Type: full-time 12 month fellowships with training, airfare, living expenses,
more (see posting details)
Venture: Numida Technologies
Organization: Engineers Without Borders
Location: Kampala, Uganda, Africa
Start Date: October 2016
Duration: 12 months
Engineers Without Borders Canada
(EWB) is a Canadian NGO that invests in people and ventures to create a
thriving and sustainable world. Bolstered by its network of 40 chapters and
1300 members, EWB provides seed funding, talent and mentorship to social
enterprises throughout SubSaharan Africa. For more information on EWB, visit http://ewb.ca.
The EWB Fellows Program
Now in its 15 th year, the EWB Fellows Program exists to develop a cadre of
Systems Change Leaders by equipping them with the opportunities, competencies
and skills needed to build a more thriving and sustainable world. Every year we
recruit 25-30 outstanding people for the 12month Fellowship, placing
successful candidates in one of our earlystage Ventures located throughout Sub
Saharan Africa. This Fellowship opportunity is with Numida Technologies and is
based in Kampala.
About Numida Technologies
Numida is a financial inclusion company that helps African small businesses
build their financial trackrecords in order to make good business decisions,
and prove their creditworthiness to financiers who need data to lend
appropriately. Our mission is to unlock financing to the 22 million African
small businesses that need it. Numida has developed TrackApp, an Android
application that helps entrepreneurs build reliable financial records to
improve their business decisions and demonstrate their creditworthiness to
formal lenders. TrackApp makes financial recordkeeping easy and incentivizes
this often neglected practice by enabling its users to easily share their
financial data with lenders, decreasing their barriers to getting a loan. It
also helps financial institutions lower their risk and costs, enabling them to
lend with improved terms and be more competitive in the financial services
market. The new financial insights that TrackApp generates and the new lending
that it facilitates will spur the growth of MSMEs not only in Uganda, but throughout
Africa, fostering job creation, and generating increased local economic
activity.
About the Role
The EWB Fellow who will assume the role of Senior MobileWeb Developer will play
a vital role at Numida Technologies. He or she will be responsible for
implementing the improvements to TrackApp that have been prioritized by the
product development team. Furthermore, the Senior Mobile Web Developer may
recruit, train and manage one or more junior mobile tech developers to speed up
the implementation of these product improvements. The successful candidate will
work closely with our CTO based out of Silicon Valley, and receive guidance and
technical mentorship from him. You will be based in Numida’s head office in
Kampala, Uganda.
As a Senior Mobile Web Developer for Numida Technologies, your responsibilities
will include:
• Implementing an assortment of new features that need to be developed for
TrackApp, as per the TrackApp product roadmap;
• Collaborating with the Product Manager to ensure that the TrackApp product
roadmap is at once highly ambitious but realistic based on the resources of the
tech team;
• Working with the User Acquisition and Experience team to address feedback
from TrackApp users in realtime;
• Working as fast as possible to fix bugs and anything that breaks;
• Managing and working with TrackApp’s UX/UI designer;
• Rigorously testing changes and improvements to TrackApp before launching to
the public, and ensuring that improvements are free of bugs;
• Contributing to the recruitment of tech talent;
• Continuously communicating with Numida’s CTO, who is based in San Francisco,
and following strict information flow processes to ensure that we are not
leaving anything behind.
• You will report to the CTO daily, and may be required to work random hours to
accommodate for the 10hour time difference between Kampala and San Francisco
This is your opportunity to use your tech development skills to solve one of
the biggest problems facing Africa’s small businesses access to affordable
financing. Sound exciting? Here’s who we are looking for.
Skills & Qualifications
TrackApp is written in Cordova/Phonegap so candidates should be comfortable
working with HTML5 and modern Javascript frameworks. Specific qualifications
include:
• A strong track record of working efficiently ability to work extremely
well independently
• Experienced web developer - proficient in HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript
• Experience with ES6 language features is a plus
• Experience using Redux (http://redux.js.org/)
• Experience with a modern javascript frameworks (ReactJS is preferred, or one of
AngularJS, BackboneJS, EmberJS)
• Experience debugging web applications using the Chrome developer tools
• Proficiency in modern Javascript build tools (nodejs, npm, babel)
• Experience with quality assurance and testing new app versions against multiple
staging environments
• Source Code Control: Working knowledge of git and Github is a prerequisite
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong work ethic and willingness to work long hours when required to get the
job done
• Passion for social enterprise and private sector solutions to systemic
economic development problems, in particular those related to financial
inclusion and technologybased innovation
Finally, as a startup, we are generally looking for someone who will, like us,
enjoy the thrill and the scrappiness of building a business from the ground up.
We are looking for someone with an entrepreneurial character – someone who is
passionate, resourceful, takes initiative and thrives in ambiguity, and will
prioritize Numida’s change vision above all else.
Please note: You must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or landed
immigrant in order to apply. No exceptions
Compensation
All costs relating to the placement are either paid for directly by EWB
(airfare, insurance, vaccinations, trainings) or indirectly through a living
stipend, which covers food, living expenses, local travel, etc. Fellows also
receive an honorarium that can be used to assist with repatriation costs or
additional costs during the duration of the placement. The stipend covers basic
living expenses for a modest lifestyle in your placement country. You should
not expect to save money during this year or use the stipend to cover previous
expenses (ex. student loans). Additionally, EWB offers a range of benefits
including insurance, a settlement allowance, professional development
opportunities, and more.
Application Instructions
Submitting your application for the EWB Fellowship involves two steps:
Step 1: Under the subject line “[Senior Mobile Web Developer – Numida
Technologies]”, submit your CV/Resume to:
recruitment@ewb.ca
Step 2: Complete the following online application form. Please select “EWB
Long Term Fellowship – Numida Technologies” as the “Opportunity type” and
‘Numida Technologies’ as the “Organization of Interest”. If you would like to
submit your candidacy to more than one role, please fill out separate forms.
Applications will be reviewed, and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis, so
please submit your application as soon as possible. If the posting is still on
our website, consider the role available. For further detail about EWB, please
read our Fellowship FAQ, our website and our manifesto.
