---
title: 'Ascend Resident – In-House Immigration Leader at Alma'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ascend-resident-in-house-immigration-leader-alma-palo-alto-83ftn00b9126'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# Ascend Resident – In-House Immigration Leader at Alma

- **Company:** Alma
- **Location:** Palo Alto, CA
- **Employment:** part-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-03-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tryalma/f3cf29b8-f04f-4e36-8eee-69f5aa95c4aa

## Job description

## About the Role

The Ascend Residency is a highly competitive paid leadership role within Alma's peer community for in-house immigration professionals. Each month, one Resident is selected to shape the community conversation, surface what matters most to the field, and make Ascend materially more valuable for immigration leaders across companies.

Residents are selected based on the strength of their professional experience, credibility in the immigration field, demonstrated judgment, and ability to contribute original thought leadership to the community.

This is not an ambassador title or a visibility play. It is a substantive working role for an immigration leader with real operating experience, a sharp perspective, and something valuable to contribute to peers.

## What You'll Do

- Design and host 1 webinar on a topic the immigration community is actively wrestling with (Alma handles promotion and logistics)
- Design and host 1 sponsored in-person event (Alma funds and supports)
- Publish 3-4 original posts or insights on policy, compliance, AI tools, vendor strategy, or program design
- Create 1 durable resource (framework, template, playbook, or briefing) aligned with Alma
- Spark and sustain peer conversations across the community

## What You'll Receive

- $8,000 honorarium, paid at end of the residency month; 5-10 hours/week
- Production, scheduling, logistics, and promotion support from Alma
- Sponsored in-person event designed with you and funded by Alma
- Permanent recognition as an Ascend Resident and entry into the Ascend Alumni network
- Priority consideration for future speaking, editorial, and community partnership opportunities

Who This Is For

- In-house immigration program managers, directors, and leads
- Global mobility professionals with meaningful immigration program ownership.
- Practitioners who manage stakeholders, policy, compliance, vendors, employee experience, and program design.
- Operators with a clear point of view on where immigration practice, compliance, and technology are heading.
- Immigration leaders who are respected by peers and can bring thoughtful, practical, field-tested insights to the community.

Who This Is Not For

- General HR or People Ops professionals without direct immigration program responsibility
- Community managers or marketers seeking visibility opportunities
- Professionals adjacent to immigration who do not actively run or advise on the program
- Applicants who are not prepared to contribute original thinking, practical resources, and meaningful peer engagement.

How to Apply Applications take approximately 20 minutes. Please respond to the following:

- What are the 2-3 highest-leverage contributions you would make during your Residency month, and how would you judge whether they were useful?
- What topic would you choose for your webinar or live exchange, and why is it timely for in-house immigration leaders right now?
- What is one example of the kind of framework, post, briefing, or resource you would create for the community library?
- Who are the immigration professionals you would want to bring into Ascend, and why would they trust your invitation?

Selection Process Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Residents are selected based on professional experience, demonstrated immigration program leadership, quality of thought leadership and strength of proposed contributions.

Please note: This is an independent contractor (1099) role.

## About Alma

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Alma is a technology-driven immigration law firm that combines expert attorneys with an AI-powered platform to deliver faster, higher-quality visa and green card outcomes for individuals and businesses.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Shuo Chen (CTO & Co-Founder), Assel Tuleubayeva (CPO & Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Legal Services (Immigration Law / LegalTech)
- **Target customers**: B2B (companies hiring immigrant talent) and B2C (individuals applying for visas or green cards); primarily serves SMBs and growing enterprises.
- **Mission statement**: "Transform the immigration industry" by combining attorney expertise with AI/ML to streamline the complex immigration process.

## Products & Services
- **Temporary Work Visas**: End-to-end support for E-2, E-3, H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, O-1A, O-1B, and TN visas. Includes strategy, petition drafting, filing, and real-time case tracking.
- **Immigrant Visas (Green Cards)**: Full management of employment-based green cards: EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, EB-2 PERM, and EB-3.
- **Alma Platform**: A proprietary platform providing clients with real-time visibility into case status, document management, proactive updates, and SLAs – replacing traditional spreadsheets and reactive workflows.
- **For Businesses**: End-to-end immigration program management, from initial strategy through permanent residency, with dedicated attorney-led teams and structured workflows.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding – $5.1M (Series A, July 2024)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Bling Capital, Forerunner, Village Global, NFX, Conviction, MVP Ventures, NEA, Silkroad Innovation Hub
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 44 employees as of mid-2025, with monthly headcount growth of +7.4%
  - 23,473 LinkedIn followers (growing +4.2% monthly)
  - Active in 5 countries (US, Canada, India, Pakistan, Slovakia)
  - 98%+ approval rate on O-1A visas and 99% on H-1B (above USCIS averages)
  - 86 NPS (Net Promoter Score)
  - Case preparation timeline of ~2 weeks vs. 4–6 weeks for traditional firms
  - SOC 2 Type I compliant (Type II in observation)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Attorney-led + AI/ML**: Combines the expertise of seasoned immigration attorneys with a structured, technology-driven workflow that proactively moves cases forward.
- **Speed**: Guaranteed turnaround time of ~2 weeks for case preparation, significantly faster than the industry standard.
- **High Approval Rates**: Consistently outperforms USCIS averages, especially for O-1A and H-1B petitions.
- **Transparency & Visibility**: Clients get real-time status updates, clear timelines, and full control via the platform – unlike traditional firms that rely on outdated portals and reactive communication.
- **Personalized Support**: Dedicated legal teams provide tailored attention, and the company’s own founders and team have personal experience with the immigration process.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the platform** to serve more businesses and individuals, expanding the range of visa pathways and geographies.
- **Deepening AI/ML capabilities** to further streamline document processing, strategy recommendations, and risk prediction.
- **Building a world-class legal and engineering team** to maintain high-touch service while increasing throughput.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven**: Work on a product that directly impacts people’s lives and helps companies build global teams.
- **Growth stage**: Early-stage startup (Series A) with rapid headcount growth – opportunity to shape the company and take on significant ownership.
- **Remote-friendly**: Many roles are remote (Immigration Attorney, Paralegal, etc.), with a Palo Alto office available for those who prefer hybrid/in-person.
- **Culture**: Emphasizes speed, excellence, care, and proactive communication. High NPS (86) reflects strong client and team satisfaction.
- **Diverse team**: Employees across 5 countries; legal, engineering, sales, product, and design departments all represented.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but typical of a well-funded startup (equity, flexible work, modern tools). The careers page shows active hiring for Product Engineer, Product Manager, Account Executive, and multiple legal roles.

## Sources
1. [tryalma.com – About Us](https://www.tryalma.com/about-us)
2. [tryalma.com – Homepage](https://www.tryalma.com/)
3. [LinkedIn – Alma Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tryalma)
4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com – Alma Careers](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tryalma)
5. [jobalmanac.com – Alma Immigration Jobs](https://www.jobalmanac.com/companies/tryalma)

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