About NewsBreak
Local life runs on local information. What happened down the street? Who can fix this? Where should we go tonight? NewsBreak started in 2015 to answer these questions, and today more than 40 million people a month rely on us to follow what's going on in their zip code.
Three platforms with one vision: powering local life. Led by founder and CEO Jeff Zheng, NewsBreak is our local life and news platform; Nearby AI connects people with local businesses; and NDot AI helps publishers and creators grow and earn.
Building for the long term. A $115 million Series C made us a unicorn in 2021, and we keep investing in our people. We're Great Place to Work® certified and named to Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators (2025) and Fortune's Best Workplaces in the Bay Area (2026).
Everyone makes an impact. Whether you write code, shape products, tell our story, or run the business, we want people who own projects end to end, stay curious, and speak up. Join us.
Learn more at: NewsBreak, Nearby AI, NDot AI
About Nearby AI
Nearby AI is a new company from NewsBreak building a trust-first marketplace for local home services. We help homeowners understand a problem, what it should reasonably cost, and whether to hire at all before they are connected to a provider, and we help service providers win work on fit and outcomes rather than on speed of contact.
Our mission: give people clarity and control from the first sign of a problem to a job done right, and give good contractors work they are equipped to win.
We are a small founding team. We work from evidence, keep a written record of decisions, and hold a short set of product principles we do not trade for revenue: no pay-for-rank, no sharing of customer contact information beyond what the customer approved, and no quality claims we cannot substantiate.
The role
Nearby AI is a company being built from its first months. The work that matters most right now is done by phone, in spreadsheets, in draft copy, and in conversations with customers and service professionals. Founding Associates work directly with the founding team on the marketing and operational groundwork of a new marketplace, and are measured on what they get done.
There are two tracks. You choose a primary track when you apply, and strength on either one is what we are looking for. Every associate spends part of the program on the other track so the cohort learns both sides of the business.
Marketing track
- Creative and content experiments. Draft and test ad creative, landing-page copy, and content variants with the growth lead, under the company's plain-language and compliance standards. Read the results and write up what moved.
- Local content production. Help build the data-backed local pages and guides that form the company's organic channel: sourcing, structuring, and quality-checking content at the editorial gate.
- Organic and AI-search tracking. Track how the company's content is discovered and cited by search engines and AI assistants, and turn that into a weekly readout.
- Community and partnerships groundwork. Map local organizations, publications, and community groups in launch markets and prepare the outreach the brand launch will use.
Operations track
- Provider sourcing and verification. Identify, contact, and qualify service professionals in launch markets; verify credentials against public records; build the roster the product launches with.
- Customer research. Recruit and interview homeowners about how they make hiring decisions and what stops them; turn transcripts into findings the product and design teams act on.
- Market intelligence. Document the customer experience of incumbent services first-hand and produce evidence that informs positioning and compliance review.
- Pricing data. Gather and document real-world pricing by category and region, with sources, to seed the company's pricing benchmarks.
Qualifications
Required
- Currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, a rigorous undergraduate or graduate program, with a strong academic record.
- At least one initiative you started yourself, such as a club, business, research project, campaign, or publication, with results you can show.
- Strong written communication. A short writing sample is requested with your application.
- Comfortable with outbound work: calling strangers, running structured interviews, or pitching an idea to someone who did not ask for it.
- Working proficiency with spreadsheets and with AI tools as a daily working method.
Preferred, Marketing track
- Ran a campaign, newsletter, social account, or content project with an audience and measurable results.
- Coursework or experience in marketing, communications, journalism, or SEO.
Preferred, Operations track
- Prior work in construction, real estate, or home services, including family businesses.
- Coursework or experience in economics, statistics, or research methods.
Preferred, either track
- Prior internship or work at an early-stage company.
The US base salary range for this full-time position is listed below. Pay may vary based on a number of factors including job-related skills, level, experience, geographic location and relevant education or training. At NewsBreak, we design our overall rewards package to attract top talents. Depending on the position, the role may also be eligible for discretionary bonus and options. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process.
Annual Base Pay Range
$30—$60 USD