Backend Developer Intern — YOVIQ

YOVIQ is an AI-powered Marketing Operating System built to help businesses and marketing teams across Africa plan, execute, manage, measure, and optimize their marketing activities from one platform.

We are looking for a Backend Developer (Volunteer) to join the YOVIQ product team and contribute to building the backend infrastructure that powers the platform.

This is a voluntary and unpaid role designed for developers who want to gain practical experience, contribute to a real product, collaborate with a multidisciplinary technology team, and build meaningful experience through hands-on product development.

Success in this role means contributing reliable, secure, and scalable backend solutions that help the YOVIQ team turn product requirements into functional features.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain backend services, APIs, and core application functionality for YOVIQ.
• Translate product requirements and user stories into functional backend solutions.
• Design and implement database structures, models, and data relationships.
• Build RESTful APIs to support frontend applications and third-party integrations.
• Implement authentication, authorization, and appropriate security controls.
• Integrate external APIs and services required by the platform.
• Support the development of AI-powered features and data-driven marketing workflows.
• Write clean, maintainable, reusable, and well-documented code.
• Test, debug, and optimize backend services.
• Collaborate with Product, UI/UX, Frontend, AI, and other team members to deliver product features.
• Participate in technical discussions, sprint planning, code reviews, and product development sessions.
• Use Git/GitHub and established development workflows.
• Identify technical challenges and contribute practical solutions.

Qualifications

• Basic to intermediate knowledge of backend development.
• Proficiency in at least one backend technology such as Node.js, Python, PHP/Laravel, Java, or similar.
• Understanding of REST APIs and backend architecture.
• Working knowledge of relational or NoSQL databases.
• Familiarity with Git and GitHub.
• Understanding of software development, testing, and debugging practices.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Good communication and collaboration skills.
• Willingness to learn, receive feedback, and take ownership of assigned tasks.
• Ability to work effectively in a remote, multidisciplinary product team.

Nice to Have

• Experience building APIs or web applications.
• Familiarity with AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
• Knowledge of Docker and CI/CD.
• Experience integrating AI/LLM APIs.
• Understanding of authentication and application security.
• Previous experience contributing to personal, freelance, academic, open-source, or production projects.

What Success Looks Like

• Delivering assigned backend tasks reliably and within agreed timelines.
• Building backend solutions that are functional, maintainable, and aligned with product requirements.
• Collaborating effectively with other members of the YOVIQ team.
• Taking ownership of assigned technical responsibilities.
• Demonstrating continuous growth in backend engineering capability.
• Making meaningful contributions to the development of the YOVIQ platform.

Engagement

Role: Backend Developer — Volunteer

Project: YOVIQ

Work Mode: Remote

Engagement Type: Voluntary and Unpaid

Commitment: Part-time / Flexible, based on agreed project requirements

This opportunity is suitable for someone who wants to build, contribute, learn, and gain real-world product development experience while being part of a team building YOVIQ from the ground up.

There is currently no salary, stipend, or financial compensation attached to this role.