Benefits

What we offer

Impact

This is an opportunity for you to have a huge impact. Our city is responsible for providing necessary services to over a million people every day, and we need your expertise to help improve those services.

You’ll also join a growing community of civic leaders who are working to create a more open, accountable, and participatory government, and you’ll help us establish new standards and practices that we can share with other cities. For examples of these practices in action, check out the work from 18F, the US Digital Service, and the UK Government Digital Service.

Pay

Most of our current openings pay between $20.00 and $41.34 an hour, commensurate with experience (this comes to $41,600 to $85,987 annually, assuming 52 weeks of full-time work). Unless otherwise noted, these are temporary positions for up to one year of full-time work (40 hours per week).

Remote work

We have a strong appreciation for the effectiveness of working remotely, with most team members working from home for one or two days each week.

Downtown, transit-friendly location

In November 2017, we moved our offices to the former Faulk Central Library (800 Guadalupe St). Our teams also use conference rooms at City Hall (301 W 2nd Street), where our program was incubated for almost two years. We conduct field research and public meetings in neighborhoods throughout Austin to ensure that we’re incorporating diverse perspectives into our work.

Term extensions

When there’s a good fit between your skills and interests and the projects we’re currently working on, we can extend your term with the City. We’re also working on more opportunities for our temporary employees to become permanent City employees (three have converted so far!).

Cross-disciplinary teams working on a range of city services

You’ll serve on multidisciplinary project teams of designers, developers, researchers, and subject-matter experts working to to improve city services iteratively and with a clear focus on putting residents first. The breadth of services we’re working to improve spans all city functions, including public safety, permitting, recycling, and public health, and project work can range from early research and prototyping to detailed design and implementation. We look to each employee’s strengths and interests in order to match them with opportunities where they can have the greatest impact.

What we aren’t able to offer

Time off

Temporary positions at the City of Austin are not eligible for holidays or other forms of paid time off. In February 2018, our City Council passed an ordinance to make paid sick leave mandatory for all City Employees, which will go into effect on October 1st, 2018.

The lack of paid time off can be significant inconvenience for all of us, so we encourage our employees to flex their hours over the course of each two-week pay period (for example, working 48 hours during the first week and 32 hours the following week). Temporary employees can also choose to take unpaid leave as needed.

Insurance

Temporary positions at the City of Austin are not be eligible for health insurance for the first year. Our employees who work beyond their initial one-year term become eligible for health insurance from the City in their second year.