Poached Jobs

What Poached Jobs does

Poached Jobs is a specialized web-based job marketplace serving the restaurant and hospitality industry, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 2011, the platform connects hospitality employers with job seekers across at least 11 U.S. states, including Oregon, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wyoming, and Montana, with active listings also visible in Colorado, California, South Carolina, and Nevada. The company serves two primary user groups: hospitality operators posting job openings and workers seeking full-time, part-time, or shift-based employment in restaurants, hotels, resorts, and related establishments.

The core product is the Poached Jobs Platform at poachedjobs.com, a self-service marketplace that organizes listings into categories covering Floor (servers), Kitchen, Bar, Management, Barista, Counter, Hotel, Distributor, and Destination roles. A notable extension is the Shift Posting feature, which supports on-demand staffing by allowing employers to post short-term shifts and workers to claim available shifts. Job seekers browse and apply directly through the website using category filters and location-based search, while employers self-serve job postings via a dashboard; the platform integrates with Recruitics to syndicate listings from larger hospitality employers such as Arby's. The technology stack is a web-based platform with no mobile app, no public API, no SDK, and no documented AI features.

Poached Jobs operates on a two-sided marketplace revenue model in which job seekers use the platform free of charge while employers pay to post job listings; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company has raised approximately $2.35 million in disclosed equity funding across seed and early-stage rounds between 2014 and 2016 (including a $1.5 million round in February 2016 led by Oregon Venture Fund with 10Branch, Alliance of Angels, Portland Seed Fund, and The R-Group Holdings), followed by an investment from Bigfoot Capital in 2022. Founders Kirk Thornby (CEO) and Peter Bro (co-founder and owner) continue to lead the company, which has grown primarily through organic geographic expansion rather than acquisitions or partnerships.

Name

Poached Jobs

Legal name

Poached Jobs

Website

https://poachedjobs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Poached Jobs is a Portland-based web marketplace connecting restaurant and hospitality employers with job seekers across 11+ U.S. states, offering self-serve job postings, category-based filtering, and on-demand shift staffing for full-time, part-time, and gig roles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Hospitality Job Board

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Temporary Help Services (56132)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Gig / On-Demand Generalist Staffing Platforms (BPACACAK)

Keywords

• Hospitality job board
• Restaurant job marketplace
• Hospitality recruitment platform
• Shift staffing marketplace
• Hospitality employment network

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Poached Jobs operates a web-based hospitality-focused job marketplace where restaurants, bars, hotels, and other hospitality employers post job openings and connect with job seekers across multiple U.S. states. The platform supports both traditional full-time/part-time roles and on-demand shift postings across hospitality categories including Floor, Kitchen, Bar, Management, Barista, Counter, Hotel, Distributor, Destination, and Shifts. Job seekers can search and apply for positions for free, while employers pay to post jobs.

Product overview

Poached Jobs is a unified restaurant and hospitality job board platform that connects employers with job seekers. The platform consists of the core Poached Jobs Platform for standard job postings, a Shift Posting feature for on-demand staffing needs, and Job Category Filtering capabilities. The platform serves the restaurant and hospitality industry with locations across Virginia, Washington DC, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Dallas, and other regions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Poached Jobs Marketplace Web-based two-sided job marketplace where hospitality employers (restaurants, bars, hotels, distributors) post job openings and connect with job seekers. Covers multiple U.S. states including Oregon, Virginia, Washington DC, Washington, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wyoming, and Montana. Job seekers use the platform for free; employers pay to post positions.
• Poached Shifts

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Indeed is the largest generalist job board globally and aggregates listings across all industries including hospitality, competing with Poached for employer job-posting spend and job seeker attention.
• ZipRecruiter: ZipRecruiter is a leading generalist hiring marketplace with significant restaurant and hospitality employer adoption, representing direct overlap on the employer side of Poached's marketplace.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the dominant professional networking and recruiting platform, increasingly used by hospitality employers for management and executive hires that overlap with Poached's higher-end roles.

Direct peers

• Poached (sister: hospitality-focused job board byHospitality Online): Hospitality Online is a hospitality-focused job board serving hotels, resorts, and restaurants, providing overlapping employer and job seeker audiences comparable to Poached's customer base.
• Qwick: Qwick is an on-demand staffing platform purpose-built for hospitality and food service, matching workers to same-day shifts — directly overlapping with Poached's Shift Posting feature.
• Snagajob: Snagajob is the largest job marketplace focused on hourly and shift-based work, a model that directly competes with Poached's Shift Posting product for on-demand hospitality staffing.
• HCareers: HCareers is a long-standing job board dedicated to hospitality, hotel, and restaurant hiring, offering employers targeted recruitment of industry professionals — directly comparable in audience and offering to Poached.
• Culinary Agents: Culinary Agents is a direct competitor running a job marketplace specifically for restaurant and hospitality professionals, including chefs, servers, and management roles — overlapping directly with Poached's core audience and value proposition.

Emerging players

• Seasoned: Seasoned is a restaurant-industry hiring platform connecting operators with qualified hourly and management talent, directly competing with Poached in the restaurant recruitment vertical.
• Instawork: Instawork is a fast-growing on-demand staffing marketplace serving hospitality and other hourly industries, competing for the same flexible shift-based workers and operators that Poached targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/poachedjobs
• Facebookfacebook.com/PoachedJobs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/poachedjobs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Poached Jobs