How to Apply to Standtogether

Key Takeaways

Study Stand Together's Principle-Based Management framework before applying — reference its core concepts (contribution, knowledge-sharing, humility, mutual benefit) in your resume and interviews to demonstrate genuine cultural understanding
Quantify every achievement on your resume with specific metrics: dollars raised, people reached, percentage improvements, programs launched — Stand Together's culture rewards demonstrated contribution over titles or tenure
Format your resume as a single-column .pdf or .docx with standard headings to ensure Lever's parser correctly imports your information into the recruiter's dashboard
If applying to KIP internships, write your screening responses with specificity about your preferred policy area and the partner organization — generic answers about 'wanting to make a difference' will not stand out among thousands of applicants
Prepare for interview questions that assess your thinking process and intellectual influences, not just your technical qualifications — have specific examples ready of times you challenged conventional wisdom or took principled initiative
Apply to the most relevant role rather than submitting to multiple openings simultaneously — Lever tracks all your applications, and targeted candidacies signal the intentionality Stand Together values
Follow up after interviews with a thoughtful note that references specific conversation points and connects your experience to Stand Together's mission — this reinforces the relational, community-oriented culture

About Stand Together

Stand Together is a philanthropic community founded by Charles Koch that partners with more than 700 organizations and thousands of individuals to tackle some of America's most pressing social challenges — from poverty and addiction to education and criminal justice reform. Unlike a traditional nonprofit or foundation, Stand Together operates as a network, connecting donors, grassroots leaders, policy advocates, and social entrepreneurs under a shared philosophy rooted in mutual benefit, bottom-up solutions, and human empowerment. The organization's market position is distinctive: it sits at the intersection of philanthropy, public policy, community building, and business strategy, making it a rare employer that attracts talent from nonprofit, political, corporate, and startup backgrounds alike. Stand Together's family of organizations includes well-known entities and funds a wide range of partner organizations across the political and social spectrum through initiatives like the Koch Internship Program (KIP), which places emerging leaders at partner nonprofits nationwide. Culturally, Stand Together emphasizes what it calls Principle-Based Management (PBM), a framework drawn from market-based principles that values contribution, humility, knowledge-sharing, and continuous improvement. Employees frequently describe a mission-driven environment where intellectual curiosity is rewarded and individual initiative is expected. With approximately 100+ open openings spanning communications, policy, product management, fundraising, operations, and internships, Stand Together offers career paths that are unusually diverse for an organization of its kind — appealing to those who want their work to drive measurable social impact.

Application Process

1
Explore Roles on the Stand Together Careers Page
Stand Together lists all open positions — including roles across its partner network and the Koch Internship Program (KIP) — on its Lever-powered careers portal. Start by filtering roles by category (policy, operations, communications, product, development) and location, paying close attention to whether a role sits within Stand Together's central team or one of its partner organizations, as the day-to-day experience and hiring team may differ significantly.
2
Prepare a Tailored Resume and Cover Letter
Stand Together values alignment with its mission and Principle-Based Management philosophy. Your resume should clearly articulate measurable contributions — not just responsibilities — and your cover letter should speak directly to why you believe in bottom-up, community-driven approaches to social challenges. Generic materials that don't reference Stand Together's specific mission or the role's impact area are unlikely to advance.
3
Submit Your Application Through Lever
Complete the Lever application form, which typically includes uploading your resume, entering contact information, and answering role-specific screening questions. Some KIP internship postings may ask for short essay responses or require you to indicate your preferred partner organization placement. Fill out every field — Lever's parsing works best with complete submissions, and incomplete applications may be deprioritized.
4
Initial Screening by Talent Team
Stand Together's talent acquisition team reviews applications using Lever's tagging and pipeline features. Screeners commonly evaluate mission alignment, relevant experience, and how clearly your application demonstrates results-oriented thinking. Many applicants report receiving an initial response within one to three weeks, though high-volume programs like KIP may take longer during peak cycles.
5
Phone or Video Screening Interview
Qualified candidates are typically invited to a 30-minute phone or video call with a recruiter or talent team member. Expect questions about your motivation for joining Stand Together specifically, your understanding of its mission and approach, and how your past work demonstrates initiative and measurable impact. This is also your opportunity to ask about team structure, role expectations, and the Principle-Based Management culture.
6
Hiring Manager and Panel Interviews
Advancing candidates commonly move to one or more interviews with the hiring manager and cross-functional team members. These rounds often blend behavioral questions with scenario-based prompts — for example, how you would approach a partnership challenge or drive adoption of a new program. For senior roles like Vice President of Activations or Deal Desk Program Manager, expect a case study or strategic presentation component.
7
Final Decision and Offer
Stand Together's hiring teams typically debrief collaboratively before extending offers. Candidates may be asked for professional references at this stage. Offers commonly include details about competitive compensation, benefits, and professional development opportunities, including access to Stand Together's internal learning programs grounded in Principle-Based Management.

