that employs evidence-based methods for assisting young children with special needs to learn to read.
• An app for migrant farmworkers -- who are often particularly vulnerable because they are forced to move frequently and live in substandard housing -- to easily locate nearby health, education and legal resources.
• A wide range of technologies for partner companies ranging from small start-ups to established tech companies addressing unmet needs.

Career Coach: We are seeking a dedicated and compassionate Career Coach to provide one-on-one coaching and job search support for early-career software developers from low-income backgrounds and those who have faced barriers. The Career Coach will support job seekers in all stages of the job hunt — from resumes to interviews to staying resilient through setbacks. You’ll build strong, trusting relationships with your caseload, help job seekers develop key professional skills, and guide them toward meaningful employment in tech.

This role is hands-on, with the majority of your time spent in direct coaching. You’ll also contribute to resource development, career programming, and tracking employment outcomes — all in close collaboration with our supportive, mission-driven team.

In this position, you would join our Career Development team. Reporting to the Director of Learning & Career Development, your main focuses will include:

• Coach and support a caseload of 30–50 active job seekers with regular 1:1 sessions and check-ins focused on resumes, portfolios, interviewing, and job search strategies.
• Provide clear, actionable feedback and personalized encouragement to help job seekers stay motivated and accountable.
• Track activity, identify signs of burnout or disengagement, and proactively adapt support strategies.
• Offer compassionate support through the emotional highs and lows of the job search — including imposter syndrome, rejections, and navigating workplace norms.
• Regularly share relevant job leads and career resources tailored to our community.
• Deliver workshops and career content aligned with early-career tech roles (e.g., software development, QA, data engineer).
• Maintain organized coaching notes and outcome data, contributing to internal discussions and reporting.
• Collaborate with our Career Mentor program by supporting volunteers who offer additional guidance to job seekers.

Skills and Experience:

• Experience with and enthusiasm for working with people across a wide range of backgrounds, and deep commitment to ensuring access to opportunity for all.
• Experience in 1:1 coaching, career advising, mentoring, case management, or a related support role.
• Strong understanding of job search best practices, especially for early-career or tech-related roles.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills — especially across cultural and language differences.
• Highly organized with a strong sense of initiative and follow-through.
• Comfortable learning new tools (e.g., Airtable, Jira, Huntr, Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace).
• Background in career services, workforce development, education, or coaching is preferred.
• Experience in tech or bootcamp settings is a plus but not required.

Additionally, our successful candidate is:

• Passionate about broadening access to opportunity in tech.
• Comfortable (and enjoys!) working with people of many, varied backgrounds.
• Self-motivated and likes setting and accomplishing ambitious goals.
• A problem solver who is excited by and committed to continuous improvement.

It would be great if you also had… (No, we don’t expect you’ll have all / most of these!)

• Direct experience as a tech recruiter, technical sourcer, or hiring manager in the software industry.
• Experience as a web developer, career changer, or someone who has successfully navigated a nontraditional path into tech.
• Familiarity with coding bootcamps, workforce programs, or other nontraditional education settings.
• Received training or certifications in career services, such as Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) or NACE Coaching Certification Program (CCP).
• Being bilingual in Russian or Spanish is a strong plus, as many of our apprentices speak these languages at home.