Jobs at The Last Mile
We are training incarcerated individuals to become professional web developers. We work inside prisons. Our students are denied access to the Internet. While working inside prison has its obstacles, the drive and determination with which our students tackle their own challenges inspires us to do our best.
The Last Mile, a non-profit based in San Francisco, is the first prison program in the US to provide in-prison software engineering training. The goal is to prepare students for employment as front-end developers and web designers post-release. Students learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python and more all without internet access.
Platform Systems Engineer
Returned Citizen Advocate
Job Title: Platform Systems Engineer
Work Location: San Francisco, CA
Reports to: Director of Engineering
Annual Salary: Commensurate, based on experience
The Last Mile, a non-profit based in San Francisco, is the first prison program in the US to provide in-prison software engineering training. The goal is to prepare students for employment as front-end developers and web designers post-release. Students learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more. We believe that having a job is the key to successful reentry and breaking the cycle of incarceration. A projected shortage of nearly 1 million software engineering jobs by 2020 means that these jobs skills will be in demand. Through in-prison software engineering training and continued mentorship post-release, The Last Mile bridges the gap between incarceration and freedom.
Overview:
The Engineering team manages and supports technical operations across The Last Mile organization, ranging from internal tooling, and our Platform as a Service (PaaS) which operates in prisons across the country. Daily engagements range from fielding ad-hoc requests supporting remote facilities, to proactive monitoring of our PaaS infrastructure, and deployments using our automation frameworks. This is a highly collaborative role, with the opportunity to engage with an extremely broad range of systems and technologies.
Responsibilities:
The Platform Systems Engineer is engaged with all aspects of technology for The Last Mile, including internal business systems, and the infrastructure and platforms supporting the services the program delivers. This includes involvement in the selection process for systems and platforms in support of organizational requirements and designing their implementation, all the way through deployment, monitoring, managing operational support, and updating. This role is also responsible for the management, and support of our zero-trust network infrastructure, and ensuring organization maintains suitable controls and audit mechanisms.
Work with other members of the Engineering team to:
- Provide first responder support to facilities via tickets, e-mail, Slack, and internal escalations
- Prioritize efforts, support escalations, and drive resolutions in a timely manner
- Monitor platform infrastructure, and responding to alerting
- Coordinate platform updates, and deployments across the organization
Required Skills and Experience:
- A passion for solving challenges, and empowering people through technology
- Strong verbal, and written communication skills
- Ability to support code written in bash, Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, and some C derivatives
- Management of layered GCP projects and shared VPC’s through Terraform
- Use of Palo Alto Networks Panorama to manage remote devices and networks
- Performing deployments, and configuring instances using Ansible
- Remotely supporting MacOS, and ChromeOS environments
- Managing Open Source infrastructure, including Linux
- A strong understanding of IP networking, including switching, routing, 802.1x, and support of fundamental IP services and protocols (DNS, HTTP(S), SSH, IPsec)
- A strong understanding of computer hardware and peripherals
- Integration, extension and support of OAuth + SAML authentication + authorization
- Tiered G Suite administration of both devices, and users
- Support and maintenance of ticket, and git driven workflows
Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@thelastmile.org if you are interested.
Job Title: Returned Citizen Advocate
Work Location: California or Indiana (option to work remotely or from office in San Francisco)
Reports to: Sr Programs Manager
Annual Salary: Commensurate, based on experience
The Last Mile, a non-profit based in San Francisco, is the first prison program in the US to provide in-prison software engineering training. The goal is to prepare students for employment as front-end developers and web designers post-release. Students learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python and more. We believe that having a job is the key to successful reentry and breaking the cycle of incarceration. A projected shortage of nearly 1 million software engineering jobs by 2020 means that these jobs skills will be in demand. Through in-prison software engineering training and continued mentorship post-release, The Last Mile bridges the gap between incarceration and freedom.
Position Description:
The TLM Reentry Department initially creates connections and builds rapport with students while students are still enrolled in the program, in order to support students’ successful and smooth reentry. When students are released, they will be assigned to an RC advocate who will act as the primary point of contact for that student in preparation for the individual’s personal and professional journey after returning to society.
TLM believes an individualized approach is most effective to provide adequate and appropriate support for TLM program alumni. The RC advocate builds out a profile (including personal information, career aspirations, and post-incarceration support) for each returned citizen on their caseload, maintains regular contact with the returned citizen, and coordinates with other reentry and TLM staff to ensure each returned citizen is getting appropriate and equitable support and access to resources.
TLM RC advocates are also responsible for supporting the planning and implementation of TLM Reentry special projects for returned citizens. Under the direction of the senior programs manager and in coordination with other Reentry Department staff, the RC advocate assists in coordination and communication efforts for TLM Reentry initiatives and programs, including but not limited to webinars, workshops, community activities, and networking events.
Required Duties and Responsibilities:
Caseload
- Serve as the primary point of contact for returned citizens on their caseload
- Develop a reentry profile for each returned citizen on their caseload
- Collect and maintain up to date information about returned citizens on their caseload, including contact information, post-release education, and employment status
- Support returned citizens on their caseload by providing access, guidance, resources, or referrals
- Assist returned citizens in developing individualized goals to determine prospective learning paths and career interests
- Regularly meet with other Reentry Department staff regarding trends in service delivery and common topics of interest amongst TLM returned citizens and identify areas of potential future support and growth
- Solicit and use feedback from RCs to inform current and future reentry offerings
- Identify and prioritize RCs in need of urgent support
- Keep detailed notes and records in Salesforce for each RC
Special Projects
- Propose, develop and plan projects and initiatives for TLM returned citizens
- Support the implementation of project plans including but not limited to: organizing workshops, hosting webinars, coordinating sponsored events
Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:
- Lived experience as a justice-impacted person or experience working with incarcerated individuals, at-risk youth, or similar populations
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
- Experience using Salesforce
- Literacy and comfort with various technology communication and video calling platforms
- Strong interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
- Ability to form strong connections and build rapport with others
- Ability to keep accurate and thorough records
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with post-incarceration reentry work
- Professional or educational experience in computer science/web development
Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@thelastmile.org if you are interested.