Resume Tips for Stand Together

critical

Lead with Measurable Contributions, Not Job Duties

Stand Together's culture prizes what it calls 'contribution' — demonstrable value you've created. Instead of writing 'Managed social media accounts,' write 'Grew advocacy campaign engagement by 45% over six months, driving 12,000 new petition signatures.' Every bullet point on your resume should answer the question: what changed because of your work? This is especially important for roles like Partnership Success Manager or Content Enablement Manager where impact metrics define success.

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Mirror Stand Together's Mission Language Naturally

Study Stand Together's website, particularly its 'Our Vision' and 'Our Approach' pages, and incorporate their specific terminology — phrases like 'bottom-up solutions,' 'mutual benefit,' 'removing barriers,' 'empowering individuals,' and 'social entrepreneur.' Lever's search and tagging features allow recruiters to surface candidates who use relevant keywords, so weaving in mission-aligned language increases your visibility. Avoid forcing jargon — integrate these terms where they authentically describe your experience.

critical

Use a Clean, ATS-Friendly Format for Lever

Lever parses resumes effectively but struggles with multi-column layouts, text boxes, headers/footers, and embedded images. Use a single-column format with standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) and save as a .pdf or .docx file. Avoid creative templates from Canva or similar tools — they may look polished but often result in garbled parsed data that makes recruiter review harder.

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Highlight Cross-Sector and Interdisciplinary Experience

Stand Together operates across philanthropy, policy, technology, and business — and they hire people who can bridge these worlds. If you've worked in multiple sectors (e.g., nonprofit program management and corporate strategy), explicitly frame that breadth as a strength. A Product Manager candidate, for instance, should showcase both technical product skills and an understanding of mission-driven organizations.

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Showcase Intellectual Curiosity and Self-Directed Learning

Principle-Based Management rewards people who seek out knowledge and challenge their own assumptions. Include relevant certifications, courses, reading groups, or self-directed projects that demonstrate you're a continuous learner. A candidate for a policy research role might mention completing a specific economics course or publishing an independent analysis. This signals cultural fit in a way that traditional credentials alone cannot.

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Tailor Your Resume for the Specific Role Category

Stand Together's 100+ open roles span vastly different functions. A resume targeting a KIP Summer 2026 Policy Intern role should emphasize academic research, policy writing samples, and relevant coursework. A Deal Desk Program Manager resume should highlight process optimization, cross-functional coordination, and CRM/deal management tools. Don't submit the same resume for a communications intern role and a VP-level operations position — Lever tracks all your applications, and inconsistency can raise flags.

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Include Volunteer, Civic, or Community Leadership Experience

Given Stand Together's focus on community-driven change, volunteer work and civic leadership carry more weight here than at a typical employer. If you've led a community initiative, organized a grassroots campaign, mentored students, or served on a nonprofit board, give it prominent placement. These experiences directly align with the organization's mission and demonstrate that you practice what Stand Together preaches.

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Keep It to One Page (Two for Senior Roles)

KIP interns and early-career candidates should strictly stick to one page. Mid-career professionals applying for manager-level roles can use two pages if every line adds value. For VP-level roles like Vice President, Activations, two pages are expected — but ensure your most impactful achievements appear on page one, since Lever's preview feature shows the top of your resume first in recruiter dashboards.

ATS System: Lever

Lever is a modern applicant tracking and candidate relationship management (CRM) platform that Stand Together uses to manage its hiring pipeline. It parses uploaded resumes into structured candidate profiles, allows recruiters to tag and search candidates by keywords, and tracks applicants through customizable pipeline stages from initial application to offer.

