MBA Intern, New Ventures

At Propel, our mission is to build modern, respectful, and effective financial tools for Americans with limited income. Over 5 million people use our app, Providers, to manage the benefits they guse to keep their family well-fed and healthy, stay up to date on critical government programs, save money and earn income. Read more about the impact of Providers here. Now we’ve expanded further into the financial services space, offering the best banking option for low-income Americans.

We’re running a summer MBA internship to provide experience in exploring new products and business opportunities in a mission-driven startup. As an MBA intern, you will work with Propel’s New Ventures team and contribute to the development of a new product that helps low-income Americans make it through the month. You will fully own a project as part of the research and assessment of an opportunity in Medicaid/healthcare, low-cost telecommunications, utility affordability, online grocery, or another industry relevant to our audience. This will involve market and industry research, interviewing Providers app users to understand their needs, and speaking with potential customers or industry experts to understand buyer goals and expectations. You’ll also work with the team to play a role in crafting business and pricing strategy for projects in development. The goal is for you to have a valuable learning experience and make a real impact on the future of the Providers product and Propel’s business. 

Propel is a for-profit software company that holds its social mission at its core. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, the Omidyar Network, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, and Nas.

We’re strongly committed to hiring a diverse and multicultural team. We encourage applications from traditionally under-represented backgrounds, including those with direct experience with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

We offer:

• Immediate opportunity to make an impact on our business
• The chance to help shape the future of our business and how it impacts millions of people 
• A get-stuff-done and fun and caring culture
• Meaningful work and a strong shared sense of mission
• Competitive compensation
• A dog-friendly office based in Fort Greene
• Opportunity to join a brand new team and help build the function 

What you’ll do:

• Work with a team to identify new, emerging business lines that help low-income families make it through the month and generate revenue for Propel 
• Fully own a project as part of the research and assessment of a specific business opportunity the team is pursuing 
• Design a research project to validate key assumptions and answer important questions 
• Conduct interviews with industry experts, customers, Providers users, etc
• Do in-depth market research
• Analyze and synthesize learnings from project; recommend next steps (i.e. collect more data on X, talk to more customers in Y space, move into design & prototyping ASAP); your recommendation will have a direct impact on the direction of the project 
• Support revenue, pricing, and cost-management strategy exploration for opportunities that move into development 

What you have: 

1. Currently enrolled in an MBA program 
2. At least 2-3 yrs experience in business development/strategy, consulting, market research, or business operations - experience in healthcare, telecommunications, utilities, or grocery a plus 
3. Strong communication skills - can speak persuasively with corporate clients, our app users, industry experts, etc
4. Project management experience - you have experiencing structuring a project, communicating to stakeholders, and keeping the project within scope and on track 
5. You enjoy tackling complex business situations and have strong problem-solving skills 
6. Interest in learning how to build a new product or business line from ground up 
7. Comfortable performing analyses in Excel to answer questions about market sizing, revenue, pricing, costs, etc 
8. Passionate about public policy, government benefits, and issues that impact low-income Americans