Software Engineering Manager

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Job Title: Software Engineering Manager

Department: Digital

Reporting line: Head of Software Engineering

Location: Kampala or Nairobi

Job Grade: 17

About ENGIE Energy Access

ENGIE Energy Access is the leading Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGo) and mini-grids solutions provider in Africa. The company develops innovative, off-grid solar solutions for homes, public services, and businesses, enabling customers and distribution partners access to clean, affordable energy. The PAYGO solar home systems are financed through affordable installments from $0.19 per day, and the mini-grids foster economic development by enabling electrical productive use and creating business opportunities for entrepreneurs in rural communities. With over 1,800 employees, operations in nine countries across Africa, over 1.9 million customers, and more than 9 million lives impacted, ENGIE Energy Access aims to impact 20 million lives across Africa by 2025.

Job Purpose/Mission

We are looking for a talented, self-starting tech lead to join our team, helping deliver affordable solar power and financial services across Africa. This role offers the opportunity to work with an elite team of engineers and business professionals and to directly contribute to a mission-driven company with social and environmental impact. Candidates will work across a diverse technology stack at scale and lead the evolution of at least one of our software products.

Responsibilities

1. Line management of a subset of the software development team (4-6 direct reports).
2. Contract management with external developers (freelancers) in collaboration with the Head of Software Engineering.
3. Work with engineering tech-lead to establish clear performance management frameworks and provide actionable feedback and goals for the technical team.
4. Grow and develop software engineers, establishing upskilling and training pathways, and implementing structured coaching and mentorship plans.
5. Institute processes to address performance gaps and ensure the team is technically competent.
6. Ensure effective onboarding of new engineers in collaboration with tech leads.
7. Recruit software team members for their pillar and maintain a pipeline of candidates.
8. Resource management to align with key delivery milestones.
9. Understand and contribute to the ROI of engineering efforts, recognizing value creation and prioritization for the business.
10. Contribute to team culture within the product and broader digital teams.
11. Promote technical excellence and knowledge sharing.
12. Foster team bonding and a positive work environment.

Leadership Expectations

Our managers are expected to:

• Deliver ambitious results by creating an environment conducive to effective action and bold decisions.
• Act with integrity, maintaining honesty, respect, objectivity, and transparency.
• Inspire and mentor the team, walking the talk and empowering team members.
• Be accessible, developing deep stakeholder connections through approachability and active listening.
• Ensure diversity and inclusion, fostering a sense of belonging.

Knowledge and Skills

Experience:

• At least 7 years of relevant experience, including 2 in a leadership role, with a proven track record of leading high-performing engineering teams.
• Experience in resource management and capacity planning.
• Practical understanding of various software development methodologies and their application.
• Experience in hiring, onboarding, and maintaining a pipeline of engineers, with ability to create retention conditions.
• Knowledge of developer productivity tools and performance frameworks (e.g., DORA, SPACE, DevEx).
• Ability to identify and address process gaps, cultural issues, and conflicts.
• Hands-on senior competency in full-stack software development.
• Entrepreneurial and forward-thinking with an understanding of technology's impact on business.
• Appreciation for detailed source code documentation and organized code structuring.
• Knowledge of software deployment pipelines and best practices (CI/CD).
• Excellent knowledge of algorithms and computer science fundamentals.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

Languages

• English (required)
• French (a plus)

Technology Stack

• Web frameworks: Rails 5, Django, Flask, FastAPI
• Mobile: Android Kotlin/Java
• Background tasks: Sidekiq, Celery, RabbitMQ
• Front-end: ActiveAdmin, VueJS, Angular
• API: Grape, Devise, DRF, FastAPI
• TDD: RSpec, PyTest
• Search: Thinking Sphinx
• Storage: MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis
• Source Control: GitLab self-hosted
• Deployment: Capistrano, Ansible
• Innovative ideas are always welcome!

Additional Information

We thank all applicants for their interest. Due to high volume, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. ENGIE is an equal opportunity employer promoting diversity and inclusion. Applications are screened based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, regardless of background or identity.