Technical Lead
Taimaka
📍 Remote (Global) 🕔 Full Time
💰$60-120K USD/year ⏳ 19/01/2025
We're looking for a full-stack developer who can own and transform Taimaka's entire technical infrastructure. You’ll be able to tap into our volunteer contributor network to help in some areas, but ultimately you'll be the person who makes our systems work. You’ll be solving problems across the stack, shipping features that directly improve field operations, and building infrastructure that scales us from 10,000 to 100,000 children treated annually. You will need to be comfortable working with a high-level of independence, move fast, and be able to make smart decisions about building systems that are ‘good enough’ instead of perfect.
Your work will directly enable life-saving treatment. When you build better patient tracking systems, field staff can follow up with nonresponding families and prevent treatment abandonment. When you integrate machine learning to flag at-risk patients, clinicians can intervene before complications arise. When you make our forms more flexible, we can rapidly adapt our programs based on evidence. Every technical improvement translates into more lives saved per dollar spent.
In the first six months, you will:
Take ownership of high-impact projects like: building improved patient tracking infrastructure to manage nonresponding and absent patients, integrating machine learning to flag problem cases, making our form systems more rapidly adjustable to program changes, and integrating an open-source EMRS solution for our inpatient services
Audit our current technical infrastructure and develop a roadmap for improvements that will support scaling from 10,000 to 100,000 children annually
Begin managing our volunteer contributor network and delegating appropriate projects to expand our technical capacity
We’d also like you to visit Gombe State, Nigeria during this time to understand our operations, meet field staff, and see how your systems are used in practice, though the timing of this can be flexible
Key Responsibilities
Own the Entire Stack
Maintain and improve systems across our full technology stack: React, PHP, PostgreSQL, Retool, Python/pandas, Open Data Kit, and native Android applications
Function as both developer and sysadmin: manage cloud servers, handle deployments, troubleshoot production issues, and ensure system reliability
Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness
Build Systems That Scale and Save Lives
Work directly with field teams to understand their needs and design solutions that measurably improve their efficiency
Carry out projects like:
Develop patient tracking infrastructure that helps field staff identify and follow up with nonresponding or absent patients to reduce treatment abandonment
Build flexible form systems that allow rapid adaptation to program changes based on emerging evidence
Lead integration of an open-source EMRS solution to bring digitization to inpatient care services
Develop data infrastructure that enables staff to analyze program effectiveness and identify opportunities for greater cost-effectiveness
Lead Technical Development
Manage a network of volunteer contributors, delegating appropriate projects and reviewing contributions
Coordinate technical work across multiple contributors while maintaining code quality and system coherence
Improve our dev ops pipelines to make it easier for other individuals to contribute
Ship features independently while also enabling others to contribute effectively
Ship Fast and Solve Problems Independently
Take ownership of projects from conception through deployment with minimal oversight
Navigate ambiguity and make good decisions when requirements are unclear or resources are limited
Troubleshoot issues across the stack, from database performance to mobile app bugs to server configuration
Think Long-Term
Design systems that will work at 10x our current scale
Document your work and build maintainable codebases that volunteers can contribute to
Make strategic technical decisions that support Taimaka's mission of maximizing lives saved per dollar
What We’re Looking For
Core Attributes (Required):
Commitment to high-impact, cost-effective work. You're motivated by the fact that your code directly enables cost-effective, life-saving treatment. You understand why technical efficiency translates to lives saved and take that responsibility seriously. You care deeply about maximizing impact per dollar spent and are excited to work for an organization that prioritizes the same.
Full-stack technical expertise. Comfortable working across multiple languages, frameworks, and paradigms. You don't need experience with our exact stack (React, PHP, PostgreSQL, Retool, Python/pandas, Open Data Kit, native Android), but you should have proven experience with diverse technologies and confidence you can learn new ones quickly.
Systems administration skills. Comfortable managing cloud infrastructure, administering servers directly (not just serverless), handling deployments, and troubleshooting production systems.
Startup mindset. You're the kind of person who can succeed without a big corporate development team backing them up. You're comfortable with ambiguity, you solve problems independently, and you ship working solutions without extensive guidance.
Pragmatic and results-focused. You make technical decisions based on impact, not elegance. You understand when good enough is better than perfect, and when investing in quality will pay off at scale.
Collaborative problem-solver. You work directly with non-technical staff to understand their needs and translate them into technical solutions. You communicate clearly and care about building tools that actually help people do their jobs.
Technical leadership. Able to manage volunteer contributors effectively—delegating work, reviewing code, and maintaining quality while empowering others to contribute.
Bonus Attributes (Preferred):
Experience building data systems for global health, international development, or other impact-focused organizations
Background with machine learning applications, particularly in healthcare or clinical contexts
Experience with healthcare data, patient management systems, EMR systems, or mobile data collection
Previous work in small teams or startups where you wore multiple hats
Experience managing open-source contributors or volunteer developers
Experience scaling technical infrastructure for rapidly growing organizations
Background working in resource-constrained or low-connectivity environments
Familiarity with data analysis
About You
The most important thing we have learned over the last six years of in-house technical development is that someone smart, dedicated, and willing to learn can build amazing things. Above all, what we’re looking for in this position is someone who is eager to dive into new technical challenges they may not have handled before, learn how to solve them, and then take that knowledge forward. If you’re uncertain about whether you are a good fit, but you know that you’re a builder - please apply. Builders are what we need.
Compensation
Our goal is to pay somewhere between $60k and $120k for this position (if U.S. based). This is an intentionally broad range: for senior positions at Taimaka, we generally try to determine salaries based on an individual’s need, keeping in mind that money spent on salaries is explicitly not going towards other program requirements. Our salaries are explicitly not a reflection of how much value someone brings to the organization, and our co-founder and current Executive Director is not the highest paid individual at Taimaka. We’re excited about hiring someone who embraces this structure and is interested in adapting it as we scale.
Nevertheless, we understand that compensation is an important factor for candidates, and that individuals’ needs vary throughout their life. We are open to the full posted range, and for particularly exceptional candidates where compensation would otherwise be a barrier to their taking on this role, we are willing to work beyond it if needed.
Hiring Process
After your initial application, you should expect a series of technical exercises and interviews focused on your problem-solving approach, technical skills, and alignment with our mission. We may ask you to complete a small paid trial project to assess fit.
You can learn more and apply for this position hereand direct any questions to Justin Graham at justin@taimaka.org. If you’re an experienced developer on the fence about whether this is the right fit for you, reach out to Justin with questions.
