Youth Development Coach, Alpha - $120,000/year USD

Crossover; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Job summary

Alpha is hiring a Youth Development Coach to empower K-3 students through engaging life-skills workshops and targeted coaching. You will guide students in building confidence, focus, and communication while using AI-powered analytics to track progress and weekly goals.

This full-time, on-site role emphasizes motivating children, celebrating wins, and creating strong relationships that help each child believe they can achieve more than they thought possible.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in any subject.
• At least 3 years of experience working directly with children ages 4-9 through teaching, coaching, tutoring, camps, youth programs, or similar environments.
• Experience leading group activities for young children, with a concrete example of the structure or routine you used and how you kept the group engaged.
• A track record of motivating young children to achieve challenging goals, with specific examples of your impact.
• A concrete example of changing your approach based on feedback and the result.

Responsibilities

• Lead life-skills workshops that help K-3 students master communication, focus, feedback, and other durable skills through active participation rather than lectures.
• Coach students one-on-one and in small groups, using Coachbot analytics, proven motivation systems, and strong relationships to keep every child on track for ambitious weekly learning goals.
• Assess life-skill mastery through Alpha's Test2Pass framework, coaching students until they demonstrate real understanding—not just participation.
• Adapt your coaching style to the developmental needs of your cohort, whether that means songs, movement, and storytelling for younger learners or higher independence and accountability for older students.
• Build the kind of relationships where students feel supported enough to stretch beyond what they thought they could achieve.

Skills

Coaching

Public speaking

Youth engagement

Motivation

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

"You want to see that sparkle in your students' eye when they accomplish something that they, and maybe you, didn't think was accomplishable." - Katie, Lead Guide, Alpha Denver

Alpha is hiring.

The lesson is already built. The AI already knows what to teach. Your job is to make a child believe they can do something they didn't think was possible.

At Alpha, students complete their academic work in just two hours a day using adaptive learning technology. That frees Coaches to focus on the work that changes lives: building confidence, resilience, communication, and the motivation to tackle hard things. You won't spend your day delivering lessons from the front of a classroom. You'll spend it coaching students through challenges, celebrating wins, and showing them what high standards feel like when they're paired with genuine belief.

You'll lead one K-3 cohort band—either Kindergarten-1st grade or 2nd-3rd grade. Half your day is spent running energetic, one-hour workshops on life skills like public speaking, focus, and feedback. The other half is spent coaching students individually and in small groups, using learning analytics to keep every child moving toward ambitious weekly goals. Every interaction matters. Students should leave your workshops more capable than they arrived and leave your coaching sessions believing they can achieve more than they thought possible.

This role is exactly what the title promises: coaching, not curriculum delivery or classroom management. It's for someone who loves motivating young children, thrives on measurable outcomes, and believes the right coach can change a child's trajectory. Whether you've worked in youth sports, camps, after-school programs, or coached in a school setting, you'll find a very different kind of coaching environment waiting for you here.

This is a full-time, on-site role at one of Alpha's campuses. We recruit nationally, so job boards may display this opportunity in nearby cities that do not have a campus.

Current openings are available in Palo Alto, Malibu, and San Francisco, CA.

What You Will Be Doing

• Lead engaging life-skills workshops that help K-3 students master communication, focus, feedback, and other durable skills through active participation rather than lectures.
• Coach students one-on-one and in small groups, using Coachbot analytics, proven motivation systems, and strong relationships to keep every child on track for ambitious weekly learning goals.
• Assess life-skill mastery through Alpha's Test2Pass framework, coaching students until they demonstrate real understanding—not just participation.
• Adapt your coaching style to the developmental needs of your cohort, whether that means songs, movement, and storytelling for younger learners or higher independence and accountability for older students.
• Build the kind of relationships where students feel supported enough to stretch beyond what they thought they could achieve.

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Standing at a whiteboard teaching academic lessons. Students learn academics through adaptive software.
• Writing curriculum from scratch. You'll improve and personalize proven playbooks instead of inventing lessons.
• Watching students work silently on computers. Your role is active coaching, motivation, and connection.
• Lowering expectations when students struggle. Success comes from helping students rise to the goal, not moving the goal closer.
• Managing homework, grading papers, or handling routine parent communication.

Youth Development Coach Key Responsibilities

Create a cohort of K-3 students who love coming to school, consistently achieve ambitious learning goals, and master the life skills that prepare them to thrive long after elementary school.

Basic Requirements

• Willing to work on-site at one of Alpha's campuses. Current openings are available in Palo Alto, Malibu, and San Francisco, CA. Relocation assistance is available.
• Bachelor's degree in any subject.
• At least 3 years of experience working directly with children ages 4-9 through teaching, coaching, tutoring, camps, youth programs, or similar environments.
• Experience leading group activities for young children, with a concrete example of the structure or routine you used and how you kept the group engaged.
• A track record of motivating young children to achieve challenging goals, with specific examples of your impact.
• A concrete example of changing your approach based on feedback and the result.
• Comfort using AI-powered learning while focusing your own energy on coaching, motivation, and life-skill development.
• The ability to balance warmth with unwavering expectations and keep young children engaged through energetic storytelling.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Experience in youth sports, children's theater, camp leadership, Montessori, progressive education, or high-engagement after-school programs.
• Personal experience achieving ambitious goals in academics, athletics, or your career.
• Evidence of helping reluctant or shy children become confident, engaged participants.

About Alpha

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact:

Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters:

Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders:

Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It's for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

Working with us

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits (https://support.crossover.com/article/7581-w2-benefits-u-s-paychex-paid-only). All roles are year-long positions. The compensation level for this role is $120,000 USD/year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.