employ as

employ (someone) as (something)

To employ someone in a particular role or job. I thought they were going to employ me as a file clerk, but because they needed help with data entry, I wound up doing that instead.
See also: employ
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

employ someone as something

to pay someone to work in some capacity. I employed Fred as a personal secretary for about three months. Can you employ me as a stock clerk?
See also: employ
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • employ
  • employ (someone) as (something)
  • employ (someone) for (something)
  • employ for
  • employ in
  • employ (someone) in (something)
  • engage
  • engage (one) as (something)
  • engage as
  • hire out
References in classic literature
The knowledge of the master is to be able properly to employ his slaves, for the mastership of slaves is the employment, not the mere possession of them; not that this knowledge contains anything great or respectable; for what a slave ought to know how to do, that a master ought to know how to order; for which reason, those who have it in their power to be free from these low attentions, employ a steward for this business, and apply themselves either to public affairs or philosophy: the knowledge of procuring what is necessary for a family is different from that which belongs either to the master or the slave: and to do this justly must be either by war or hunting.
A Treatise on Government
Caulfield is an independent healthcare consultant in Vermont who has worked on Project Employ as an outside evaluator.
"Project Employ: rehabilitation services facilitating employment of individuals with HIV/AIDS."