Chief Software Engineering & Platform Leader

Liquid Thought; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Liquid Thought in Cape Town is seeking a Head of Software Engineering to lead our software development and drive technical excellence across engineering teams. You will report to the CIO and shape the technology roadmap, modernise legacy systems and ensure scalable, secure platforms.

You will build and mentor a high-performing engineering organization, foster a culture of innovation and oversee cross-functional collaboration with security, design and business stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 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

Responsibilities

• Define and execute technology roadmap aligned with business objectives
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Collaborate with security teams to implement robust cybersecurity measures and compliance standards
• Present technical strategy and progress updates to executive leadership and stakeholders
• Collaborate with other technology and business teams to ensure seamless system integration
• Coordinate with design and UX teams to deliver exceptional user experiences

Skills

Engineering leadership

Cloud-native architecture

Microservices

API design

CI/CD pipelines

Education

Honours degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related technical field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

CloudFormation

DataDog

Job description

Liquid Thought in Cape Town is seeking a Head of Software Engineering to lead our software development and drive technical excellence across engineering teams. You will report to the CIO and shape the technology roadmap, modernise legacy systems and ensure scalable, secure platforms.

You will build and mentor a high-performing engineering organization, foster a culture of innovation and oversee cross-functional collaboration with security, design and business stakeholders.