About Onja

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

In 2019, we developed and delivered a full-time course that allowed twenty students to progress from absolute beginners to upper intermediate speakers (B2 level) in just one year, with some students even reaching an advanced (C1) level. Our first cohort contained 19 developers and we plan to train hundreds of students in the coming years. Our challenge now is to scale our organisation, bringing opportunities to hundreds, moving to thousands of students.

Your mission as our English Teacher is to prepare lesson plans, design curriculums, deliver lessons based on English textbooks and oversee the English language progress of students closely by systematically maintaining student records, providing them mentorship or tutoring and administering exams.

Your responsibilities include:

• Helping design and deliver an online scalable English course to a class of high-potential and highly committed students
• Developing curriculum, lessons and strategies to make sure Onja’s recipient speaks English with clear RP pronunciation
• Executing lessons efficiently using different styles of teaching depending on the content.
• Editing and improving lessons after delivery
• Preparing, scheduling and correcting Onja English exams
• Systematically maintaining and updating student records with English KPI
• Mentoring the students at Onja academically

Requirements

• Twelve month commitment (this ensures sufficient time to make a truly meaningful impact) with potential to renew/extend.
• Native speaker or close
• Eager to learn and grow in the position
• Results driven
• Good communication skills (interpersonal skills)
• Love working with and mentoring young adults

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.
• Unlimited annual leave. We recommend between 30 and 35 days as a guide to give 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: onja.org/blog
• 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.