Humbly Confident Bilingual Teacher - remote

You Need A Budget (YNAB)
Posted 2 years ago


About Us and Why We’re Hiring  
We build “You Need a Budget,” the best budgeting software and educational resources around. (But people in the know call us YNAB, which is pronounced “why-nab.”) For more than a decade, people have been using YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives. Google us, or read some of our reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean. We love building something that has a huge positive impact on people’s lives.

For more than 10 years, we’ve offered free, live, online workshops and classes. In fact, every year we teach tens of thousands of people how to gain control of their money and there is no sign of that slowing down.

These small, human-centered workshops/classes are a big—and some might say counter-intuitive—investment but, year after year, we double down on our conviction that education is fundamental to our product, our ethos, and our culture. Teaching people how to think about their money differently and gain total control of their finances—whether or not they buy our software—is among our most important work. 

Our teachers are content creators at heart—they know the needs of our customers well. They are the first line of defense, interacting with customers face-to-face. They answer questions, share anecdotes from their own experiences, answer more questions, give step-by-step guidance, share tips and tricks, problem-solve, and answer even more questions. They are fully invested in each and every person’s success—and it shows. As such, our teachers are educators, brand ambassadors, support representatives, content creators, cheerleaders, and coaches. 

This year we want to take the best of what we’ve learned from our proven workshop model, and use that knowledge to train YNAB Certified Coaches. We’re betting these coaches will help train the next generation of YNABers.

We are looking for a full-time, remote, bilingual (English/Spanish) educator and content creator who is passionate about YNAB and helping people understand the method and use the software to transform their lives. But hold the phone…what do we mean by “bilingual educator?” We are looking for someone who is fluent in both English and Spanish and can read, write and speak fluently in both languages (at a C1 or C2 level on the EU CEFR scale).

Principally, we’re looking for this teacher to help train coaches, but one of our major goals going forward is to make YNAB accessible to non-English speakers. And we feel like having a bilingual educator is the best place to start because no importa donde vivas. Necesitas un presupuesto!

The perfect person for this role is probably already somewhat of a YNAB wizard. Our ideal candidate is known for being helpful, patient, and dare we say, gifted, at explaining complicated things in a simple, respectful, (and on really good days) humorous way. We are looking for someone who is comfortable teaching new and aspiring YNABers AND teaching others how to teach YNABers. You may be involved in video work, writing and even creating content for social platforms. And also probably some other stuff we haven’t even come up with yet!

Requirements (these are real, actual requirements):
  • We care more about a high proficiency level than years of experience, but we expect that at least 2 years of experience in the following areas will best set you up for success here. You should be totally (and humbly) confident in your ability to:
    • Teach other people.
    • Develop/write/plan your own content. 
  • You’re fluent (read, write, speak) in both English and Spanish (at a C1 or C2 level on the EU CEFR scale)
  • You are comfortable with being on camera. 
  • You’re tech savvy, nothing really throws you.
  • You are comfortable with the possibility of becoming YNAB-internet famous, or at least being a personality on YNAB social channels. 
  • Ideally, you’re a YNAB user—but it’s not a deal breaker if you’re not!

That’s a super-brief intro to what you’ll be working on. But first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. Let’s talk a bit about life at YNAB, and then we’ll go into more detail about what we’re looking for. 

We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004 and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul. We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our original Core Values Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’ll probably really like it here, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

We live our Core Values every day at YNAB, and we mean it when we say we are an equal opportunity employer. We believe that a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, beliefs, and experiences are critical to our success, and we are passionate about creating a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment for all employees. All are encouraged to apply as we continue to grow a smart, hard-working, and diverse team who loves working together to build something that matters.

We also work really hard, together, to make working at YNAB an amazing experience, and we were (humbly) proud to be named Fortune’s #1 Best Small Company to Work For for the last two years. We have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. 

Who you’d be working with:
The teachers are part of our Marketing Team—and you’ve really hit the jackpot—this is a fun group! You’ll be reporting to Erin, our Curriculum Manager, who is OG YNAB and the absolute best at what she does. Erin leads our education efforts but also makes time for long hikes and gorgeous quilts. But wait, there’s more! You’ll also get to collaborate with the other teachers—Lee, Ernie, and Dave—whose collective knowledge base of potential YNAB questions could possibly break the internet. You’ll also work with Ryan and Eileen on the Coaching Certification Program. If you are thinking, “Does the fun ever stop!?” The answer is, “No. Never. Not in these parts.” 

