Overview

We’ve brought together some of Madagascar’s most talented and inspiring students who couldn’t afford to continue their education and whose talent would otherwise be wasted in low paying, unfulfilling jobs. Click here to meet a student.

With your help they will have amazing futures – they’ll become world-class software developers and begin exciting careers that will open them up to a whole new world of possibilities. They’ll be able to support themselves, their families and pay-forward the opportunity to more students (see ‘How Onja Works’ below).

Selected from over 250,000 of their peers, students are very bright and thirsty for knowledge. When our students began studying with us in January 2019 they could barely speak English and were computer illiterate. Now, amazingly, they are advanced English speakers and talented software developers. Many are working professionally in global tech teams, with the remainder following closely behind. 

Your mission, as our Engineering Mentor/Manager, is to lead our junior developers to career success helping them secure work and establish themselves professionally. You’ll be the key to helping developers begin their careers: coaching them on communication, professionalism, and interview technique while guiding them on the technical aspects of their work.

We see this role including

  • Mentoring developers on communication and professionalism
  • Mentoring developer on interview preparation
  • Preparing and delivering short courses on communication, interview technique and professionalism to groups of developers
  • Daily standups with your developers

Onja’s campus is located in Mahanoro, a peaceful beach town on Madagascar’s East Coast. The school has the feel of a nature retreat: a little out of town, on the beach, and surrounded by beautiful forest. Despite the serenity, we have a high-speed fibre internet connection while the town has several nice restaurants and everything you need to be comfortable.

Requirements

  • A twelve-month commitment would be most preferable.
  • Experience with the following languages/technologies would be helpful: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React.js (or other JS frameworks) as well as some CSS preprocessors and frameworks.
  • You’ll need a real interest in leadership and guiding people to be the best they can be.

Start date

We are ready for you now, however often people like time to prepare so we try to allow for three months from the time the contract is signed.

Application process

Deciding to move to Madagascar for a year or more can seem daunting, especially for an inexperienced traveller. Our application process will help you learn more about the role, Onja and Madagascar.

  1. Introductory call with an Onja team member. This is mainly for you to meet one of the team, and to learn more about Onja and Madagascar in general. It’s a chance for you to ask any questions you might have. 
  2. We’ll provide you with a list of FAQs and a photo gallery so you know what to expect
  3. 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. 
  4. We offer conversations with past and present staff members, Onja developers and a video tour of our campus 
  5. We make a formal offer to successful applicants

How Onja Works

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

  1. Search for brilliant minds who would otherwise be limited to low-paid, unfulfilling careers.
  2. Students receive two years of English and software development instruction.
  3. Graduates earn (and continue learning) at our outsourcing enterprise. 
  4. All profits are used to train the next wave of students and the cycle begins again.