Jnr. Level Software Engineer (NodeJS, React Native & MongoDB)

Instill Education is on a mission to transform teaching, learning, and leadership in every classroom on the African continent. We believe that our teachers and school leaders are the greatest levers for change in the education system.  We recently became an accredited higher education institution in South Africa and launched a game-changing mobile app that offers self-paced, bite-sized modules to help teachers in their professional development journey. More than 50,000 teachers in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria have already enrolled in our professional development modules and joined a pan-African community of peers and experts who provide support and feedback along the way.

We are looking to hire a Junior Software Engineer to assist in the design, development, and maintenance of software applications while gaining hands-on experience and enhancing technical skills.

What makes you a great candidate?

You are ambitious, hungry to learn, and have a deep passion for education. You want to work in a fast-paced business environment and grow with a young organisation that seeks to change the face of education across the African continent. You want to learn how a start-up works by getting your hands dirty and getting involved in every aspect of the business. You are excited by the challenge of immersing yourself in new contexts and tackling complex problems. You are not afraid of failure and are driven to improve through robust, data-driven decision-making and feedback. When evaluating your candidacy, we will look for the following:

• Demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
• Ambition to take ownership of challenges and  grow with the business
• Exceptional critical thinker with strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrated passion for educational development, and closing educational equity gaps, and are strongly aligned with our vision, mission, and values

What does the role entail?

As the Junior Software Developer, you will work closely with senior developers and the product team to design, develop and maintain our professional development app; Upskill.

Specifically, you will;

• Collaborate with senior developers to design, develop, and test software applications based on requirements
• Contribute to the development of technical documentation, including design specifications, user manuals, and test plans
• Participate in code reviews to ensure quality code, maintainability, and adherence to coding standards
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, i.e. the product and programmes team to ensure successful software delivery
• Continuously improve coding practices, development processes, and software quality
• Assist in troubleshooting and debugging software defects to ensure smooth system operation
• Actively participate in team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and knowledge-sharing activities
• Stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and industry trends to enhance knowledge and skills

Selection Criteria:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field
• Good working knowledge of at least 2 programming languages.
• 1+ years of commercial experience writing server-side JavaScript (NodeJS / serverless)
• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Communication skills and the ability to collaborate

Nice to have

• 1+ years of experience with a Tier 1 cloud environment (AWS, GCP or Azure)
• 1+ years of experience with React frontend development.
• 1+  years of experience working with MongoDB
• Experience  working with distributed teams across multiple time zones

Anticipated start: 1 January 2024

Location: Flexible in either Johannesburg, Accra, Lagos/ Abuja or Nairobi

Do our values resonate with yours?

We believe in owning our mission to transform education across Africa. We aim to dream big, work collaboratively, have the courage to learn from failure, and embrace ingenuity. practical, inclusive solutions for the communities we serve. If you share our commitment to this challenge, join us in making a profound impact on our education systems.