Java Technical Lead

Ecentric Payment Systems; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 200 000 - 300 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading payment service provider in Africa is seeking an experienced Java Technical Lead to oversee the design and development of high-performance payment systems. You will manage a team of engineers, ensuring compliance with industry standards, and mentor them for technical excellence. The position requires strong Java EE expertise, technical leadership experience, and familiarity with Microsoft Azure solutions. This role also offers hybrid working arrangements and a comprehensive benefits package for employee well-being and growth.

Benefits

Competitive salary structure

Pension fund

Disability Benefit

Death Benefit

Dread disease cover

Funeral Cover

Employee well-being initiatives

Qualifications

• 3+ years in a technical leadership role.
• Strong expertise in Java EE and application servers.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure cloud services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture and development of secure payment systems.
• Provide mentorship to a team of Java engineers.
• Drive technical decisions for scalability and compliance.

Skills

Java EE

Technical leadership

Microsoft Azure

RESTful APIs

SQL optimization

Caching with Redis

Angular

Communication

Education

Diploma or Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

WildFly

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

To ensure your application is successfully received and that you can smoothly complete the screening process, we encourage you to apply through our Career Portal:www.ecentric.co.za. We look forward to reviewing your submission!

Introduction

Our team offers comprehensive experience and expertise across the South African (and beyond) payment gateways landscape. To guarantee the best service, we handle all the one-to-many payment relationships on behalf of our clients so they may focus their energy on growing their business.

As leaders in payment compliance and security, our clients can have the peace of mind that their payment processing needs are met efficiently with absolute security.

Position Overview

Ecentric Payment Systems is a leading Payment Service Provider in Africa, trusted by many of the continent’s largest retail groups. We're looking for an experienced Java Technical Lead to join our In Person Payments engineering team. You'll lead the design and development of mission-critical payment systems while mentoring a team of talented engineers. This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll balance technical excellence with people development.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture and development of secure, high-performance payment processing systems
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to a team of Java engineers
• Drive technical decisions across the stack, ensuring scalability, reliability, and compliance with payment industry standards
• Champion developer experience (DevX) initiatives - streamline local development workflows, improve tooling, and reduce friction for the engineering team
• Collaborate with DevOps to enhance CI/CD pipelines, deployment processes, and infrastructure automation
• Collaborate with product managers, architects, and stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions
• Conduct code reviews and establish best practices for code quality, testing, and documentation
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and implement long-term solutions
• Evaluate new technologies and recommend improvements to our platform

Requirements

We encourage all applicants to carefully review the required skills, competencies, and education levels outlined in the job description. This ensures that we can focus on candidates with the right qualifications, leading to a more efficient and accurate evaluation of your application.

To ensure your application can be fully considered, it is essential to complete the SAPIA assessment, which will be emailed to you immediately after submitting your application. We kindly request that you complete the assessment within the next 3 days to proceed with the short-listing process.

We appreciate your prompt attention to this and look forward to reviewing your complete application!

Role Requirements

Required:

• 3+ years in a technical leadership role (Tech Lead, Senior Engineer leading a team, or similar)
• Strong expertise in Java EE and application servers, particularly WildFly
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure cloud services
• Experience with Redis (or equivalent) for caching, session management, and real-time data processing
• Working knowledge of Angular for understanding and collaborating on front-end integration
• Experience designing and building RESTful APIs
• Solid grasp of relational databases, SQL optimization, and data modeling
• Proven ability to mentor engineers and drive technical excellence within a team
• Excellent communication skills - able to explain technical topics clearly, influence decisions, and collaborate effectively across teams and departments
• Diploma or bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or related fields

Preferred:

• Deep understanding of payment systems, PCI-DSS compliance, and financial transaction processing
• Experience with containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines
• Track record of improving developer experience - build times, testing frameworks, documentation, onboarding
• Familiarity with message queuing systems and event-driven architectures
• Experience with Agile methodologies

Benefits

Our Culture & Philosophy

We go beyond being just an employer - we are a long-term career growth partner in South Africa's payments industry. Here, we unleash our employees’ potential, embrace innovation, and shape the future of the payments industry.

As such, we are committed to providing a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employee's well-being, foster personal and professional growth, and enhance their overall quality of life. Our employee benefits program is tailored to meet the diverse needs of our workforce, recognizing that each individual plays a vital role in driving our company forward.

From retirement planning to professional development and work-life balance initiatives, Ecentric is dedicated to empowering our employees to thrive both inside and outside the workplace. We understand that happy, healthy employees are the key to a thriving organization, and our benefits program reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting our most valuable asset – our people.

• Competitive salary structure including:
• Pension fund;
• Disability Benefit;
• Death Benefit;
• Dread disease; and
• Funeral Cover.
• Hybrid working arrangements are offered, with some exceptions.
• Conveniently located at the "Great Westerford Building" on the Corner of Dean Street and Main Road with access to:
• Dean Street Arcade and Newlands Quarters with a variety of Restaurants and Coffee Shops
• Child Care Facilities (inside Great Westerford Building)