Teach private driving lessons and administer the Washington knowledge and road (skills) tests at our own DOL-approved center. No instructor license? We train you.
Kung Fu Driving School is a Washington DOL-approved knowledge-test and road-test center in North Seattle, near Northgate, rated 5.0 on Google. We are hiring driving instructors and driver examiners, full-time or part-time, starting at $28 an hour with a school vehicle provided.
The role combines two jobs that are usually split between employers: you teach private behind-the-wheel lessons, and you administer the Washington knowledge and road (skills) tests at our own approved center. That means steadier hours than lesson-only instructing and no commuting between sites.
A certified Washington driver training instructor license is preferred but not required, because we are authorised by the state to train you ourselves. On August 10, 2026 the Department of Licensing added a Trainer of Trainers endorsement to our instructor licence record 25008347. Washington allows the 100 hours of instructor training to be delivered by only three kinds of provider — a DOL-licensed driving school holding that endorsement, Western Oregon University, or OSPI — and we are now the first of those, so you can complete every required hour at our school and then apply for your own licence. You can apply here with no instruction experience at all. What you must bring is at least five years of licensed driving, a clean record, the patience to sit calmly next to a nervous driver, and reliability.
We are a particularly good fit for people already driving for a living. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex and delivery drivers find the economics better here, because we provide the car and the fuel and the rate does not move with surge pricing or ratings. Police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics on shift rotations find that their off-days line up with the weekday hours our students want most, and their emergency-driving training transfers directly. Military veterans and retired transit, coach and truck drivers are welcome for the same reason.
Bilingual instructors are in the highest demand of all. Many of our students specifically request an instructor who speaks Mandarin, Cantonese or Spanish, so bilingual instructors fill their schedules first. Women are strongly encouraged to apply — students and parents of teen students frequently ask for a female instructor.
Our center is at 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125, about a mile from Northgate Link light rail station, within roughly 20 miles of Northgate, Lake City, Green Lake, Ballard, Greenwood, Wallingford, the University District (UW), Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville, Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Sammamish, Mercer Island, Renton and Everett.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time
Pay: From $28.00 per hour
Benefits: Flexible schedule, school vehicle provided, paid in-house instructor training
Shift and schedule: Day shift, weekends as needed, choose your own availability
Work Location: In person — 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125
Ability to Commute: Seattle, WA 98125 (Required)
You already hold the license — bring it somewhere it counts. Here you teach lessons and administer the WA knowledge and road tests at our own DOL-approved center, so you are not splitting your week across two employers. Tell us the schedule you want; we build around it.
You are already driving all day — the difference here is what you keep. We provide the car and the gas, so your own mileage, tires, insurance and depreciation stop coming out of your earnings. The rate is $28 an hour and it does not move with surge, ratings or an algorithm. Your route knowledge and your patience in traffic are exactly the experience this job needs.
A 24/48 or four-on-four-off rotation leaves whole weekdays open, and those are the hours our students want most. You have already been trained in defensive and emergency driving, and in staying calm while someone else is panicking — that is most of what teaching a nervous new driver actually is. Retired first responders are just as welcome. (Check your department's secondary-employment policy first.)
Transit, school bus, coach, truck, fleet and military driving all transfer directly. Instructing is lighter on the body than a driving career, it keeps you local, and there are no overnight runs.
This is the single biggest thing we are short of. A large share of our students ask specifically for an instructor who speaks their language, so bilingual instructors fill their schedule first and stay booked. 会中文的教练特别需要 · Instructores que hablan español muy solicitados.
No teaching background required. If you drive well, explain things clearly and do not lose your temper, the rest is trainable — and we train it in-house. Part-time here is real part-time: pick up two or three lessons a week if that is what fits.
Many of our students, and many parents of teen students, specifically request a female instructor and we cannot always say yes. If you are considering this job, you are needed.
