Careers

Highly qualified, experienced, and committed staff and consultants represent SANKOFA’s most valuable resource. Effective recruitment and selection are therefore fundamental to the success of our company. Our clearly laid out recruitment process is aimed at ensuring we have an efficient hiring process to;

• Attract, select, and retain the best-in-class talent from a pool of candidates,
• Ensure that applicants and staff are treated equitably, consistently, and sensitively,
• Promote career and succession planning to retain skilled and experienced staff,
• Adhere to high standards of recruitment best practice and sound hiring decisions i.e. fair selection of candidates,
• Make decisions which reflect SANKOFA’s commitment to providing equal opportunities.

Application.

• Through job analysis, recruitment needs are identified, and detailed job descriptions (JDs) drafted for respective roles. Each JD comes out clear on required experience and skills, job duties and responsibilities, personal specifications and profile i.e. essential and desirable skills, and application procedures. Job descriptions clearly describe the business need and required talent,
• The job vacancies for both new positions and replacements are presented for approval to the Senior Management Team (SMT),
• Once approved by the Senior Management Team, all job openings are advertised via our website on sankofaconsultingengineers.com/careers, and popular job boards,
• We do provide a standard online job application form, to enable us fairly judge all applicants based on comparable information, as well as make it easy for us to apply blind assessment of applicants,
• We only review applications that use our standard job application form, as provided for each job advert,
• We typically do not ask for CVs, testimonials, or academic certificates at application stage.

Selection and Recruitment.

• We typically receive an overwhelming number of exceptional candidates for each role we advertise. Our recruitment team takes time to evaluate and rank each individual application, and only select a few who better match our criteria. Averagely, we do shortlist between 4-6 candidates for each job advert,
• The shortlisted candidates undergo a rigorous multistage interview process, with strong candidates progressing to the next stage at each level. This can be via Zoom, phone call, or in-person,
• We use a mix of competency-based interviews to test skill level and predict job performance of potential candidates in case they were offered the job, given the multidisciplinary and complex nature of the projects we handle,
• Ideally, we prioritize high performing, big picture and moonshot thinkers, with revolutionary, unconventional ideas, and the potential to build long-term careers with us, with adherence to company ethos, mission, and vision,
• At every stage during the recruitment process, we notify (offer feedback) to both candidates that have progressed and those that have not progressed to the next stage of the process,
• Our recruitments are undertaken in-house, and as such, we do not recruit via recruitment agencies, nor charge any fees at any stage during the recruitment process. The end goal of our sound and systematic recruitment approach is to ensure we recruit the most outstanding candidate. All communique to job applicants during the application, shortlisting, selection, and award stages is STRICTLY relayed via info@sankofaconsultingengineers.com and +256 766 055 271.

During our recruitment and selection process, the Recruitment Team ensures that;

• Applications are acknowledged in a timely manner,
• During shortlisting of applicants for interviews, we apply blind review of applications by removing personal identifier information from candidate applications during the assessment process. This is most often candidate names, but in some instances, it goes further, aiming to remove all socio-demographic details that might affect decision-making, such as age, gender, home address, and even education. The coded and anonymized applications are independently reviewed and ranked using a standard scoring rubric by a panel of minimum 3 reviewers, and candidates with the highest average scores are shortlisted for interviews,
• Conflict of interest declaration is adhered to i.e. if a candidate is known to any of the interviewers, this is declared openly at the start of the interview, and wherever possible avoided by replacing the affected interviewer before the interview takes place,
• Interview panellists undertake objective assessment of interview submissions and self-declare any unconscious bias they had during the interview, to facilitate fair evaluation. All candidates both internal and external are assessed without any biases,
• Applicants are fully informed on the application process and the status of their application,
• Applicants’ questions are answered,
• Unsuccessful candidates are informed in a timely manner,
• Feedback to unsuccessful candidates is provided on request,
• GDPR compliance throughout the process.

During the application period, candidates have the liberty to contact SANKOFA to ask for any relevant information, or seek guidance on any clarifications through any formal channels provided. All documentation submitted to SANKOFA during the application process will be held privately and confidentially. Canvassing leads to automatic disqualification, and as such, candidates are strongly advised against using this avenue for canvassing reasons. 

Headhunting.

Where appropriate, when the skills required are for highly specialised positions; the position is time sensitive; or in instances where open recruitment has not been successful, headhunting may be considered. Headhunting is where someone meeting the personal specification can be approached directly and encouraged to apply for the position. This can include individuals who are on SANKOFA’s consultancy database/roster, whose skill sets match the position; individuals known to SANKOFA through previous or current projects; or individuals found through targeted recruitment searches.