Use a single-column resume layout — Lever's parser handles linear formatting far better than multi-column designs or tables
Save your resume as a .pdf or .docx file; avoid image-based formats like .png or heavily designed templates that embed text in graphics
Include standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills, Summary) so Lever can correctly categorize your information
Incorporate keywords from the job posting naturally throughout your resume — Lever allows recruiters to search candidates by specific terms like 'stakeholder engagement,' 'policy analysis,' or 'fundraising operations'
Complete all optional fields in the Lever application form, including LinkedIn URL and any screening questions — partially completed profiles are often filtered to lower priority
Avoid placing critical information in headers, footers, or text boxes, as Lever's parser may skip these sections entirely
If applying to multiple Stand Together roles, customize each application — Lever shows recruiters your full application history, and identical submissions across different roles suggest a lack of intentionality

Complete Lever Resume Guide →

Interview Culture

Stand Together's interview process reflects its Principle-Based Management (PBM) philosophy — expect conversations that probe not just your skills but your thinking frameworks, intellectual humility, and alignment with bottom-up, empowerment-driven approaches to social change. For most roles, the process typically spans two to four rounds. It commonly begins with a recruiter phone screen focused on motivation and mission alignment, followed by one or two interviews with the hiring manager and team members. Senior and strategic roles — such as Vice President of Activations or Deal Desk Program Manager — often include a case study, strategic presentation, or work sample exercise designed to evaluate how you approach real problems the team faces. Interviewers at Stand Together frequently use behavioral questions grounded in PBM principles. You might be asked to describe a time you challenged a conventional approach, took initiative without being directed, or created value in an ambiguous situation. Questions about intellectual influences — books, thinkers, or experiences that shaped your worldview — are not uncommon, particularly for policy and research-oriented roles. Culture fit is evaluated seriously. Stand Together looks for people who are genuinely curious, comfortable with principled disagreement, and motivated by long-term social impact rather than short-term recognition. Demonstrating that you've researched Stand Together's approach — not just its surface-level mission, but its philosophy of partnering with diverse organizations and trusting individuals closest to problems — will distinguish you from candidates who treat it as just another nonprofit. For KIP internship candidates, interviews tend to be conversational and exploratory, often assessing intellectual curiosity, openness to new ideas, and passion for a specific policy area. Many KIP alumni report that interviewers genuinely wanted to understand their perspective rather than test for 'right answers.' Prepare thoughtful questions for your interviewers. Asking about how PBM manifests in daily team decisions or how a specific initiative measures success signals the kind of engaged, principled thinking Stand Together values.

What Stand Together Looks For

Mission alignment with Stand Together's philosophy of bottom-up, community-driven solutions — demonstrated through your work history, volunteer experience, or articulated worldview
Evidence of measurable contribution — not just participation in projects, but concrete results you personally drove, whether in revenue, policy outcomes, engagement metrics, or program growth
Intellectual curiosity and a habit of self-directed learning, including comfort engaging with diverse perspectives and challenging your own assumptions
Entrepreneurial initiative — a track record of identifying problems and building solutions without waiting for permission or detailed instructions
Cross-functional collaboration skills, especially the ability to partner across policy, communications, operations, and development teams in a networked organizational structure
Humility and coachability — willingness to receive feedback, adapt your approach, and prioritize the mission over personal ego
Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly the ability to translate complex policy or strategic concepts into clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences
For KIP interns specifically: demonstrated passion for a policy area (education, criminal justice, economic opportunity, etc.), academic curiosity, and openness to exploring principled approaches to social challenges

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the Stand Together hiring process typically take from application to offer?

Based on commonly reported timelines, the Stand Together hiring process typically takes three to six weeks for full-time roles, from initial application to offer. KIP internship cycles may follow a different timeline, often with application deadlines several months before the program start date and batch processing of candidates. After submitting through Lever, most applicants report hearing back within one to three weeks if they advance to the screening stage. The process can extend longer for senior leadership roles that involve multiple interview rounds and a presentation or case study component.

Do I need to submit a cover letter when applying to Stand Together?

While not always explicitly required, a cover letter is strongly recommended for Stand Together applications. The organization places significant weight on mission alignment and cultural fit — qualities that are difficult to convey through a resume alone. Your cover letter should articulate why Stand Together's specific approach to social change resonates with you, reference a specific initiative or partner organization that interests you, and connect your experience to the role's impact area. For KIP internships, where thousands of students apply, a compelling cover letter can be the differentiator that moves you to the screening stage.