The center is at 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125, in North Seattle next to Northgate, about a mile from Northgate Link light rail station and just off I-5. Typical drive times outside rush hour:
| Northgate, Maple Leaf, Roosevelt, Green Lake | We're right here — under 10 minutes, and about a mile from Northgate Link light rail station. |
|---|---|
| Lake City, Wedgwood, Ravenna, View Ridge | 10 minutes or less across north Seattle. |
| University District (UW), Wallingford, Fremont | About 10–15 minutes down Roosevelt or I-5. |
| Shoreline, Lake Forest Park | 10–15 minutes — one of the shortest commutes to us. |
| Ballard, Greenwood, Phinney Ridge, Bitter Lake | 15–20 minutes across north Seattle. |
| Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Lynnwood | 15–25 minutes on I-5 north. |
| Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville | 20–30 minutes around the north end of Lake Washington. |
| Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue | 20–30 minutes via SR-520 or I-405 outside rush hour. |
| Everett, Mill Creek, Renton, Sammamish, Mercer Island | 30–40 minutes — still an easy reverse commute for a part-time shift. |
Street parking is available around the center, and the school vehicle stays with us — you only need to get yourself here.
On August 10, 2026, the Washington Department of Licensing added a Trainer of Trainers endorsement to our instructor licence record 25008347.
Washington allows the required 100 hours of driver training instructor training to come from only three kinds of provider: a DOL-licensed driving school holding that endorsement, Western Oregon University, or OSPI. We are now the first of those — so you can complete every required hour here, at 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125, and then apply for your own licence. School licence 25025180.
These come from RCW 46.82.330 and WAC 308-108-070, and DOL does not make exceptions. Read them before you spend anything — every DOL fee is non-refundable.
You must:
Any of these will stop you:
If you are not sure about your own record, pull a driver abstract from DOL and look at it first. That is cheaper than paying $125 and being refused.
The structure is set by WAC 308-108-090. All three parts are required.
| 40+ hours | Behind-the-wheel teaching methods — how to teach a beginner from the passenger seat, which is a different skill from driving well yourself. |
|---|---|
| 20+ hours | Supervised practice teaching — you are in the instructor seat with a real learner while a trainer-of-trainers watches and corrects you. |
| 40+ hours | Classroom instruction across DOL's required topics: education and special education, instructor skills, classroom technique, communication, teaching driving and traffic-safety concepts, driver-education teaching methods and theory, developing instructional materials, understanding the driving task on public highways, classroom organisation and management, enrolment and student records, and course planning. |
Because we are a working DOL-approved testing center, your 20 hours of supervised practice teaching are with real students who are actually booked for lessons and tests — not classmates taking turns. You also see how the knowledge and road tests are administered from the examiner's side, which is the part of the job most new instructors have never watched.
Your training log. DOL requires every session to be recorded, and that log is what you later use to prove to the state that you completed the 100 hours. We record school name and school licence number, trainee name, type of training, date of training, hours of training, the trainer's name and instructor licence number, and the trainer's signature or initials next to each training day — and you keep a complete copy at the end.
Training is available in English and Mandarin. All DOL terms, forms and exams stay in English, because that is what you will see at the licensing office and on the exam.
State fees only — these do not include training. All are non-refundable.
| Instructor licence application | $125 — Paid when you apply |
|---|---|
| Instructor exam | $25 — Paid at a licensing office |
| Licence print fee | $5 |
| Renewal, every 2 years | $100 — Plus proof of 8 hours of continuing professional development |
The licence is valid for 2 years. DOL sends a renewal notice 120 days ahead; if it has been expired more than 6 months you have to go through reinstatement instead of renewal.
Sources: RCW 46.82.330, WAC 308-108-090, and the Washington State Department of Licensing. Requirements can change; DOL is the authority.
We are a Washington DOL-approved testing center in North Seattle, rated 5.0 on Google. Our three core services are:
Instructors here work across all three, which is why the schedule stays full year-round.
Certified Washington driving instructors and driver examiners; Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex and delivery drivers who want the school to pay for the car and fuel; police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics whose shift rotations leave weekdays open; military veterans and retired transit, bus and truck drivers; bilingual English/Mandarin, English/Cantonese or English/Spanish speakers; and anyone in North Seattle looking for full-time or part-time work. No teaching experience is required.
