Intern Developer
Location: Sparx Head Office in Exeter
Term: 8 weeks (summer internships)
Salary: Paid (plus benefits and free accommodation)
Reporting to: Intern Coordinator (you will also be allocated a specialist manager from the team, depending on the role you take on)
About Sparx
Here at Sparx, we’re working flat out to scientifically investigate what it is that makes the best learning experience. By using real time data to drive an evidence-based approach to education, we’re developing an extraordinary new technology for the classroom that is redefining the limits of what young people can achieve.
Our platform for maths uses custom built content and a powerful, data-driven mobile framework to deliver a tailored set of exercises, games and incentives to the student.
We’re looking for people with a deep passion for education and a belief in the power of technology to improve it. Things move fast at Sparx so we need people who assume excellence is a given and who are ambitious, creative, intelligently sceptical and effortlessly knowledgeable. People who want a challenge; people who want to make a difference.
Job description
Being an intern at Sparx isn’t about taking a back seat, running errands or making tea. Our interns are bright, motivated and integral members of the team. You’ll be right in there, asking the difficult questions and getting involved at the heart of our research into what works (and what doesn’t) in the field of education.
As an Intern Developer, you’ll be using your innate coding talent and knowledge of computer programming languages – be it C++, Python, Java, or Objective C to write tablet native code (we currently work on iPads) to run the Sparx resource. You’ll get to see software you’ve helped program go live in a classroom the next day. Then you’ll be diving straight back into making it better, getting into the detail, zooming out to look at the bigger picture, solving each problem and trying out the next idea.
All our interns will get a range of experiences while they are with us. Depending on the research projects we are focusing on at the time, you could find yourself working with our developers, games designers, data analysts, or content scientists. You may find yourself assisting with a class full of students or challenged with developing a lesson for the Summer Camps we run.
Take a look at the role profiles on our website (www.sparx.co.uk/ignite) to see what area of Sparx takes your fancy.
About you
We’re not going to tell you what you should be like – we love people that think and do things differently. But there are some things that, with you, will be a given. Intellectual excellence for a start. A passion for education, technology and enterprise. A willingness to get stuck in and pick up new things quickly. The ability to work quickly, accurately and with others. A head that’s comfortable with data. And deadlines.
You’ll be in your penultimate year of study, expecting to graduate in 2016 with a degree in: Maths, Statistics, Operational Research, Computer Science, Games Development or any other relevant science. It’s looking pretty likely you’ll get (or maybe you have already got) at least a 2:1.
Our team
We’re about living life, not putting it on hold. We have a range of on-site facilities that all interns can use free of charge. There’s a netball court and a five-a-side football pitch just outside, an on-site gym with classes throughout the day, a running track and pool table, a 2012 Olympic table tennis table and a café serving delicious, local, and organic food. Did we mention it’s all free? On top of this you’ll be able to see Dartmoor from the office window, and get to the beach in 20 minutes. Plus, we run a series of events for our interns throughout the summer from cocktail-making to coasteering. We’re offering a unique opportunity to come and work hard and play hard at Sparx.
To find out more, and to see the other roles we are recruiting for, please visit our website at www.sparx.co.uk.