VP of Engineering (FinTech/Payments/Start-up) (Hybrid)

Our FinTech client is seeking a visionary technology leader eager to build transformative platforms in high-growth, high-impact markets. As VP of Engineering, you'll lead the creation of a cutting-edge payment system that enables global merchants to seamlessly scale their businesses across Africa the most dynamic and complex market for digital payments. This is your opportunity if you thrive on solving technical challenges, driving innovation, and building systems that deliver real-world value. You'll design scalable solutions that help businesses expand across borders, overcome regional complexities, and maximise payment success rates, ensuring a seamless experience for merchants and customers.

Job Type: Full-time / Hybrid

Location: Johannesburg

Who you are:

• A technical visionary excited by the challenge of building scalable solutions in Africas high-growth payments ecosystem, particularly for global merchants expanding into the region.
• At least 3-5 years of experience as an Engineering Manager.
• Experience utilizing: React, Next.js, C# (.NET), Terraform, Docker and AWS.
• Hands on experience leading a team of 10 or more individuals.
• Hands on experience in coding on daily basis.
• Deep payment product experience, ideally in payment businesses requiring high-volume and low-latency platform architectures.
• Deep experience leading teams on large-scale platform engineering projects.
• Experienced in building global payment platforms, with expertise in cross-border payments and optimising success rates in complex, fragmented markets.
• Adept at solving technical challenges in infrastructure-limited environments, focusing on creating solutions that deliver seamless scalability for merchants.
• Passionate about using technology to drive economic growth and financial inclusion in Africas rapidly evolving digital economy.
• A natural leader who inspires and guides teams to deliver world-class solutions for global and local merchants.
• Able to represent the company at industry events, being comfortable discussing payments and technology trends.

Technology stack:

• Frontend: React + Next.js
• Backend: C# (.NET)
• Terraform
• Docker
• AWS

Strategic Technology Leadership:

• Collaborate to create a clear technology vision that aligns with the company's business objectives and market demands, ensuring a competitive edge in the payments industry.
• Foster a culture of innovation, encouraging the exploration and implementation of emerging technologies to enhance the payment processing ecosystem.

Platform Development and Scalability:

• Lead the design and implementation of a scalable and secure payments platform, ensuring it can support high transaction volumes and diverse payment methods.
• Create and manage a technology roadmap that outlines key initiatives, timelines, and resource requirements for platform development and enhancements.

Integration and Interoperability:

• Oversee the creation and maintenance of robust APIs that facilitate seamless integrations with merchants, partners, and third-party services.
• To enhance the platform's capabilities, establish and manage relationships with technology partners, payment networks, and service providers.

Data Security and Compliance:

• Implement industry-leading security measures to protect sensitive transaction data, ensuring compliance with PCI DSS and other relevant regulations.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive risk management strategy that includes threat assessments, incident response, and continuous monitoring of the technology environment.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Build and lead a high-performing technology team by recruiting top software engineering, data science, and security talent.
• Foster an environment of learning and development, providing mentorship and career growth opportunities for team members.
• Performance Measurement and Improvement:
• Establish and monitor KPIs to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of technology initiatives, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement by regularly reviewing processes, systems, and performance metrics to identify areas for enhancement.

Collaboration with Business Units:

• Work closely with other departments, such as product, operations, and compliance, to ensure alignment between technology and business strategies.
• Communicate technology strategies and updates to key stakeholders, ensuring organisational transparency and collaboration.

Responsibilities:

• Platform Leadership: Lead the development of a scalable payments platform to help global merchants seamlessly scale into Africa by navigating the regions complex infrastructure and payment methods.
• Technical Strategy: Create and execute a technology roadmap that addresses the unique needs of merchants expanding into Africa, ensuring optimised payment success rates and seamless transaction flows.
• Cross-Border Solutions: Develop solutions that simplify multi-currency transactions, cross-border payments, and integration with local payment providers, making it easier for global merchants to expand their reach.
• Merchant-Centric Solutions: Partner with product, sales, and operations teams to ensure the platform supports the needs of merchants entering Africa, enhancing their ability to scale and thrive in this market.
• Data-Driven Optimization: Leverage data to continuously optimise platform performance, ensuring high transaction success rates and an effortless user experience for merchants across the continent.
• Regulatory Expertise: Lead efforts to ensure compliance with diverse regulatory requirements across African markets while maintaining a focus on security, fraud prevention, and platform resilience.

Challenges you will need to solve:

• How will you build a platform that handles millions of monthly transactions seamlessly across borders, currencies, and payment methods?
• How will you lead a high-performing engineering team to deliver at scale while ensuring high reliability and low latency in a fast-paced startup environment?
• How will you design for the future, anticipating the next significant payment trends while ensuring your architecture stands the test of time?