Pay starts at $28 an hour, full-time or part-time, with a school vehicle provided so you are not paying for gas, insurance or wear on your own car.
Either. You tell us your availability and we build the schedule around it — some instructors work a full week, others take two or three lessons a week around another job. Day shifts and weekends are both available.
At our DOL-approved testing center at 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125, in North Seattle near Northgate and about a mile from Northgate Link light rail station. Instructors commute from Northgate, Maple Leaf, Roosevelt, Green Lake, Lake City, Ballard, Greenwood, Wallingford and the University District within Seattle, and from Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville, Kirkland, Redmond and Bellevue — all within roughly 20 miles.
You do not need an instructor license — that is preferred, not required, and we train new instructors in house and support you through certification. You do need at least 5 years of licensed driving experience, to be at least 21, to have a clean driving record, and to be able to pass a fingerprint background check.
Washington DOL requires you to be at least 21 and to complete 100 hours of instructor training — at least 40 hours on behind-the-wheel teaching methods and at least 20 hours of supervised practice teaching. The training must come from a DOL-licensed school with a trainer-of-trainer endorsement, from Western Oregon University, or through OSPI. You then pass a knowledge exam (87% to pass) and a skills exam (90% to pass), pay the $25 testing fee, submit fingerprints for a state and national background check that can take up to six weeks, and apply with a driver's abstract from every state where you have held a license.
For most rideshare and delivery drivers, yes, because of what you keep rather than what you gross. We provide the vehicle and the fuel, so mileage, tires, insurance and depreciation are not coming out of your pay, and the rate is a set $28 an hour that does not change with surge, ratings or an algorithm. The driving experience you already have is exactly what the job needs.
It suits shift-rotation schedules well — a 24/48 or four-on-four-off pattern leaves weekdays open, and weekday daytime is when our students most want lessons. Emergency-driving training and staying calm under pressure transfer directly to teaching nervous drivers. Check your own department's secondary-employment policy before applying.
English plus Mandarin or Cantonese, and English plus Spanish. Many students specifically request an instructor who speaks their language, so bilingual instructors fill their schedules first.
Yes. Washington allows the required 100 hours of driver training instructor training to be delivered by only three kinds of provider: a DOL-licensed driving school that holds a trainer-of-trainers (TOT) endorsement, Western Oregon University, or OSPI. On August 10, 2026 the Department of Licensing added a Trainer of Trainers endorsement to our instructor licence record 25008347, so all 100 hours can be completed at our school in North Seattle, school licence 25025180.
At Kung Fu Driving School, 11328 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125, in North Seattle near Northgate. We hold the DOL Trainer of Trainers endorsement required to deliver it, and the training runs at our own DOL-approved testing center, so your 20 hours of supervised practice teaching are with real students who are actually booked for lessons and tests — not classmates role-playing.
WAC 308-108-090 sets the structure: at least 40 hours on behind-the-wheel teaching methods, at least 20 hours of supervised practice teaching, and at least 40 hours of classroom instruction covering education and special education, instructor skills, classroom technique, communication, teaching driving and traffic-safety concepts, driver-education teaching methods and theory, developing instructional materials, understanding the driving task on public highways, classroom organisation and management, enrolment and student records, and course planning.
More than one moving violation in the past 12 months or more than two in the past 24; any drug or alcohol-related traffic violation or incident in the past three years, with two or more anywhere in your history being a permanent bar; a licence suspension, cancellation, revocation or denial in the past two years, or more than two in the past five; fewer than five years of licensed driving; being under 21; or failing the Washington State Patrol and FBI fingerprint background check. Check your driving record before you pay anything, because DOL fees are non-refundable.
DOL charges $125 to apply, $25 for the instructor exam, and $5 to print the licence. The licence is valid for two years and costs $100 to renew, with proof of 8 hours of continuing professional development. All DOL fees are non-refundable. These are state fees only and do not include training.
No. A school vehicle is provided for lessons and tests, already insured and inspection-ready.
Fill in the short application form at https://kungfudrivingschool.com/careers — it takes about two minutes and goes straight to the owner. You can also call or text (206) 226-0638, or reach us on WeChat at 12062260638.