Google is hiring. No, not at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, but rather for its first African product development centre in Nairobi.
In a press release sent to Hypertext, Google explains that it is looking for local talent in a number of different roles as it continues to build out its presence in Africa over the coming years. This is line with its recent announcement of a $1 billion investment in the region over the next five years.
As for the roles currently up for offer, a quick perusal of the Google careers portal shows eight different positions being available, although there is no mention at the time of writing whether multiple personnel are needed for each role.
That said, if you are an engineer, product manager, UX designer, researcher or have technical expertise in the Google and Android ecosystem, there may be an opportunity for you at Google’s Nairobi product development centre.
“Google’s mission in Africa is to make the Internet helpful to Africans and partner with African governments, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs and business to shape the next wave of innovation in Africa,” noted VP for Products, Suzanne Frey, regarding this recent announcement and Google’s local investment plans.
“By 2030, Africa will have 800M internet users and a third of the world’s under-35 population. The potential for Africa to become a leading digital economy is right on the horizon and Google is committed to accelerating Africa’s digital transformation through human capital and enabling ‘African-led solutions to African and global problems’ through better products,” added Nitin Gajria, MD for Google in Africa.
While these job listings are very much focused on the software side of things, hopefully this also means that more Google hardware is also on the way for the continent, with devices outside of smart speakers difficult to purchase locally.
Regardless, however, it looks like Google is indeed placing more emphasis on its African presence.
[Image – Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash]
