Part-Time Health Coach (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 Health Coach who believes that lasting health change comes from trust, consistency, and support — not just information. This role is for someone who loves working directly with people, helping them make realistic changes in the context of busy, high-stress lives, and building strong relationships with participants over time.

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

Beyond participant support, 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. 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 coaching 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 barriers that shape health — including stress, isolation, financial strain, and work-related challenges.

If you’re passionate about behavior change, community health, and building trust with populations that have been historically underserved — this is your opportunity to help reimagine what health coaching looks like in primary care from the ground up.

This position is part-time and is not eligible for benefits.

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-off coaching sessions
• Believe prevention, lifestyle change, and patient empowerment should be central to healthcare
• Communicate with empathy, cultural humility, and a non-judgmental coaching 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 health coaching to WHLP participants focused on sustainable lifestyle change
• Support participants in goal-setting and skill-building related to:
  • Nutrition and healthy eating
  • Physical activity and movement
  • Sleep and recovery
  • Stress management and emotional wellbeing
  • Habit formation and behavior change
• Use coaching techniques (e.g., motivational interviewing, stages of change) to help participants stay engaged and build confidence
• Support participants through a six-month lifestyle medicine–informed care program, reinforcing care plans and clinician recommendations
• Help participants identify and navigate barriers to health such as time constraints, financial strain, work schedules, transportation, and food access
• Coordinate closely with the care team (primary care, dietitian, behavioral health, MA) to ensure whole-person support
• Co-facilitate and support group visits and group-based programming, including workshops focused on practical skills and community connection
• Support participant onboarding, engagement, retention, and follow-up outreach (in-person, phone, text, and virtual)
• Document participant goals, action plans, and progress in Akido’s systems and workflows
• Support implementation and optimization of digital and AI-enabled tools for tracking progress, documentation, and participant engagement
• Pilot and refine new approaches to outreach, education, and group-based coaching 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

• Health coaching certification from a recognized program (e.g., NBHWC, ACE, Wellcoaches, or equivalent) or 3+ years of experience in a health coaching, care navigation, or community health role
• 2+ years of experience supporting behavior change in a health, wellness, or care setting
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and cross-cultural skills
• 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 participant tracking
• Passion for supporting underserved communities and delivering care with dignity and respect

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in community health, primary care, lifestyle medicine, or value-based care
• Experience working with populations facing high stress, demanding schedules, or economic barriers
• Experience facilitating group visits, workshops, or shared medical appointments
• Familiarity with motivational interviewing, trauma-informed communication, and culturally responsive care
• 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.