Learning Scientist

About ALX Africa

ALX Africa, a non-profit organisation under the ALX Foundation, is dedicated to unlocking the potential of Africa's digital future. Formerly part of Sand Tech Holdings, we've embarked on an independent journey to provide world-class tech skills training and career acceleration programmes. Our mission is to bridge the digital divide, upskill and re-skill talent, and create a generation of innovative leaders. By 2030, we aim to empower 2 million Africans to secure sustainable tech careers.

With hubs in 8 cities across Africa and counting, we provide safe access to quality learning and a dedicated network of expert instructors. Our innovative programmes equip learners with the practical skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today's rapidly evolving tech industry. Through a combination of rigorous coursework, industry partnerships, and hands-on projects, we prepare our students for in-demand roles in software engineering, data science, and cybersecurity.

We achieve this by:

• Providing young professionals with access to the most in-demand tech skills that will power the future.
• Empowering the next generation of technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders through challenging, real-world coursework.
• Building a lifelong, impactful community of tech professionals that support them at all stages of their career journey. 

Our impact thus far:

• 347k+ graduates since 2020
• 257k youth in work
• 31k youth starting own ventures
• 60k youth in jobs created by entrepreneurs

 Visit our website www.alxafrica.com to learn more about our digital revolution.

Role Summary

ALX teaches at scale across Africa, and Project A is the AI layer of that: AI profiles and onboards learners, guides them through projects, and a competency engine decides what they should learn next. Every one of those products embeds pedagogical assumptions - about scaffolding, feedback, productive struggle, and what an AI guide should and shouldn’t do for a learner. The Learning Scientist makes those assumptions explicit, grounds them in modern learning science, and tests them. There is a proper handover: the role is currently held by a team member who transitions out in about six months, so you overlap with her rather than start cold.

You will work in collaboration with Anthropic Engineers, a team of AI engineers, product managers and data scientists to design world class learning experiences.

Specific Responsibilities

Pedagogical Direction

• Guide the pedagogical decisions across the platform - input at design time, learning-efficacy judgment at eval time.
• Adapt and interpret the ALX learning framework so the platform is informed by real pedagogy rather than decorated with it.

Experimentation & Product Collaboration

• Design experiments against the platform’s core pedagogical assumptions, run with our experimentation function - for example, is the tutor guidance helping learners or crutching them?
• Assist in designing and evaluating the AI products alongside engineers, translating learning science into concrete product decisions.

Skill Requirements - Essential

• Learning science: solid grounding - you can cite and apply modern frameworks, not just intuitions from teaching.
• AI literacy: you understand what LLM-based tools can and can’t do, well enough to co-design them with engineers.
• Experiment design: hypotheses, measures, and enough methodological rigour to test learning claims honestly.
• Desirable (not required): prior EdTech product work; familiarity with competency frameworks or knowledge tracing; experience with African education contexts.

Essential Traits for Success

• Your instinct is to challenge the team’s assumptions, including the technical lead’s - that’s the job.
• You translate across disciplines without friction and enjoy being embedded in an engineering team.
• You can describe a pedagogical belief you changed your mind about, and the evidence that did it.

Person Specification/Attributes

• Courage: Willingness to speak up, challenge the status quo, and embrace new challenges.
• Humility: Openness to learning, seeking help when needed, and a focus on serving others.
• Adventure: A passion for setting ambitious goals, tackling difficult tasks, and finding joy in the journey.
• Initiative: Proactive problem-solving, a sense of ownership, and a willingness to go above and beyond.
• Resilience: The ability to bounce back from setbacks, persevere through challenges, and emerge stronger.

Employment Type

This role is a full-time position.

Preferred Time Zones

The preferred time zones are GMT+2.

Due to the considerable amount of virtual working and interaction with colleagues and customers in different physical locations internationally, it is essential that the successful applicant has the drive and ethic to succeed working in small teams physically but in larger efforts virtually. Self-drive to communicate constantly using web collaboration and video conferencing is essential. As an employee, you will be encouraged to continually develop your capability & attain certifications to reflect your growth as an individual.