The posting
At Colibri Group, culture is at the heart of everything we do. Our values Love, Joy, Boldness, Teamwork, and Curiosity guide how we work together, support our customers, and make a difference in the communities we serve. Colibri Group is a leader in online professional education, serving more than one million learners each year across a family of trusted education brands. Our Product & Technology teams build the products that help professionals advance their careers and stay indispensable in a changing world. Our returnship brings that mission to experienced professionals ready to relaunch their own careers.
Come Build What’s Next
We’re looking for experienced professionals to join Colibri’s Returnship Program as a Product Builder (Returnship). Your career break does not erase the expertise you earned. This paid, 12-week opportunity gives you a structured way to bring that experience back into technology work while learning how to build with AI.
In this individual contributor role, you will join a cross-functional product pod: a small team working together to solve customer and business problems. You will take a problem from an early prototype to working, AI-enabled software in the hands of real users, then improve it through feedback and weekly iteration. You will have meaningful ownership, with responsibility for the quality, progress, and outcomes of your work.
We welcome experience across engineering, product, design, learning, program management, business systems, and related disciplines. Bring your professional judgment and readiness to learn. Through AI-native training, hands-on delivery, and collaboration with your pod, you will build current skills while contributing the perspective of your prior career.
About the Returnship Program
- Paid, temporary program lasting 12 weeks, with a commitment of 40 hours per week, fully onsite in Pleasanton, California
- Designed for experienced professionals returning after a career break, typically two or more years away from paid work
- Placement at Colibri’s individual contributor level IC2 or above during the program, based on prior experience, with a discipline descriptor reflecting your professional background
- Structured AI-native training and real project work, supported by manager coaching, mentorship, and peer connections
This temporary program does not include company-sponsored benefits. The program may lead to future employment in Product & Technology; conversion is not guaranteed and depends on performance, business needs, and approved headcount. Any future role and level will reflect demonstrated scope; prior level informs placement but does not guarantee it.
What You’ll Do
- Refresh your skills and apply them immediately. Complete Colibri’s AI-native training and use it in active project work, building fluency in current tools and ways of working
- Own a customer or business problem. Move from prototype through build, hardening, release, and iteration while owning the outcome and timeline within your pod’s commitments
- Deliver working software to real users. Take the fastest responsible path to a minimum viable product and then beta. Your work will reach production, beyond a local demonstration
- Apply your professional judgment. Use your prior experience to define scope, weigh trade-offs, align stakeholders, and help the pod make better decisions
- Show progress every week. Demonstrate your work in weekly demos and communicate progress, risks, and next steps clearly and honestly
- Direct and evaluate AI tools. Use AI coding and agent tools to accelerate delivery. When output falls short, identify the cause and improve the context, prompts, tools, or tests behind it
- Bring the standards of your discipline. Create strong requirements, designs, architecture, tests, learning designs, or programs, as relevant to your background, and learn how other disciplines contribute.
- Own quality. Review AI-generated and peer work for maintainability, test coverage, security, and fitness for purpose. Build quality into the work throughout delivery
- Support others and keep learning. Share your experience with early-career builders, help teammates break down and communicate work, seek feedback, and change your approach when evidence calls for it
What You’ll Bring
- Typically three or more years of prior professional experience in engineering, product, design, learning, program management, business systems, or a related field
- A career break from paid work, typically two or more years, and readiness to relaunch your career through hands-on product delivery
- Evidence of the scope you held before your break, such as products delivered, outcomes owned, or teams and stakeholders influenced
- Readiness to retrain on AI coding and agent tools, work at pace, and take responsibility for the quality of what you build
- Professional judgment, customer empathy, clear communication, and a collaborative approach to mentoring and receiving feedback
- A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience
- Availability for the full 12-week, 40-hour-per-week onsite commitment in Pleasanton, California
Preferred: Experience in professional education, edtech, ecommerce, B2B SaaS, or regulated markets.
Tools, Platforms, and Methodologies You May Use
Experience with every tool or methodology below is not required. We are most interested in your ability to learn quickly, direct AI effectively, and apply professional judgment to work that reaches real users.
- AI coding assistants and agent tools, including context development, prompting, and evaluation of AI-generated work
- Rapid prototyping, minimum viable product development, production delivery, and iterative improvement
- Discipline-specific requirements, design, architecture, testing, learning design, and program artifacts
- Weekly demonstrations, customer feedback, and cross-functional product pod collaboration
Why You’ll Love Working Here
- Relaunch with meaningful ownership. Build recent experience by delivering working software to real users and seeing how they respond
- Learn AI through practical application. Complete structured training and use those skills immediately with your pod
- Put your prior experience to work. Your judgment will help shape decisions, strengthen delivery, and support early-career colleagues
- Make an impact connected to your own journey. Help build products that advance learners’ careers while rebuilding momentum in yours
We Encourage You to Apply
You may not check every preferred box, and that is okay. We welcome experienced returners from engineering, product and design, learning, program management, and business systems. This program values transferable expertise and the ability to learn new ways of working.
You should be ready for hands-on building, accountable ownership, and the full onsite program commitment. Success will be visible in work delivered to users, weekly progress, the quality of your artifacts, how you diagnose and improve AI output, and how you respond to feedback and support your pod. If this sounds like the next step you have been looking for, we would love to hear from you.
What You Can Expect From Our Hiring Process
We want you to understand the program and the team while we learn about your experience and goals. We do not use AI to review applications; a human on our Talent Acquisition team reviews your application. While the exact process may vary, you can generally expect:
- Recruiter Conversation Discuss your background, return-to-work goals, interests, program availability, and compensation
- Hiring Manager Conversation Explore your previous scope, professional judgment, approach to learning, and potential project work
- Team and/or Cross-Functional Interviews Meet potential partners and discuss the skills and experiences most relevant to the program
- Final Conversation and Decision Some opportunities may include an additional conversation. Talent Acquisition will keep you informed about next steps and timing. We encourage your questions throughout the process
Our Commitment to Inclusion Colibri Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome, respected, and empowered to do their best work. We encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds, experiences, and career paths to apply!!