How You’ll Work at YNAB
Now that you’ve met some of your potential future teammates, let’s talk more about YNAB as a company. Here’s how we operate:

Live Where You Want
We’re a distributed team, so you can live and work wherever you want, as long as your home base is located within 2 hours (+/-) of North American Central Time (UTC-6). Proximity doesn’t influence productivity—just make sure you have a reliable internet connection. 

No Outrageous Hours
We rarely work more than 40 hours per week. There have been a few occasions where things got a little crazy and people had to log some extra hours. But then they took some extra time off, so it all balances out. We work hard and smart and we care deeply about what we do, but we also love our families and about 2,000 other things. We have perspective and, ultimately, we think it makes us—and our work—even better. 

Take Vacation (Seriously)
We want you to take vacation. In fact, we have a minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year. Five weeks feels about right (plus two extra weeks for our company-wide December break). It’s important to get plenty of downtime and get out and do something. We’ll look forward to seeing pictures of your adventures in our #office_wall Slack channel!

The YNAB Retreat
When the pandemic isn’t keeping us from traveling, we get the teams together once a year to catch up on spreadsheets and powerpoints in a Best Western conference room. Just kidding. So far, we’ve done Costa Rica, a gigantic cabin in the mountains, a beach house in the Outer Banks, a ranch in Montana, and most recently, Laguna Beach. We work together, play together, and reinforce the bonds we’ve made as a team and company. Every year, we leave refreshed, motivated, and excited for the year ahead together.

Up Your Game
We’re serious about helping you improve your craft. We budget for it (hey-o!). Think conferences, online courses and subscriptions, dedicated time away from work to learn something new—it’s really up to you and your manager. But we love to see our people growing.  

U.S. or International? Great!
Our team is spread all over the world, including Switzerland, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and all over the United States. We currently set up team members who live in the U.S. or U.K. as employees, and those who live in other countries as independent contractors. You’re an equal part of the team no matter where you live!

As mentioned, we have some time zone restrictions for this role, but as long as you're within +/- 2 hours of North American Central Time (UTC-6), we’re good!

Benefits
If you live in the U.S., you’ll be eligible for our health, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family. No need to check your vision, you read that right—100%. Although if you did need to check your vision, NBD, we’ve got you covered!

We also have a Traditional and Roth 401(k) option. YNAB matches your contributions up to six percent, and matches vest immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like our founder Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? Trust us, it’s awesome.)

Competitive Compensation
The starting salary range for this position is $56,000-$63,000 annually. We consider raises every year, and have a bi-annual profit-share bonus. YNAB wins, you win—that kind of thing.

Other Tidbits
  • Once you start, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your “Bucket List” spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!)
  • The bucket list really helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and the holidays.
  • We’re all adults. There’s no need to punch a clock, or ask for permission to take off early one afternoon to go see the doctor. We look at what you accomplish, not how long you’re in front of a computer.
  • We want you firing on all cylinders so we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.
  • Did we mention that YNAB makes a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!

If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now I want to talk about you. You will play a big, big part in helping YNAB customers achieve success. You will change lives. We will only say that six more times.
Now, back to you, our new Teacher...
You’re a teacher, right down to your toes. You can’t imagine anything more rewarding than helping people learn. You also love YNAB, and the thought of combining these two passions has you reeling! The idea of teaching online and reaching people across the globe, through different mediums, fascinates you.

You will be the face of YNAB—well, one of the faces anyway. But you’ll be a presence on our social channels and popping up in videos in your quest to get people the information they need, when they need it! You don’t mind answering the same question multiple times in the same day, because it's a different customer each time—another chance to make someone’s day and change their life. Sometimes it is even the same customer (bless their heart…), but you are patient and that breakthrough moment makes it all worth it. You are good with people, and even when you have to deliver an answer someone doesn’t want to hear, you are gracious, and genuine, and manage to exceed expectations. (We just love this about you!) 

You’re our person if:
You’re fluent and can teach in both English and Spanish.
Maybe you grew up in a household speaking both languages or maybe you lived in both Spanish and English-speaking countries throughout your life. Either way, you’re extremely comfortable in both languages (teaching, reading, writing) and are passionate about teaching both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities.

You’re comfortable with non-traditional hours. 
You’ll start working Monday through Friday, and that will include some evenings. (This may change further down the road. So, yeah, adaptable...) Don’t worry, once you’re teaching, you’ll have a set schedule, but we need some flexibility so we can run live sessions when our users need them. You’ll also help periodically cover workshops when one of our other teachers is out.

