Application Guide
How to Apply for Legal Counsel - International
at Onja
🏢 About Onja
Onja is a unique social enterprise that transforms underprivileged youth in Madagascar into remote front-end developers through English and software training, directly linking their success to Madagascar's development. Their sustainable profit-reinvestment model means your legal work directly supports both the students' livelihoods and national economic growth. Working here offers the rare chance to combine legal expertise with measurable social impact in a remote, flexible environment.
About This Role
As Legal Counsel - International at Onja, you'll provide critical legal guidance on employment law and dispute resolution across international boundaries, ensuring compliance for a remote workforce while designing policies that protect both the organization and its students. This part-time role is impactful because your work directly enables Onja's mission by mitigating legal risks in their innovative training-to-employment model, allowing them to focus on transforming lives in Madagascar.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with reviewing employment contracts for new Malagasy trainees, then consulting with Onja's management team via video call about compliance issues for their international partnerships. You'd spend the afternoon drafting clear policy updates for staff training and researching how Madagascar's employment laws apply to remote work arrangements, all while coordinating with external counsel on specific regulatory questions.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Onja Is Looking For
- A qualified lawyer with specific experience or strong interest in international employment law and remote workforce compliance, particularly in social enterprise or education contexts
- Someone who can balance legal precision with Onja's social mission, demonstrating how legal frameworks can enable (not hinder) their youth empowerment model
- A proactive communicator who excels at explaining complex legal concepts to non-legal staff in a remote setting, with proven ability to manage stakeholders across time zones
- A professional with high ethical standards who can design practical policies for a growing organization operating between Madagascar and international tech partners
📝 Tips for Applying to Onja
Highlight any experience with international employment law, remote workforce compliance, or legal work in education/social enterprises - be specific about jurisdictions and cases
Demonstrate understanding of Onja's dual mission by explaining how you'd approach legal advice that supports both business sustainability and social impact goals
Since this is part-time and remote, explicitly address your experience with flexible legal roles and how you manage priorities in distributed teams
Tailor your examples to show how you've designed practical policies (not just theoretical advice) that organizations actually implemented
Mention any experience with dispute resolution in cross-cultural contexts, particularly involving youth or educational settings
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your specific approach to employment law for remote international teams, particularly how you'd handle Madagascar/international legal intersections", 'Examples of policy design that balanced legal compliance with organizational mission (especially in social impact contexts)', 'How your communication style adapts to explaining legal concepts to non-legal staff in a remote setting', "Why Onja's specific model (training youth for remote tech work) resonates with you personally and professionally"]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Onja's specific training curriculum and employment model - understand exactly how students transition to remote developer roles
- → Madagascar's employment laws and how they intersect with international remote work arrangements
- → The tech partners Onja works with and their typical legal/employment structures
- → Social enterprise legal structures and compliance requirements, particularly those reinvesting profits
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Applying with generic legal experience without connecting it to Onja's specific international/remote/social enterprise context
- Focusing only on theoretical legal knowledge without demonstrating practical policy design and implementation experience
- Failing to address the part-time, remote nature of the role and how you'd manage legal responsibilities in that structure
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!