Head of Software Engineering at Liquid Thought

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

26 Sep, 26

Salary

0.0

Posted On

28 Jun, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Technical Leadership, Cloud-Native Architecture, Microservices, Distributed Systems, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, Team Management, Strategic Planning, Software Development Life Cycle, API Design, Kubernetes, Docker, DevOps, Performance Optimization, System Reliability Engineering, Budget Management

Industry

IT Services and IT Consulting

Description

ABOUT THE ROLE Were looking for a Head of Software Engineering to lead our software development efforts and drive technical excellence across our engineering teams. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, this role is perfect for a seasoned engineer who thrives on delivering innovative software solutions that power business growth. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Strategic technical leadership Define and execute comprehensive technology roadmap aligned with business objectives and market opportunities Drive design decisions for cloud-native applications, microservices and distributed systems Establish technical vision for scalable, secure and maintainable software platforms Lead digital transformation initiatives and modernisation of legacy systems Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies to maintain competitive technical advantages Engineering excellence & operations Implement robust software development processes Establish and enforce coding standards, code review protocols and automated testing frameworks Oversee CI/CD pipeline architecture, infrastructure as code and deployment automation Drive quality assurance processes, performance optimisation and system reliability initiatives Manage technical debt reduction and continuous improvement programs Team leadership & development Build and lead a team of software engineers and technical leads Recruit top-notch engineering talent and establish clear career development pathways Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration and technical excellence Conduct performance reviews, provide mentorship and drive professional growth Create inclusive engineering culture that promotes diversity, learning and continuous improvement Cross-functional collaboration Collaborate with other technology and business teams to ensure seamless system integration Work with design and UX teams to deliver exceptional user experiences Coordinate with security teams to implement robust cybersecurity measures and compliance standards Present technical strategy and progress updates to executive leadership and stakeholders Delivery & performance management Ensure on-time delivery of high-quality software products and features Manage engineering resources, project timelines and risk mitigation strategies Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for productivity and quality Drive incident response, post-mortem analysis and system reliability improvements Optimise development velocity while maintaining code quality and system stability REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES Education & experience Honours degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering or related technical field 10+ years of software development experience with progressively increasing responsibility Minimum 5 years in engineering leadership roles managing teams of 15+ engineers Proven track record of scaling engineering organisations through rapid growth phases Experience in technology companies, SaaS platforms, or high-growth startups preferred Technical expertise Deep hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and cloud-native architecture patterns Strong software engineering expertise Extensive experience with containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, EKS/AKS) Expert knowledge of microservices architecture, API design, and distributed systems Advanced understanding of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation), and DevOps tooling Experience with modern frontend frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js) and backend technologies Leadership & Management skills Exceptional leadership abilities with demonstrated success building and scaling engineering teams Strategic thinking and ability to translate business objectives into technical roadmaps Excellent communication and presentation skills for technical and non-technical audiences Experience managing engineering budgets, vendor relationships and partnerships Proven ability to drive cultural change Data-driven decision-making approach with strong analytical and problem-solving skills System & Architecture knowledge Understanding scalable system design, performance optimisation and reliability engineering Experience with database technologies (relational and NoSQL), data architecture and analytics platforms Knowledge of security best practices, compliance frameworks and privacy regulations Understanding of monitoring, logging and observability tools (e.g., DataDog, New Relic, AppDynamics) Experience with automated testing strategies, quality assurance processes and deployment practices

Responsibilities

Lead the software engineering organization by defining the technical roadmap and driving the design of scalable, cloud-native platforms. Oversee engineering operations, team growth, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure the delivery of high-quality software products.