Palante is hiring a new tech support person!

Photo of the Palante coop members at the 2020 winter retreat

This position has been filled! This post remains online for posterity and to avoid broken links.

Palante Technology Cooperative is seeking a new technical support person to join us in our work with incredible nonprofit and community organizations. The new worker will join our tech support team, providing remote and on-site assistance to our clients in New York City.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position has been filled.

Who we are

Palante Tech is a worker cooperative that provides tech consulting services to progressive nonprofit, social justice, activist and community organizations. Over the years, in our individual and collective work, we've developed a deep understanding of nonprofit tech needs and the expertise required to meet them. Each of us has also been long involved with activism and organizing in non-technological capacities, including involvement with many of our client organizations. This breadth of experience allows us to provide services that are tailored to meet the specific needs of nonprofit community organizations.

Palante is currently comprised of eight worker-owners living around the US. You can find out more about each of us on our website at https://palantetech.coop/about.

Wages and Benefits

All Palante workers are paid at the same hourly rate of $36.50, plus patronage if they become worker-owners after 9-to-12 months of successful onboarding. Professional development and community involvement of various sorts are also paid; we encourage workers to seek out opportunities! We offer 10 paid holidays per year, with paid vacation and health time accruing per hour worked. We offer health, dental, and disability insurance to all workers, as well as an FSA, paid parental and family leave, and paid bereavement time. Workers are eligible for a paid sabbatical after 8 years of working at the coop. We have a strong commitment to collective accountability, treating each other well, and ensuring that each worker is able to lead a healthy, fulfilling, and balanced life. You can read more about our cooperative values at https://palantetech.coop/our-values.

Our Worker Cooperative

As a member of our worker cooperative you will participate in the day-to-day business of Palante Tech: prospecting for new work, managing projects and clients, helping with billing and bookkeeping, and making business decisions via consensus at our weekly meetings. We have many areas of work and we encourage all workers to learn about them all and branch out into other areas. All Palante Tech workers are candidates for worker ownership of the cooperative; one of the benefits of ownership is patronage, or a share in the company profits based on a worker's percentage of the total hours worked. You can read this piece from 2016 for more information on what it's like to work at our coop.

Who We're Looking For

Palante is looking for someone who is based in New York City, has a well-rounded set of technical skills, and is good at learning new skills. We prefer that you have experience with working remotely and independently; you should be comfortable with a high amount of communication via phone, video, email, chat, and an online project management system. Ideal candidates will share our commitment to working with progressive nonprofits & community organizations working for social justice.

This is a full time position with some flexibility around schedules and exact numbers of hours.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following qualities and skills:
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision
  • Talent for explaining technical answers patiently to non-technical folks in a way that's accessible without being condescending
  • Outstanding customer service and people skills in person, over the phone, and via email
  • Comfort solving a wide range of software, networking and hardware issues that might be found in small (5-20 person) offices
  • The ability to work well under pressure when the situation requires it
  • The ability to travel to client offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn to fix issues that come up (travel time and personal protective equipment is covered by the coop)
As well as most or all of these technical skills:
  • Installing and configuring routers and switches, both residential and SOHO-grade (e.g. Sonicwall TZ170, Zyxel ZyWall series)
  • Installing, configuring and troubleshooting a wide range of Windows operating systems and software (Windows 7/8, Microsoft Office, web browsers, etc.)
  • Configuring and troubleshooting email-related issues across a number of platforms/clients (SMTP, IMAP, Thunderbird, Outlook, smartphone clients)
  • Able to configure and troubleshoot firewall-related issues
  • Comfortable writing and editing basic scripts to automate simple tasks
  • Installing, configuring, and troubleshooting servers, particularly Windows Server and Debian/Ubuntu
  • Familiarity with the open source software ecosystem
  • Familiarity with the Linux command line
  • The ability to write clear technical documentation for internal use
Other pluses:
  • Experience with systems automation software (Puppet, wpkg, and similar)
  • Experience with MySQL, PHP, bash scripting, Samba, Postfix, Apache
  • Experience with PGP encryption
Furthermore, this job has the following requirements:
  • Fluency in English
  • Ability to climb stairs, lift and carry computer-sized objects

How to Apply

Please email us at jobs@palantetech.coop with the following:

  • a cover letter including:
    • why you're interested in joining a worker cooperative
    • why you're interested in working with social justice community organizations
    • whether you are currently based in NYC, already planning to relocate there, or would be able to relocate to NYC as soon as possible if hired
  • your resume

People of color, women, genderqueer and trans folks, and queer folks strongly encouraged to apply.