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, 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.

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.

TLM is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and fair chance hiring at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class.

Job Title: Classroom Facilitator (San Quentin)

Work Location: San Quentin State Prison (San Quentin, CA 94964)

Reports to: Classroom Operations 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: 

TLM classroom facilitators are in-facility, in-classroom staff that work directly with students to serve our program and build classroom community. While the majority of learning our students do is on their assigned computers and not by live instruction, there are still many moving parts to create an effective classroom. The classroom facilitator runs all the operations in our classrooms and maintains a healthy and constructive culture among students. This ranges from upkeep on our equipment, coordinating software installations and maintenance, facilitating video remote sessions, and working directly with students to build personal plans and set goals. This position focuses on helping to provide students with the most productive learning environment possible, including understanding and advocating for the student experience, building rapport with students, and creating healthy classroom culture via group meetings and activities.

 The classroom facilitator works on-site with incarcerated people in San Quentin State Prison who are enrolled in TLM Programs (including both the Web Development and Audio Engineering Programs).

Classroom Operations: 

• Create and nurture healthy and constructive classroom culture
• Facilitate Remote Sessions for students
• Adjust, track, and schedule curriculum to fit student needs, facility culture, and unforeseen barriers
• Serve as primary TLM touch point for students, providing feedback and insight into the student experience to the Classroom Operations Manager
• Advocate for each student’s well-being, including empathetic listening and establishing rapport with other in-facility staff
• Provide feedback to the Remote Instruction team about content delivery
• Empower students to set and work towards individual goals and self-advocate

Administrative: 

• Manage classroom, including opening and closing room for students and maintaining all required prison security protocols
• Keep records of any student or equipment issues
• Provide feedback to other TLM teams about program operations and efficacy

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• Demonstrated academic, professional, and/or volunteer experience working with diverse groups in a leadership position
• Comfort working with technology, computers, and navigating websites
• Preference given to those with experience working with incarcerated individuals and/or at-risk youth
• 1-2 years demonstrated experience working with web development and/or audio engineering technologies and practices is a plus

Responsibilities and Qualifications:

• Excellent communication skills including empathetic listening
• Excellent situational awareness and the ability to remain calm under stress and variable conditions
• Confidence speaking to groups of various sizes in a teaching situation
• Ability to guide students to discover answers to their own questions
• Maintain a positive and supportive attitude at all times
• Provide honest and constructive feedback and appropriate encouragement to students
• Preference is given to those with a knowledge of and experience with fundamental web technologies including HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript or proficiency in audio production and digital audio workstations, including Avid Pro Tools and Ableton Live

Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@thelastmile.org if you are interested.

TLM is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and second chances at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class. 

Job Title: Curriculum Developer

Location: San Francisco or remote

Reports to: Senior Curriculum Developer

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. We believe that having a job is key to successful reentry and breaking the cycle of incarceration, and our goal is to prepare students for employment as front-end developers and web designers post-release. Through in-prison software engineering training and continued education and mentorship post-release, The Last Mile bridges the gap between incarceration and freedom.

The Education Team at The Last Mile is searching for a passionate and empathic Curriculum Developer to help us build and refine our curricula. You will support the Senior Curriculum Developer in developing strategy for and iterating on the current curriculum to ensure it incorporates the most in-demand skills by employers and the best teaching practices from our growing team of instructors. In addition, this role will expand our curriculum to identify and provide additional training that are in-demand in industry, such as IT certifications, UI/UX design, and entrepreneurship.

As Curriculum Developer, you will work closely with classroom facilitators, students, content partners, and the larger Education Team. You will develop responsive curricula that introduce and prepare students for a career in technology, collaborate closely with our Remote Instruction and Community Engagement teams to align the instruction and support that students receive, and support the design of technical assessments to evaluate student performance and provide individualized feedback.

Responsibilities:

• Develop replicable, scalable curricula and course materials that respond to the needs of incarcerated students with support from the Director of Programs and Senior Curriculum Developer.
• Write and design new modules and tutorials to expand the breadth and depth of computer science related instruction for our students.
• Design content for pilot projects to differentiate offerings across student demographics.
• Participate in the Curriculum Team’s content development and review cycle by researching best practices in pedagogy and current technology needs, writing educational content, reviewing team members’ work, and publishing final content in the LMS.
• Prepare instructional documentation templates to communicate complex and technical information easily.
• Collaborate closely with other TLM staff including the Senior Curriculum Developer, Director of Programs, Director of Education, Academic Support Representatives, and LMS engineers to manage and refine curriculum.
• Assess needs and provide recommendations on improving continuing education.
• Use feedback from students and facilitators to drive curriculum updates and changes.
• Maintain a positive and supportive attitude at all times. Provide honest and constructive feedback and appropriate encouragement to students and colleagues.
• Develop frameworks for tracking student metrics and success, revamp current assignments and final assessment.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• 1-3 years of professional experience, which may include teaching young people, writing technical curriculum, or working in engineering roles.
• Experience using JavaScript to build web applications.
• Knowledge of current tools, best practices, and trends in the tech industry.
• Successful completion of a developer bootcamp OR a degree in Computer Science.
• Embrace challenges and adopt new responsibilities with creativity, initiative, and self-direction.
• Be an intellectually curious and responsive team contributor, deliver and receive feedback regularly, and be eager to learn and stay up to date on computer science education.
• Demonstrate comfort with adjusting work to evolving priorities in a dynamic work environment.
• Believe that anyone can learn to code.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, MySQL, and/or MERN stack.
• Experience working with incarcerated individuals, at-risk youth, or similar populations.
• Curriculum development or software engineering experience.
• Knowledge of Python, UX/UI, Project Management, Web Design, and/or Native app development.
• Proficiency in GitLab, especially developing lesson branches and optimizing dependencies.
• Strong writer who can craft engaging content for students, teachers, and volunteers.
• Ability or interest in leading virtual instruction, writing lesson plans, and/or being featured in pre-recorded videos.
• Curious to learn new systems, tools, and technologies quickly in order to build curricula.
• Communicates clearly and effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Familiarity with Understanding by Design, Universal Design for Learning, and/or Agile Development Methodologies.

Work Environment:

• This position will be primarily located in San Francisco, and will require visits to the TLM prison locations.
• Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@thelastmile.org if you are interested.

Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@thelastmile.org if you are interested.

TLM is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and second chances at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class.