What is Principle-Based Management (PBM) and how important is it in the hiring process?

Principle-Based Management is Stand Together's operating philosophy, derived from market-based principles and emphasizing concepts like mutual benefit, knowledge-sharing, principled entrepreneurship, humility, and individual contribution. PBM is not a peripheral cultural detail — it's central to how Stand Together operates, evaluates performance, and hires. You don't need to be an expert in PBM before applying, but demonstrating familiarity with its core ideas and showing that your work style aligns with its principles will significantly strengthen your candidacy. Many applicants report being asked about PBM concepts directly during interviews. Stand Together's website and Charles Koch's published writings are good starting points for understanding the framework.

Can I apply to multiple Stand Together roles at the same time?

Technically yes, but strategically you should be selective. Lever, Stand Together's ATS, maintains a complete record of all your applications, and recruiters can see every role you've applied to. Submitting to five or six unrelated positions — say, a Press Secretary role, a Product Manager opening, and a KIP policy intern position — suggests you're casting a wide net rather than making a deliberate career choice. If two roles genuinely fit your background (for example, two communications positions on different teams), applying to both is reasonable, but tailor each application to the specific role's requirements and team.

What is the Koch Internship Program (KIP) and how competitive is it?

The Koch Internship Program is Stand Together's flagship internship initiative, placing emerging leaders at partner organizations across the country in policy, communications, operations, research, and program roles. KIP is widely regarded as highly competitive, drawing thousands of applicants for each cohort. The program includes professional development seminars, networking with the broader Stand Together community, and hands-on work at organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Foundation for Economic Education. Successful KIP applicants typically demonstrate intellectual curiosity, a clear interest in a specific policy domain, strong writing skills, and openness to Stand Together's principled approach to social change.

Does Stand Together offer remote or hybrid work arrangements?

Stand Together has embraced flexible work arrangements for many of its roles, with positions available as remote, hybrid, or in-office depending on the function and team. Job postings on their Lever careers page typically specify the location requirement — look for labels like 'Remote,' a specific city, or 'Arlington, VA' (where their headquarters is located). During the interview process, you can ask about the team's specific work arrangement. Roles involving partner organization coordination or event-based activations may require more in-person presence than strategy or product roles.

What level of experience do I need to apply to Stand Together?

Stand Together hires across all experience levels, from current college students (through KIP internships) to senior executives (VP-level roles). The key differentiator isn't years of experience but demonstrated contribution and mission alignment. A candidate with three years of nonprofit program management experience who can show measurable community impact may be more competitive than a candidate with ten years of generic corporate experience. Review the specific job posting carefully — KIP internships are designed for students and recent graduates, while roles like Deal Desk Program Manager or Vice President, Activations typically expect significant professional experience.

How should I prepare for a Stand Together interview?

Start by deeply researching Stand Together's mission, its network of partner organizations, and the basics of Principle-Based Management. Prepare specific examples from your career that demonstrate initiative, measurable results, intellectual curiosity, and collaboration. Practice answering behavioral questions with the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), but also be ready for more philosophical questions about your approach to problem-solving and social change. Review the specific team and role you're interviewing for — if it's a communications role at a partner organization, know that organization's recent campaigns and public positioning. Finally, prepare two or three thoughtful questions that show you've moved beyond surface-level research.

What formatting tips matter most for getting my resume through Stand Together's Lever ATS?

The three most impactful formatting choices are: use a single-column layout (no tables, sidebars, or multi-column designs), save as .pdf or .docx (not .pages, .png, or heavily designed templates), and use standard section headings like 'Experience,' 'Education,' and 'Skills.' Lever's parser is generally reliable, but it stumbles on text embedded in images, content placed in headers or footers, and creative layouts that break the linear reading order. Also, don't rely on formatting alone to organize your content — use clear job titles, company names, and date ranges that Lever can extract into structured fields on the recruiter's screen.

Sample Open Positions

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 100 open positions at Stand Together

Related Resources

Similar Companies

Sources

Stand Together Careers Page — Stand Together
Stand Together - Our Approach — Stand Together
Koch Internship Program (KIP) Overview — Stand Together
Stand Together Company Reviews — Glassdoor
Lever ATS Help Center - Resume Parsing — Lever