The context:
Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school – but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.
About us:
We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250,000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and now Rwanda.
Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools.
We have recently closed our Series A funding round and won a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to accelerate the development of our digital ed-tech solutions for low-income students across the globe. Our ‘Bambai’ suite of digital tools already includes a school information system, school observation tool, chatbot tutor, accelerated learning program and teacher coaching app. This is just the start. We want to expand our range of digital products to help improve the quality of education for millions of students around the world. If you want to make a difference to the lives of teachers, students and parents, then we are the right place for you.
About the role:
We are seeking a motivated and dynamic Intern to join our exciting Digital team at Rising Academies as a full-stack Software Engineering Intern. The Software Engineering Intern will assist in development work on complex products, along with some participation in design and development of solutions that are used by school leaders, teachers, students, and parents across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. This internship will provide a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in full-stack engineering work and products within the education sector.
The Software Engineering Intern will:
- Leverage MongoDB, Express, React, and Node to help build web applications
- Build new features and improve existing features using modern best-practices Collaborate with our multicultural development, QA and product team
- Build software usable by groups of people facing unique challenges (remote locations, low levels of literacy, no experience with technology, etc)
- Design and implement scalable web services, applications, and APIs that primarily work offline or with limited connectivity.
Location and reporting:
This is a full-time remote summer internship position. The role would ideally be based from India, but we are open to strong candidates from other geographies. This role will be reporting to the Senior Engineering Manager, Bambai.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The target start-date will be June 3, 2024.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Currently enrolled in a Master's or Bachelor's degree program in computer science, engineering or other related fields.
- Past engineering internship experience as a full-stack developer.
- Experience in ReactJs/Node or any other Javascript framework.
- Knowledge with Database integration.
- Knowledge building APIs.
- Knowledge in JIRA, Scrum.
- Experience with PWAs and Android mobile development is a plus.
- Experience in building products that work offline and with limited connectivity.
About You:
This is a hands-on position, and we are looking for people who don’t mind rolling up their sleeves to get things done. This internship would particularly suit candidates who are interested in pursuing a career in full-stack software engineering after graduation, and would like to gain first-hand experience of the challenges involved in scaling-up a young social enterprise.
- You have proven technical skills, as evidenced by experience in owning projects, a relevant undergraduate major, or experience on a real world product.
- You possess effective communication, relationship building, and teamwork skills.
- You can take initiative and problem-solve when challenges arise.
- You are comfortable working with senior leadership, reporting on data and outcomes.
- You are willing to take risks, fail, learn, give and receive feedback, and try new approaches.
- You can work well independently and as a member of a team.
- You have the highest levels of integrity and trustworthiness.
- You are passionate about improving the quality of education across Africa.
Successful candidate will receive a monthly allowance/stipend in this role.
Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.
Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.
