Talent Operations

Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services.

Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we're building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service.

Our platform reaches 55 million Americans across 50+ agencies. Our goal: build technology that touches the lives of 100 million residents by the end of the year.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn't be a luxury in government. It's how you earn trust back.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays through Thursdays), with additional days as needed for onsite candidate hosting, which is core to this role.

The Role

Kaizen is scaling from 35 to 60 people this year, and this role is how we do it without dropping any candidates or processes along the way. You'll run point on the parts of recruiting that make everything else work: the loops that stay on schedule, the data that's actually trustworthy, the sourcing lists that keep pipelines full, and the small automations that quietly save the team hours every week. Coordination is still the core of the job. It's just no longer the whole job. This is a rare seat to learn how a company hires end-to-end, with a recruiting team that will teach you the craft as you go. It starts as a 3-6-month contract with a genuine path to extend or convert to full-time, based on performance and 2027 hiring goals.

What You'll Do

• Own interview scheduling end-to-end: multi-interviewer panels, confirmations, reschedules, and debrief logistics
• Host candidates onsite, keep loops running on time, and make sure every candidate leaves with a strong impression of Kaizen, offer or not
• Run the ops backbone of recruiting: clean ATS data, accurate stages, current postings across platforms, and reporting the team can actually trust
• Work on recruiting related marketing and events, from career page updates to employer brand content to coordinating events like our NYC Tech Week presence
• Prep interviewers with plans and scorecards so every loop is structured and every debrief moves fast
• Pitch in on sourcing and shadow the team as you ramp, building toward real ownership of lists and outreach
• Find the manual, repetitive work in the recruiting process and fix it, including where automation or AI tools can take it over

What You'll Bring

• 0-2 years of experience in recruiting coordination, talent ops, executive/administrative support, customer-facing work, or another high-volume operations role, or equivalent experience
• Real calendar management skill: you can schedule a 4-person panel across busy schedules without breaking a sweat
• Obsessive attention to detail, especially with candidate data and communications, where small misses show
• Genuine warmth hosting people in person: this isn't a side duty, it's core to the job
• High ownership and bias toward action: you fix what's broken, you don't wait to be told
• Comfort holding a few different threads at once: scheduling, data, and a sourcing or marketing task on the same day

Strong Candidates May Also...

• Have hands-on Ashby experience, or have built workflows in a comparable ATS
• Have sourced candidates, built talent lists, or worked on employer brand or events, or want to grow into it
• Have used AI tools or automation to eliminate repetitive work
• Have worked at an early-stage startup where they built process rather than inherited it

Don't Apply If...

• You need a fully mapped-out process to know what to do next: this role rewards people who spot the gap and close it themselves
• You want a fixed script for every conversation instead of learning to read the room with candidates and interviewers
• You're looking for a purely behind-the-scenes role: hosting candidates in person is the job, not an occasional add-on
• You want one lane and nothing else: this role touches coordination, data, sourcing, and marketing in the same week

What Kaizen Offers

Health & Insurance

• 100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
• $100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
• One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
• Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
• 401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.

Family & Time Off

• 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
• Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)
• Closed for all federal holidays.
• Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
• Company offsites throughout the year.

Office & Remote Setup

• Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
• $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
• Expensed lunch while in the office.
• Company-provided laptop of your choice.

Wellness

• Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.

Stipends

• $100/month utility stipend.
• $500/year professional development.
• $250/year recreation.
• $300/quarter pet care stipend.