NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Onja is a social enterprise training underprivileged youth into world-class software developers.

We find the brightest students in Madagascar who can’t afford to continue their education, and train them in English language and software development. After just two-and-a-half years they are ready to work as remote front-end software developers in international tech teams.

Once in a job, our developers earn a good salary that helps them support their families and pay forward the opportunity to a new wave of students. They unlock exciting careers that fulfil their potential, and accelerate the development of their nation (see ‘How Onja Works’ below).

Our first cohort, ‘Wave 1’, consists of nineteen talented and committed graduates who are now working remotely for our partner companies in Europe and the US. With this immensely successful first cohort, and a proven social model, our goal is now to scale our impact: we aim to take on 360 new students over the next four years.

Our fast-growing team is very united, committed to the mission, and hardworking, but we also maintain a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere that you’ll find everywhere in Madagascar.

Onja is located in Toamasina, a lively city with beautiful beaches, nice restaurants, and with plenty to do and see. Toamasina is Madagascar’s second largest city (population 300,000) yet is surrounded by plenty of natural beauty, and even has a national park nearby.

About the position:

Your mission as our Communication and Professionalism Coach is to closely mentor our developers to help them level up their communication and professionalism skills. We think this will make a big difference to their job performance and future career prospects.

Your responsibilities include:

Pairing with our developers one-to-one
Observing developers communication with their manager/colleagues
Directly mentoring developers one-on-one to help them improve their communication and professionalism.
Identifying common improvement areas for our developers then designing and delivering short communication/professionalism courses to all developers (and possibly wider Onja team members) together as a class.
Designing and conducting assessments for communication and professionalism

Requirements:

“Twelve month commitment (this ensures sufficient time to make a truly meaningful impact) with potential to renew/extend.
Excellent English communication skills
Experience working in professional environments

What you can expect:

-You’ll join our tight-knit, committed team in Toamasina, Madagascar.
-We know it’s a big move so we will look after you and make sure you are secure and settled.
-Secure, comfortable accommodation is provided
-Food is provided
-We are able to offer a good local salary – enough to live comfortably and have plenty left over for holidays travels.
-40 days of annual leave giving you time to explore the wonders of Madagascar.
-We also offer 25% remote work
-We’ll provide optional weekly lessons to bring you up to speed with the language.
-Your visa will be sponsored.
-Sponsored flights

How Onja Works

Onja is a social enterprise with a sustainable model:

-Search for brilliant minds who would otherwise be limited to low-paid, unfulfilling careers.
-Students receive two years of English and software development instruction. Meet a developer here: https://onja.org/student/manjaka/
-Graduates earn (and continue learning) at our outsourcing enterprise.
-All profits are used to train the next wave of students and the cycle begins again.

Application Process:
Apply – Please send a message to our team at join@onja.org. If you use LinkedIn, please include a link to your profile or attach a CV. If you wish, you are very welcome to attach any other information that could help us know you better. Sometimes people share videos, achievements, transcripts, articles or blogs and these are much appreciated.
-Introductory call – We’ll provide you with a list of FAQs and a photo gallery and invite you to a call to learn about Onja and Madagascar in general. It’s a chance for us to learn more about you and for you to ask all the questions you might have.
-Formal Interview – This is where we have questions for you. We try to determine whether you will be a nice fit for the position and our team. There may be one or two interviews.
-We offer conversations with past and present staff members, Onja developers and a video tour of our campus.
-We make a formal offer to successful applicants.

If you like what we are doing, but don’t think you are suitable for this position, please reach out to us nonetheless – we may just have something for you.