diff --git a/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobServerDriver.java b/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobServerDriver.java
index 679c7cc4bb90..93dc6f0121ca 100644
--- a/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobServerDriver.java
+++ b/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobServerDriver.java
@@ -170,6 +170,11 @@ public void run() {
     }
   }
 
+  public String start() throws IOException {
+    jobServer = createJobServer();
+    return jobServer.getApiServiceDescriptor().getUrl();
+  }
+
   public void stop() {
     if (jobServer != null) {
       try {