Civic Tech Career Resources
Our most used resources for navigating a career in Civic Tech By Vyki Englert and the Compiler TeamWe first put together a list like this in the summer of 2021, when we received 242 applicants for our first-ever hire, a senior software engineer. Every time we hire, we receive an incredible batch of applications from a wide variety of individuals with an outpouring of interest from folks who, for the most part, have not had exposure to the ideas of “civic technology” or “public interest technology” or “government technology” as fields.
We can’t tell you how excited we are that there are so many people out there who are curious about working for or with the government. The gov tech / civic tech / public interest tech space is a big one and helping others traverse this big space is important to us. So, we’ve decided to not only continue sharing this list with our applicants but to move it out of a Google Doc and into a publicly accessible blog post. We hope to publish an updated version as part of each round of hiring.
Below we’ve outlined some of our favorite agencies, companies, and resources to help you navigate a career in this nascent industry.
Job Boards that lean toward civic tech
LA2050.org/jobs: This job board is fantastic. It focuses on jobs in the greater Los Angeles region.
Tech Jobs for Good: We’ve hired more than one candidate from this niche job board, it’s one of the only ones we currently pay to post on. You can also follow their account on LinkedIn.
Technically: A tech news publication and jobs board that is community-focused. Technically’s communities are Baltimore, Washington DC, Delaware, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
Bill Hunt’s Civic Tech Jobs Board: Personally curated by Bill Hunt; worth keeping an eye on.
TechCA: Mostly leadership-level technology jobs at state agencies or vendor companies.
#PublicSectorJobBoard: A weekly LinkedIn Newsletter curated by Rebecca Heywood.
Beta.NYC Newsletter: Each month’s issue includes links to jobs.
WTS International Jobs Board: Non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women in transportation.
Apprenticeships
If you’re new to your career –especially if you’re a recent college or boot camp graduate– apprenticeship programs might be an excellent fit for you. Here are a few that we know of…
LA County’s Internship and Apprenticeship Program Delete the Divide
Federal Transit Administration Diversity in Federal Transit Internship Program (DFT)
Fellowships
We keep a running list of fellowships that are offered within the civic tech space. Please note we only track the name and URL and some of these programs may not be active.
For-profit Civic Tech Companies / Consultancies
DataMade: Chicago-based, lots of experience in working with criminal justice data and journalists.
Jemurai: A security firm with a delightful bunch of humans, in our experience.
California Data Collaborative: (non-profit) Los Angeles-based water data collaborative.
Ministry of Velocity: San Francisco-based software agency (which is now a cooperative!)
OpenTechStrategies: A consulting firm dedicated to helping open source thrive through not just code but strategy, policy, and community management.
Jarvus: Philadelphia-based software consulting company.
Water UX: Los Angeles-based and as you might have guessed from the name a consultancy that uses “design and technology to change what is possible for water innovation.”
Truss: Headquartered in San Francisco; this team has probably built services you’ve used!
The So Company: Los Angeles-based, veteran-owned, with expertise in websites and content.
Moore Boeck: Los Angeles-based space nerds.
Torchbox: Focuses on serving the non-profit sector.
Nava: Some of the folks behind the famous healthcare.gov rescue.
Green River: A small consultancy based in Vermont they are behind the open source OpenPath product which helps the obscure government bodies called Continuums of Care better serve individuals experiencing homelessness while meeting complex congressionally defined reporting requirements in HMIS.
Zeal: A consultancy based in Medford Oregon, these are some of the kindest humans we’ve met.
Non-profit Organizations
CA Policy Lab: Data-heavy policy research team.
Mobility Data: Developing and supporting data standards for transit and more.
Open Mobility Foundation: Steward of the Mobility Data Specification and Curb Data Specification.
Smart Growth America: Focused on developing more walkable and diverse transit options.
Product Companies
mRelief: Builds apps and services to help individuals sign up for food stamps.
Transit App: A real-time transit arrivals board in your pocket.
Government Agencies with Digital Services Teams
“Digital Services” is loosely defined as agile teams that work similarly to a software consultancy shop. They are deployed to work directly with subject matter experts in other parts of the agency to assist in solving problems while using agile methodologies and human-centered design. The most famous of these is probably the federal team, 18F, but states, counties, and cities are starting to launch their own. Below is a list of some of our favorites.
Note: federal jobs you often have to put together a federal resume which can easily run 20 pages and take you a few weeks to assemble; there are really great instructions on 18F’s website. If you’re interested, start working on that resume now – when jobs get posted they are usually only open for a few days and that’s not enough time for you to put your resume in the necessary format.
United States Digital Service (USDS)
California Office of Digital Innovation (ODI)
Office Of Innovation State of New Jersey
MAPC Data Services Team (Boston area)
New York State Office of Technology & Innovation
City of San Rafael California - Digital Service & Open Government
San Francisco Digital Services
Canada
Don’t forget to check out our friends up north! Ontario Digital Services
Government Jobs Boards
Some of the great programming positions aren’t tied to big, new, splashy, digital services teams; they often get syndicated on government career websites. Some of these agencies are getting better at having their open positions posted more broadly on sites like LinkedIn. As these jobs aren’t distributed widely, sometimes they don’t get many applicants. These positions can also have less obvious titles. For example, in the County of Los Angeles, programmers often have the title Business Analyst. We suggest you broadly browse these job boards and notice what kinds of titles are used to describe the skills you have.
Some of these jobs require you to pass an “exam” or “test” – don’t stress too much; do a bit of research. Sometimes these are standardized, multiple choice exams you take with a pencil in a proctored room, while others are just a long-form written version of your resume submitted via an online form. Do note that if the position requires you to have passed an exam, you will need to do so before you submit your application or they will auto-reject your application.
State of CA: CalCareers: This site has so many jobs! You can create an account and get really specific email notifications sent to you when a position opens that you might be qualified for or within an agency you might be excited about working with.
- CalCareers is confusing to learn how to navigate – ODI has a really good guide to the state application process.
Government Jobs: Private syndicate of gov jobs.
USA Jobs: Syndicate of most federal jobs.
Public Transit Agencies
US Department of Transportation: This USAjobs.gov link filters for jobs at DOT
Federal Transit Administration (“FTA is one of 10 modal agencies of the US Department of Transportation”)
- Find jobs by searching USA Jobs
- Sign up for email notifications via the Transportation Diversity Council’s (TDC) website.
- Check out the FTA’s job website for more information on applying for jobs and links to early career programs
- FTA has several early career programs
And, of course, sign up for notifications to hear when Compiler is hiring again.