PR Intern

THE OPPORTUNITY

Most PR internships hand you a template and a list of press contacts. This one is different.

VamosWatu is doing something that has genuinely never been done at this scale: connecting Kenya's best software engineers with high-growth US startups as embedded, full-time core team members. Not contractors. Not outsourced labor. Core team. The engineers we place go on to build products used by hundreds of thousands of people, from offices in Nairobi, working alongside founders in San Francisco and Austin and New York.

That story has never been told publicly. No press coverage. No social presence. No brand voice. Just a remarkable thing happening quietly, with a 95% 12-month retention rate and customers who can't stop talking about the engineers we place.

This internship is the job of building that brand from zero. You'll work directly with Grady Andersen, Founder and CEO, not a marketing coordinator. Not a manager. The person who built the company. You'll have access to the full story, the real numbers, and the creative latitude to decide how it gets told.

And the timing matters. South by Southwest is right around the corner. Austin will be filled with the exact founders, journalists, and investors who need to know VamosWatu exists. We want this intern onboarded and producing content before those doors open.

The intern who takes this role will graduate with a portfolio that most PR professionals spend years trying to build: a brand launch, real press placements, a social presence grown from scratch, and a company mission that journalists actually want to write about.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

1. Own the VamosWatu Substack: develop the editorial voice, plan the content calendar, write and publish posts, and grow the subscriber base from the ground up. This is a flagship project, not a side task.
2. Pitch and place stories with journalists and editors covering startup hiring, African tech, remote work, and the future of engineering. Target outlets include TechCrunch, Fast Company, Rest of World, and African tech press.
3. Build VamosWatu's LinkedIn and social presence from scratch: develop the brand voice, create the content calendar, write the posts, and grow an audience that doesn't exist yet.
4. Lead content creation for South by Southwest: SXSW is approaching and VamosWatu will be in the room. You'll own the content strategy around the event, from pre-event positioning to live coverage to post-event storytelling.
5. Write brand storytelling content: founder narratives, engineer profiles, customer stories, and pieces that make the VamosWatu mission tangible and shareable across every channel.
6. Research editorial calendars, podcast guest opportunities, and speaking slots where VamosWatu's story fits and belongs.
7. Track your own results: press placements, subscriber growth, follower counts, and engagement. You'll own the numbers, not just the tasks.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

1. Currently enrolled in a communications, PR, journalism, or marketing program at an Austin-area college or university
2. Writing that is clear, specific, and built to persuade: not academic writing, not vague writing, writing that makes someone want to keep reading
3. Genuine enthusiasm for PR as a craft: you follow journalists, you read pitches critically, you think about why some stories land and others don't
4. High ownership: you don't wait to be told what to do next, you figure it out and do it
5. Eligible for academic credit through your institution for this internship

If you don't meet every point above, we still encourage you to apply.

NICE TO HAVE

1. Familiarity with LinkedIn, Notion, Substack, Canva, or similar tools
2. Interest in African tech, global remote work, or the startup ecosystem
3. A portfolio, writing samples, or any project where you created something from nothing

COMPENSATION AND STRUCTURE

Engagement Details

1. Unpaid internship for academic credit
2. Part-time, flexible hours: we build the schedule around your coursework
3. Austin-based, with remote and in-person flexibility depending on the task
4. Direct access to Grady Andersen, Founder and CEO, from day one
5. One intern. Full ownership of the brand launch. No shared credit.

HOW WE WORK

Async-first, outcome-oriented, and lean on meetings. We use Slack for day-to-day communication and Notion for planning and docs. You'll have real flexibility, clear projects, and someone invested in your growth at the other end of every Slack thread.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

At 30 days:

Your first Substack post is live. Your first pitch is out. You've contributed to VamosWatu's SXSW content push and understand the brand story well enough to tell it in any format, to any audience, in two minutes or less.

By the end of the internship:

You have press placements you can name and link. A Substack with real subscribers. A social presence with real growth metrics. A brand story that exists where it didn't before. And a reference from the CEO of a company that operates across two continents.

HOW TO APPLY

1. Apply with your CV and Cover Letter via Micro1.

2. Complete an AI interview focused on PR domain knowledge.

3. Live interview with the PeopleOps Manager and CEO.

We move quickly. Expect to hear back within 5 business days of applying.

ONE MORE THING

VamosWatu was built on the belief that great talent exists everywhere, and that the best opportunities should be accessible regardless of where you start. That belief applies to this internship too. We hire for curiosity, drive, and the hunger to build real things. If this sounds like the opportunity you've been waiting for, we genuinely want to hear from you.