Counsellor

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 Role

In 2019, Onja developed and delivered an intensive, full-time program combining English language training and coding instruction, with 19 students from our first cohort now working for top tech teams in the US and Europe. 

We now face a strategic inflection point. While we've proven our model works very effectively, we must scale from training dozens to hundreds, then thousands of students while simultaneously diversifying our course offerings to mitigate AI-driven disruption in the software development sector. The challenge is maintaining quality and employment outcomes while expanding at this pace.
We've identified therapy and counselling as a promising alternative career pathway. We are excited at the prospect of serving people, all over the world, who are in need of mental health services. Simultaneously, we realize the field offers strong career opportunities for our students. With a growing global demand for mental health services, a viable remote service delivery model, we see a Therapy/Counselling education path creating meaningful employment opportunities for our students, while strengthening our social enterprise model.

As our Counselling Course Designer, your objective is to build and design a comprehensive training program from the ground up. This program must transform absolute beginners into professionally competent, employable therapists and counsellors capable of providing psychotherapy services, using psychotherapy methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), while operating at scale through an online-first delivery model.

Your responsibilities will include

• Provide expert guidance on developing engaging video lectures, learning activities and course content to build a comprehensive therapy and counselling curriculum from the ground up for absolute beginners.
• Advise on collaboration strategies with licensed mental health professionals, and subject matter experts, incorporating their specific experience into your course design.
• Recommend approaches to ensure the curriculum aligns with industry standards and provides graduates with viable routes to professional practice.
• Advise on the development of appropriate criteria used to assess learners' performance.

Requirements

• Twelve month commitment (this ensures sufficient time to make a truly meaningful impact) with potential to renew/extend.
• Active professional licensure or certification as a therapist, counsellor, or mental health practitioner and/or a university degree in Psychology/Psychotherapy
• Minimum of 3 years of counselling experience

Why work with us

• Do impactful work:  Working with Onja gives you the ability to make a real tangible difference with your work, and have a deep sense of purpose in your every-day.  Our mission is to nurture talented, underprivileged youth to lead impactful careers in tech, unlock opportunities for others and accelerate Madagascar's development.

• Grow your skills fast: As a young fast-growing startup we are all in “over our head” and this is a great place to grow.  You will be challenged but you’ll also be part of a very supportive team and caring environment. Our social model is innovative with exciting potential to scale, so there is a great opportunity for you to grow your career along with us.

• Work with very talented individuals who are very socially inclined:  At Onja you’ll join a community of talented and passionate people from around Madagascar and the world. 

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. 
• We’ll provide secure, comfortable accommodation and food. 
• 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, for when you are keen to get some city vibes in Madagascar.
• We’ll provide optional weekly Malagasy 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:

1. Search for brilliant minds who would otherwise be limited to low-paid, unfulfilling careers.
2. Students receive two years of English and software development instruction. Meet a developer here: https://onja.org/blog
3. Graduates earn (and continue learning) at our outsourcing enterprise.