Program Coordinator Career Development & Employer Support

Position Summary

The Program Coordinator Career Development & Employer Support supports Malengo’s university scholars in preparing for and accessing student jobs, internships, and early-career opportunities in Germany.

The role combines hands-on student career support with employer outreach and coordination, while also assisting the Employer Engagement & Partnerships Lead where university and TVET pathways intersect.

Your role

You will be a first point of contact for scholars on career-related topics, providing structured guidance, practical support, and job-readiness training. While your primary focus is the university program, you will also support cross-program initiatives, particularly where student jobs, internships, or employer relationships overlap with TVET placements.

This role is well-suited for someone early in their career who is highly organized, detail-oriented, empathetic and motivated to grow into a broader career development or employer engagement role.

Your responsibilities

1. Career Development & Student Support

- Provide individual career guidance to students, supporting them in identifying and pursuing short- and long-term professional goals.

- Deliver and support job-readiness and workplace trainings, such as:

• Job search strategies and application writing

• Interview preparation and negotiation basics

• Employee rights and responsibilities

• German workplace culture and expectations

- Act as first-level career contact for scholars, including:

• CV and cover letter checks

• Assistance with job search in more challenging cases

• Initial contract checks and escalation of legal questions to legal team

- Design, document, and continuously improve career support materials, templates, and guidance.

2. Employer & Opportunity Support

- Identify potential employers offering student jobs, internships, or entry-level roles, including through desk research, cold emails, and cold calls.

- Support employer outreach by preparing materials, tracking contacts, and coordinating follow-ups.

- Assist in maintaining employer and opportunity databases.

- Support senior colleagues in employer engagement activities where university and TVET pathways intersect.

3. Cross-Functional & Program Support

- Collaborate closely with program teams and mentors to help students navigate linguistic, cultural, and regulatory challenges.

- Support initiatives that strengthen German language acquisition and professional communication, in coordination with internal teams.

- Identify and help develop pre-arrival and early-arrival learning goals beyond language learning, such as academic and career planning.

- Contribute to the development and monitoring of academic and career development plans for scholars.

- Assist with documentation, tracking, and reporting related to career support activities

Required Qualifications

- University degree, vocational qualifications (e.g. administration or sales) also considered.

- German and English language skills at C1 level.

- Strong attention to detail and ability to work in a structured, organized manner.

- High level of empathy and intercultural skills.

- First professional experience (e.g. internships, working student roles, or early-career roles), ideally in one of the following:

• Career services

• Education, HR, recruitment, or project coordination

• Sales and customer support

- Strong written and verbal communication skills.

- Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a distributed team.

Desirable Qualifications

- Experience working with students, migrants, refugees, or international populations.

- First exposure to employer outreach, recruitment, or job placement activities.

- Familiarity with the German labor market, student employment, or internship regulations.

- Additional languages, particularly East African languages (e.g. Swahili), are an asset.

What we offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with background and experience (EUR 35,000 - 45,000 p.a.)

• Close mentorship and learning opportunities within Malengo’s career and employer engagement team

• Opportunity to grow into increased responsibility over time

• 30 vacation days and regulated overtime compensation

• Flexible remote work with regular team meetings in Germany/Uganda/Kenya

• A 1-year contract with the possibility to turn into an unlimited work contract

• Collaboration with a highly motivated international team

• The opportunity to help shape a young start-up and have a positive impact on the lives of many young people and their families

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Application documents: Curriculum Vitae, motivation letter

Anticipated start date: as soon as possible

Malengo is committed to diversity, and we believe that our work is strengthened by our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability, and more.

Malengo is a non-profit organization (Germany: gGmbH; US: 501(c)(3)) that facilitates international educational migration. We provide mentoring and financial support to students from low-income countries who want to complete a Bachelor’s degree or vocational training in a high-income country. We aim to give millions of students the opportunity to pursue the education they want, and to lift themselves and their families out of poverty in the process. We believe that this is one of the most effective poverty reduction strategies in per-dollar terms that is available.

Malengo currently supports low-income, high-ability students in Uganda in applying for and completing a Bachelor’s degree, and refugees in Kenya seeking to do vocational training in Germany. By 2030, we aim to support students from most low-income and lower-middle income countries, and facilitate undergraduate studies in more than a dozen destination countries. Our program is sustainable by combining a strong network of volunteer mentors with a financial model in which students support future generations of scholars once they earn a high enough income (Income Share Agreements, ISAs).

Five complete cohorts of Malengo students, which comprise about 300 young people, are already in Germany. The first of these students have already completed their studies. Around 150 more students are preparing to arrive this fall.

In addition, around 250 young people are preparing to come to Germany to start a vocational training (mostly in nursing), the first ones in the spring of 2026. These young people are currently attending intensive German language training in Kenya and Rwanda. Most of them are refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and DRC.

In Germany, Malengo supports scholars throughout their academic and professional journey from arrival and integration to securing student jobs, internships, apprenticeships, and long-term employment. Career readiness, access to work opportunities, and employer engagement are central pillars of Malengo’s impact.

We are now looking for a Program Coordinator to engage employers and find suitable jobs for our scholars.