You love teaching and helping people learn.  
You enjoy breaking down complicated problems so people who are struggling can understand them easily. You have experience explaining things to people and you love doing it. You love making people happy and you live for that moment when a student “gets” it! 

You’re an excellent writer.
You’ll spend a fair amount of time creating educational content (hence the job title), so you’ll need to be a strong, confident writer. You can’t imagine ever running out of ideas about budgeting to write about, so this is exciting for you.

You’re tech-savvy and comfortable teaching across mediums.
You’re always looking for new ways to do something more efficiently or be more effective. The thought of testing new platforms/tools/software to do something better/smarter/faster or learn something new sounds exciting. You have a knack for picking up on new technologies and would love to jump right into our current mediums:
  • Our long-standing workshops are run “webinar style”—utilizing presentations and screen sharing rather than video. 
  • Earlier this year, we launched a Facebook Live strategy, where our teachers interact with participants face-to-face without a presentation per se. 
  • We’re also investing in self-paced video instruction. 
  • And then there is the stuff we haven’t even come up with just yet! So we need a teacher who is comfortable on camera, using different platforms/tools/technologies, and generally up for anything. 

Your delivery is dynamic, energetic and engaging.  
You can hold the room with the sound of your voice. You’re simultaneously passionate and calming, and people thank you when you deliver difficult news, because you’re just that good. You are unflappable and tough questions don’t rattle you, because you’re humbly confident, and what you don’t know you’ll find out. You are authoritative but approachable. You will always choose clarity over cleverness, but never waste an opportunity to squeeze in a little humor. You understand that every question you answer in class is an expression of the YNAB culture and brand.

You use YNAB and nerd out on it bigtime.
You’re a YNAB success story and, generally speaking, you can’t shut up about how it changed your life. Or maybe, you just got into YNAB recently, but you love it and you want to tell the world about it. Whether you’re an expert YNAB user that knows all the ins and outs OR you’re mostly comfortable with YNAB and a quick study and an excellent teacher, we’d love to have you on board.

You’re organized and can manage multiple things at once.
You love creating checklists and then getting the work done so you can check them off.  You know how to take an idea from start to finish by gathering feedback, meeting with other people, troubleshooting, and documenting. You can work independently but also value collaborating with a team. 

You do well under pressure. 
Because live is live and sometimes no amount of preparation can account for what might happen! Teaching a live online workshop requires running a web conference and teaching at the same time–all while being asked multiple questions about budgeting and YNAB. What we’re saying is, you’ll need to be quick on your feet and have fun doing it!  

You’re open-minded and have a growth mindset.
You play nice with others. You’re flexible. You are always up for trying something new and easily adapt. If you’re asked to launch a new class or explore a new medium, you consider it a highlight! You are comfortable giving and receiving constructive feedback, because you understand that every individual improvement serves the greater good. You aren’t afraid to ask questions, because you love to learn and grow and improve—and help others do the same. 

You’re comfortable with change. 
We are growing so fast you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person on the team who is doing the same exact job they were hired to do. As we continue to explore new methods and mediums for delivering educational content, it’s possible, er, probable, that your day-to-day job responsibilities could twist and turn and start in one place and end up somewhere entirely different. This kind of excites you because you’ll never get bored, you will always be learning, and at the end of the day, you’ll be helping people learn about YNAB, so what could go wrong? 
How to Apply
  • Apply directly on our site here by 11:59PM PST on Sunday, January 9th, 2022. Firm. It’s a real deadline. Like, after it is too late.
  • Attach a PDF of your cover letter. In your cover letter:
    • Introduce yourself and explain why this position is of interest to you, and why you would be a great fit. Please try to limit this to one page.
    • Create a video (in English) explaining Rule Two in under one minute. Walk us through it in the software. Bonus points for creativity and humor! Upload your video to Youtube, and include the link in your cover letter.
  • If you have a prepared resume, attach it in PDF form. If you don’t have a resume because you aren’t even sure you’re looking to change jobs, that’s fine! An informal list of your work and education history are all we’re looking for.
  • Please let us know if you would like to disclose a need for accommodation in connection with the recruitment and hiring process. If so, contact us at careers@youneedabudget.com and indicate in the subject line that you’re applying for the Teacher role.
  • Note: though we know it is customary in some countries, we’d prefer if you didn’t share a headshot in your application materials. Thank you!

We’re excited to hear from you!

P.S. We'll send you a confirmation email once you apply. Please add that email to your safe sender list, to ensure that future emails come through. (If you don’t receive it, please check your Promotions inbox, junk folder, or any filters you may have set up.)

P.P.S. If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!