Google opens vacancies as it announces Africa’s new product development centre

A new product development centre is opening in Africa and Google is hiring for this new venture.

The company announced on Tuesday that it “will be hiring visionary engineers, product managers, UX [user experience] designers and researchers to lay the foundation for significant growth in the coming years”.

The centre will be located in Nairobi, Kenya, and most of the initial positions are advertised for the locals, however, there are a few positions, such as the developer ecosystem communities lead and product marketing manager, for which candidates from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya can apply.

Coupled with this, Google lists 12 other positions for candidates in South Africa on its careers portal, but these are not necessarily related to the new centre. The company confirms that these posts are “listed for South Africa for the SA office”.

As part of its commitment to invest $1 billion (over R14 billion) over the next five years in Africa, the new centre and its new personnel are expected to help improve “the smartphone experience for people in Africa, building a more reliable internet infrastructure”.

Google shares with City Press that anyone passionate about building for Africa and the world can apply for these positions.

Nitin Gajria, managing director for Google in sub-Saharan Africa, adds that, on the continent, millions of internet users are young and mobile-first, and it expects 800 million internet users by 2030.

“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,” he says.

The company explains its mission in Africa is to partner with governments, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs and businesses to shape the next wave of innovation. – bbc.com