Engineering Manager: Lead, Architect, Deliver

Avatar Recruitment; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Avatar Recruitment in Cape Town seeks a strategic Head of Software Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing team, setting technical direction, standards and delivery practices. The role focuses on building capability, aligning engineering work with business goals, and ensuring code quality and reliable deployments.

You will mentor engineering leaders, drive architecture decisions, manage risk, and partner with product, QA, and finance to deliver valuable software while controlling costs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field; advanced diploma or equivalent with management experience.
• 6–8 years progressive software engineering experience including 2–3 years in formal leadership or management role; informal leadership considered with impact.

Responsibilities

• Leads and manages team performance, coaching, mentorship, and career development while ensuring accountability for delivery commitments.
• Owns delivery outcomes for assigned products/services, managing prioritisation, coordination, and communication with product and technical stakeholders.
• Establishes technical direction and standards, ensuring architectural decisions balance long-term strategy with delivery timelines.
• Translates business priorities into clear technical execution plans with product management and stakeholders.
• Identifies and manages technical risks, including debt, testing gaps, security concerns, and performance issues.
• Coordinates with cross-functional teams to manage dependencies, resolve blockers, and maintain predictable delivery.
• Monitors delivery performance and quality metrics, providing visibility to leadership for data-driven decisions.
• Drives process, tooling, and quality improvements to enhance productivity and reduce manual effort.
• Participates in recruitment, capability planning, and talent management to ensure necessary skills and capacity.
• Collaborates with peer managers and engineering leadership on cross-functional initiatives and standards.
• Owns production responsibility for team services, ensuring operational health and incident readiness.

Skills

Leadership

Team Building

Coaching

Performance Management

Stakeholder Management

Strategic Thinking

Delivery Planning

Agile Methodology

CI/CD

Software Architecture

Code Quality

Technical Debt Management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science

Advanced Diploma or equivalent technical qualification

Job description

Avatar Recruitment in Cape Town seeks a strategic Head of Software Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing team, setting technical direction, standards and delivery practices. The role focuses on building capability, aligning engineering work with business goals, and ensuring code quality and reliable deployments.

You will mentor engineering leaders, drive architecture decisions, manage risk, and partner with product, QA, and finance to deliver valuable software while controlling costs.