About Pursuit
Our mission is to create economic transformation. By training low-income adults to launch and advance careers as software engineers, we help our Fellows earn from eighteen thousand dollars a year to over ninety thousand starting salary on average, adding an estimated $2M in lifetime earnings. Pursuit partners with leading companies like Blackstone, USV, Citi, Peloton, and Uber to employ Fellows in career-defining engineering roles and supports them with on-the-job training to ensure potential translates to performance. Since 2013, Pursuit has created ~$1B in total lifetime wage gains, creating lasting economic mobility that spans generations.
Pursuit’s proven solution is built on two interconnected components: training (which includes community development, Core pre-job training, and Commit on-the-job training) and a financial product (known as Bond). However, growing training alone will not meet the magnitude of need nor solve new societal challenges ahead. The typical expectation is to expand our training to other cities, but this will not come anywhere close to creating good jobs for millions of low-income Americans. Instead, our strategy for scaled impact is to evolve our financial product and create tools for other organizations, jobs, and places. We believe that this will not only create good jobs for millions of low-income Americans but will also generate a new trillion-dollar market directly tied to results in the long term.
We are One Big Team
The passionate and collaborative team at Pursuit gives its all to achieve our mission. And it's not just staff. We work with employer partners that love hiring our Fellows because they are so well prepared, ranging from big financial firms to scrappy startups, and everything in between. We also activate and engage thousands of volunteers that come from all areas of the tech industry and beyond. At Pursuit, we are committed to breaking traditional barriers, focusing on potential rather than pedigree, and providing hands-on experience to empower participants in ways never seen before. Please be sure to review our company values, posted on our website, which will help provide further context on additional concepts that impact how we work here at Pursuit.
General Manager, Core
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Position Overview:
With a decade of proven success and a demonstrated proof of concept, Pursuit is hiring a GM, Core to help lead the organization into the next phase of growth, and enable our vision for national scale.
The Pursuit Core Fellowship is a 4 year leadership training program focused on economic transformation that selects and trains high need New Yorkers to become software developers, at over 300 best-in-class companies, including Peloton, Blackstone, Uber, and Citi. On average, Pursuit Fellows go from making $18,000 pre-program to $90,000+ upon starting their first job, resulting in an estimated lifetime earnings increase of over $2,000,000. The GM Core will drive four key dimensions of organizational success.
- Business Model and P&L: Develop a sustainable business model and manage related P&L for the Fellowship that considers bond repayment and resource allocation.
- Direct outcomes and tech leadership: Position Pursuit Fellowship as best in class by driving replicable and consistent outcomes that position Fellows, employers investors and other partners for success.
- Macro Landscape: Keep Pursuit at the forefront of the tech industry by adapting programming and strategy to meet the changing demands of the tech industry with advances in AI, employer demand, etc.
- Productize for Scaled Adoption: Conceptualize product and business models for adoption beyond our current scope, aiming for national impact and scalability.
The GM Core will be responsible for expanding an existing Core team across all levels (entry level through VP), including instructors, product managers, program managers, strategists, tech integration leaders and more. They will work closely across the leadership team, and especially with the GM, Enterprise and GM, Bond services to help develop industry-facing products. This is a critical role to enable Pursuit to meet our future growth and impact.
Key Responsibilities:
- Leadership and Thought Partnership: Collaborate with Pursuit's leadership team to shape and execute top-level strategies.
- Build High-Performance Team: Foster a results-oriented culture within the Fellowship team, setting standards for excellence and accountability, and drive a culture within the Fellowship itself that mirrors the pace and expectations of the tech industry.
- Tech Stakeholder Engagement: Elevate Pursuit's profile within the tech industry, ensuring that employers recognize the potential and skills of Pursuit Fellows.
- Business Model and Financial Management: Develop a business model for the Fellowship that enables Pursuit to successfully repay investors through Fellow job attainment, and manage related P&L.
- Program Strategy and Management: Own the vision, strategy and delivery of the Pursuit Fellowship to ensure attainment of Fellowship goals, particularly in job placement for Fellows.
- Product Development: Oversee the productization of key elements of the Fellowship program to enable wider adoption by workforce development organizations across markets and at national scale, in support of our scaled vision.
- Track Emerging Tech Trends: Engage with industry partners, employers, and community organizations to stay informed about workforce needs and ensure training programs are meeting the demands of the job market. Continuously monitor industry trends to evolve Fellowship content and tools accordingly.
What you need to be considered for the GM, Core role:
- At least 10-15 years of technology and business leadership experience, at the GM level or above
- Track record of managing $10MM+ P&L for at least 5 years
- Excellent team management skills with experience hiring and managing high performing large teams (30+) and functions.
- Successful NYC tech founder or early team member that supported company through product-market fit and beyond.
- Extensive network within the NYC tech industry, with experience navigating the ecosystem to drive funding, partnerships, or other outcomes.
- Demonstrated success ingrowing a multi-sided marketplace businesses (including growth and operations), ideally within the $5MM to $50MM range.
- Passion for the future of tech, with a commitment to ongoing learning and industry awareness.
- Expertise in driving operational excellence and shaping intentional in-person cultures
- Strategic thinking coupled with hands on approach to execution.
- Enthusiasm for impacting the lives of Fellows and the broader workforce development industry.
*The GM is not expected to have a professional background in education/training. While they will be managing a team responsible for shaping and delivering the learning experience for the Fellows, the GM’s role in shaping the fellowship experience will be to provide strategic and operational leadership around setting a culture and expectation that mimics that of the tech industry, and hold the team accountable to meeting outcomes.*
Where you'll work:
- 5 days on-site at our HQ in Long Island City, NY
Pursuit offers:
- Great culture where transparency, respect, teamwork, and kindness are valued
- Competitive compensation in base, plus bonus and a full benefits package
- Unlimited PTO and an all-Pursuit week-long holiday the last week of August and December
Compensation:
The base compensation for this role will range from $225K - $275K annually. This range is for the expectations as laid out in the job description, however we are often open to a wide variety of profiles, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced (or more senior) than this job description as posted. If that ends up being the case, the updated salary range will be communicated with you as a candidate.
Pursuit values diversity:
Our team has a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and we value the richness that diversity brings to our organization. We welcome new perspectives and affirm that all employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, familial or marital status, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuit is an equal opportunity employer.
