Tech Lead

Positions Overview

• Sanlam Fintech x is a small business unit within the Sanlam Group office and it's looking to fill the role of a Technical lead. A TL is responsible for larger components, sets of features or whole applications.
• They typically have 8-10 years or more of software engineering experience and at least 3 years’ experience managing/coaching a team. They work closely with Design and Product Management but may also work broadly across an organisation on critical contributions.
• They help others with planning and reviews and propose solutions to complex problems. They have technical writing skills and help drive the overall vision and system design. 

What will you do?

• Reporting to the CTO, this role drives technical leadership, mentorship and innovation within a fintech agile team.

Key responsibilities include:

• Technical Direction: Align team deliverables with strategic technical decisions, ensuring scalable, high-quality solutions
• Leadership & Mentorship: Foster team growth through coaching, cultivating top-tier engineering talent
• Code Excellence: Deliver robust, maintainable code in a collaborative, cross-functional environment
• Modern Tech Stack: Leverage pragmatic, cutting-edge technologies to build scalable distributed systems

Ideal for fintech innovators passionate about disrupting finance, this role combines hands-on development with stakeholder management, guiding projects from inception to delivery while optimizing team productivity and communication. Join us in shaping the future of finance through technology 

Qualification and Experience

• A relevant bachelor's degree or diploma
• 8+ years of software development experience, with 3+ years in a technical leadership role (e.g., Tech Lead, Senior Engineer, or Architect)
• Proven track record of designing, building, and scaling distributed systems in cloud environments (AWS/Azure/GCP)
• Strong expertise in modern backend technologies (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js, Go) and frontend frameworks (React, Angular, or Vue)
• Experience with microservices, event-driven architectures, and API design (REST/gRPC/GraphQL)
• Hands-on with databases (SQL/NoSQL) and messaging systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
• Familiarity with DevOps practices (CI/CD, IaC, Kubernetes, Docker) and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK)
• Leadership & Mentorship: Ability to guide, inspire and grow engineering teams
• Fintech/banking experience (payments, lending, wealth management) is a plus
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills 

What will make you successful in this role?

• This role requires extensive hands-on experience designing, developing, and testing distributed, high-volume, and highly reliable software. You will need a solid understanding of requirements and excellent communication skills for explaining technical solutions.
• Business and operational awareness, as well as experience with cloud-based infrastructure, ideally AWS, are also required.

 At Sanlam Fintech, we demand a lot from each other, but we also give a lot in return. You'll love: 

• Engaging with intelligent, driven people in a stimulating virtual environment
• Making a real social impact through your work
• Continuous growth and learning, with abundant support and encouragemen
• Courageously navigating through uncharted territory
• Tackling exciting challenges with international teams
• Enjoying flexible work practices that enable you to deliver your best
• Having the autonomy and empowerment to lead
• Being at the cutting edge of technology and innovation

Required Behavioural Competencies

SFTx's 6 Leadership Principles:

• Ownership Mindset – Looking for ways to do, instead of reasons not to. Being accountable for actions and decisions, owning both successes and mistakes, and learning and growing from each experience.
• Growth Mindset – Always learning and improving, getting better each time. Embracing challenges and failures as opportunities for growth.
• Customer Centricity – A deep understanding of the customer seen in everything you do. Being led by customers, their feedback and their behaviours.
• Innovation (Jugaad) – Where some see impossible, seeing a way. Doing more with less, applying creativity to turn obstacles into opportunities, chance into change.
• Velocity – Moving fast and fixing things. Working iteratively to deliver customer value without sacrificing long-term value for short-term results.
• Inclusion – Seeking out and valuing different perspectives. Believing that when we change how we look at things, how things look for us also changes, making tomorrow not just different, but better.