Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Preventive & Lifestyle Medicine Focus)

The Opportunity

We’re building something new for New York City’s independent drivers — the people who keep the city moving but are often left out of traditional healthcare systems. Together with the Independent Drivers Guild and the Workers Benefit Fund (WBF), we launched the Worker Healthy Living Program (WHLP) — a lifestyle medicine–informed program designed to help drivers live healthier, longer lives through food, movement, sleep, stress management, and community.

We’re looking for a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who believes that lasting health change comes from trust, consistency, and meaningful human connection — not just information. This role is for someone who loves working directly with people, supporting them through behavioral, emotional, and social challenges, and helping them navigate the realities of busy, high-stress lives.

This isn’t a traditional therapy-only role. You’ll join a small, collaborative care team — including primary care clinicians, advanced practice clinicians, a dietitian, medical assistants, and other care partners — working across in-person and virtual settings, with potential expansion to mobile clinics. You’ll support participants through individual and group-based behavioral health interventions and help integrate mental health, lifestyle change, and social support into a structured six-month program focused on whole-person health.

Beyond participant care, you’ll help shape how the program runs — refining workflows, supporting program operations, and helping design systems that make it easier for drivers to stay engaged in care. You’ll also work alongside Akido’s AI-powered platform to improve care delivery — using technology to reduce administrative burden and strengthen, not replace, human connection.

This is a zero-to-one opportunity. You’ll be joining early, with real ownership over how the program is built and grown — from how behavioral health support is delivered to how the model scales across New York City. We’re looking for someone who’s energized by ambiguity, comfortable experimenting, and motivated to help turn a promising pilot into a sustainable, community-centered model.

WHLP is grounded in evidence and designed to prevent and manage chronic conditions such as obesity, pre-diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, while also addressing the real-life factors that shape health — including stress, isolation, financial strain, trauma exposure, and work-related challenges.

If you’re passionate about behavioral health integration, community-based care, and building trust with populations that have been historically underserved — this is your opportunity to help reimagine the role of social work in primary care from the ground up.

You’ll Be a Great Fit If You

• Thrive in a collaborative, interdisciplinary care environment
• Are comfortable working in an early-stage, evolving program — able to move forward with limited direction and help create structure where it doesn’t yet exist
• Enjoy building long-term relationships with participants, not one-time clinical encounters
• Believe behavioral health, prevention, and patient empowerment should be central to healthcare
• Communicate with empathy, cultural humility, and a trauma-informed, non-judgmental approach
• Are excited by working across settings, from a community clinic in Williamsburg to virtual and mobile care across NYC
• Can meet people where they are and help them take the next best step (not the “perfect” step)

What You’ll Do

• Provide 1:1 behavioral health support to WHLP participants, focused on emotional wellbeing, behavior change, and social determinants of health
• Support participants in developing skills related to:
  • Stress management and emotional regulation
  • Coping strategies and resilience
  • Health-related behavior change and habit formation
  • Navigating life transitions, work-related stress, and burnout
• Use evidence-based approaches (e.g., motivational interviewing, brief therapeutic interventions, trauma-informed care) to support engagement and progress
• Support participants through a six-month lifestyle medicine–informed care program, reinforcing care plans and clinician recommendations from a behavioral health lens
• Help participants identify and navigate barriers to health such as time constraints, financial strain, work schedules, transportation, food access, and social isolation
• Coordinate closely with the care team (primary care, dietitian, MA, care coordinators) to ensure whole-person, integrated support
• Co-facilitate and support group visits and group-based programming, including workshops focused on stress, coping, behavior change, and community connection
• Support participant onboarding, engagement, retention, and follow-up outreach (in-person, phone, text, and virtual)
• Document clinical interactions, care plans, and participant progress in Akido’s systems in accordance with licensure and compliance requirements
• Support implementation and optimization of digital and AI-enabled tools for documentation, follow-up, and participant engagement
• Pilot and refine new approaches to outreach, education, and group-based behavioral health support
• Serve as a trusted presence at community events, enrollment activations, and driver engagement activities
• Provide feedback on participant-facing educational materials, tools, and engagement strategies
• Contribute frontline insight to help improve the care experience for both participants and the care team

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of New York, in good standing
• 2+ years of experience providing behavioral health or psychosocial support in healthcare, community-based, or social service settings
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and cross-cultural skills
• Experience working with individuals facing stress, trauma, or complex social needs
• Comfort working in mobile, field-based, and virtual care environments
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a multidisciplinary team
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage follow-ups, outreach, and documentation
• Passion for supporting underserved communities and delivering care with dignity and respect

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in integrated primary care, community health, or value-based care models
• Experience facilitating groups, workshops, or shared medical appointments
• Familiarity with motivational interviewing, brief therapy models, and trauma-informed care
• Experience addressing social determinants of health and care navigation
• Bilingual (especially Spanish, Bengali, Mandarin, Haitian Creole, or other languages commonly spoken by NYC drivers)
• Experience in a startup or early-stage program environment, with comfort navigating ambiguity and wearing multiple hats
• Interest in digital health and openness to using AI-enabled tools
• Lived experience that reflects the communities we serve

Work Environment

This is a mobile and field-based role, with work spanning mobile clinics, community organizations, and virtual platforms across New York City. You’ll also spend time collaborating in person from Akido’s Brooklyn headquarters, using the office as a home base for care team connection, planning, and program building.

Flexibility is essential, as the role may involve nontraditional hours — including early mornings, evenings, or weekends — to best serve our participant population.