Engineering Manager - Data Science

Communicate Finance; Wes-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Communicate Finance in South Africa is seeking a senior software engineering leader to guide a team in delivering sophisticated technology products. You will balance people leadership, strategic planning, and technical oversight to ensure high engagement and delivery excellence.

The role focuses on recruitment, coaching, process improvement, architecture discussions, and aligning resources with product roadmaps, all within a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software development and delivery.
• At least 3 years in leadership or management roles.
• Experience leading software engineering teams and delivering outcomes.
• Strong planning, facilitation, and resource management skills.
• Excellent communication and mentoring abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor software engineering team members through coaching and development initiatives.
• Define team priorities and ensure delivery against release objectives.
• Create development plans and grow engineering talent.
• Manage team performance with metrics and feedback.
• Align resources with current and future product requirements.
• Assist with recruitment, onboarding, and team expansion.
• Define and implement software development processes and best practices.
• Support technical decision-making, architecture discussions, planning, and estimation.
• Drive delivery against product roadmaps and manage dependencies and risks.
• Ensure quality is embedded in the software development lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership during support escalations and customer discussions.
• Contribute to product strategy, operational planning, and delivery execution.

Skills

Software leadership

Delivery management

Agile process

Mentoring

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or Computer Science

Job description

Job Description: The successful candidate will lead and develop a software engineering team, ensuring high levels of engagement, performance, delivery excellence, and technical quality. The role requires balancing people leadership, strategic planning, technical oversight, stakeholder engagement, and software delivery

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading, mentoring, and supporting software engineering team members through regular coaching and development initiatives
• Defining team priorities and ensuring successful delivery against release objectives
• Creating development plans and supporting the growth of engineering talent
• Managing team performance through objective metrics and continuous feedback
• Ensuring engineering resources and skills align with current and future product requirements
• Assisting with recruitment activities, onboarding processes, and team expansion initiatives
• Defining, refining, and implementing software development processes and engineering best practices
• Supporting technical decision-making, architecture discussions, planning, and estimation activities
• Driving delivery against product roadmaps while managing dependencies and project risks
• Ensuring quality is embedded throughout the software development lifecycle
• Providing technical leadership during support escalations and customer-facing technical discussions
• Contributing to product strategy, operational planning, and delivery execution

Why this role stands out:

• Lead experienced engineers working on sophisticated technology products
• Shape team culture, engineering standards, and delivery practices
• Influence both technical and business decisions
• Work within a hybrid environment that supports productivity and flexibility
• Play a key role in growing future technical leaders through mentorship and coaching

Skills & Experience:

• Minimum 10 years' experience spanning software development, project delivery, process management, and engineering leadership
• At least 3 years in a formal leadership or management role
• Strong experience leading software engineering teams and driving delivery outcomes
• Solid understanding of software development and release management processes
• Experience with Agile process management and engineering best practices
• Strong planning, facilitation, resource management, and organisational skills
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and mentoring abilities
• Proven ability to lead high-performing teams while maintaining a people-first approach
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills

Qualification:

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or Computer Science
• Leadership or management qualification/certification advantageous
• Minimum 10 years' relevant industry experience with at least 3 years in engineering leadership