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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 highly motivated, professional, and natural leader for a full-stack Senior Engineer, reporting to the SEM at Rising Digital. The Senior Engineer will plan and direct development work on complex products, along with engaging various teams in design and development of solutions that are used by school leaders, teachers, students, and parents across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. On the leadership front, the Senior Engineer will train, and mentor a team of Engineers and Developers. By working with the other departments and teams, the Senior Engineer will lead the execution of various key products at Rising.

The Senior Software Engineer will:

• Leverage MongoDB, Express, Angular, React, and Node to help build web applications while serving as the technical expert.
• Build from scratch, and manage a budding new software development team to define scope, allocate resourcing, and handle scale up of software products.
• Create detailed engineering plans, processes, and procedures for engineering staff to use and abide by
• Propose and oversee timelines for engineering projects, working hand in hand with the Product Team to ensure deadlines are realistic and always met
• Support Business Development teams to assess technical feasibility of proposed solutions
• Build new features and improve existing features using modern best-practices such as version control, continuous integration, automated tests, and daily deploys
• Collaborate with our multicultural development, product, data, and impact teams around the globe
• Build software usable by groups of people facing unique challenges (remote locations, low levels of literacy, no experience with technology, etc)
• Spearhead various research and development initiatives to identify opportunities for new products and improve processes
• Design and implement scalable web services, applications, and APIs that primarily work offline or with limited connectivity.
• Identify bottlenecks and improve software efficiency.

Location and reporting:

This is a full time position. The role would ideally be based from India, but we are open to strong candidates from other geographies.

The role will report directly to Rising Digital’s SEM.

Application deadline:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or other related fields, master’s degree a plus
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in the IT/Engineering sector
• Experience as a Full MEAN Stack Developer
• Experience with Database integration
• Experience with PWAs and Android mobile development
• Experience building APIs
• Experience in JIRA, Scrum
• Experience in cloud, data/cyber security, AI, and chatbot development
• Experience in building products that work offline and with limited connectivity
• Experience with CommCare, WhatsApp Bots, Enterprise Bot Manager, Turn.io, Twilio, Google Dialogue Flow, Google Data Studio a plus
• Experience with biometrics solutions

About You:

• You have a strong track record of professionalism and trustworthiness
• 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 have a strong ability to keep a team on task
• You are willing to take risks, fail, learn, give and receive feedback, and try new approaches
• You are passionate about improving the quality of education across Africa

Compensation and Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits.

Rising’s goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.

The benefits we offer are built to have a strong added value on our staff’s well-being and we are excited to discuss this further with you in the process.

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.