Lead Developer

Staffselect | It Select Recruitment; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology recruitment agency seeks a Lead Developer (JavaScript) in Cape Town. This role involves owning projects and leading technical standards in a new South Africa engineering team. Candidates should have strong JavaScript and PHP skills with AWS DevOps experience. Exciting opportunity to innovate in proptech while collaborating with an international team. This position includes travel to the UK and offers an agile work environment.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in software development.
• Proven leadership experience in small teams or solo development.
• Strong understanding of DevOps practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of the Laravel + React web app.
• Own and optimize AWS infrastructure and DevOps pipelines.
• Establish coding standards and lead decision-making.
• Collaborate with UK IT Lead on product strategy.

Skills

Deep JavaScript expertise – React / Redux

Strong background in PHP & Laravel

Proven leadership experience

AWS DevOps skills

Monitoring and logging skills

RESTful API design & integration

Git

Database experience (MySQL via AWS RDS)

Mobile development (React Native, iOS / Android)

Excellent communication skills

Education

Certificate

Job description

Job OverviewApplication Deadline : 16 November

• Job Location : Cape Town, Western Cape Job Title : Lead Developer (JavaScript) Education Level : Certificate Job Level : Senior Minimum Experience : 5- 7 Years Lead Developer (JavaScript) – Woodstock, Cape Town. Cape Town – Office-Based | Exciting PropTech Opportunity | Includes UK Travel. Seasoned JavaScript lead developer ready to take the lead in building cutting‑edge technology to spearhead our next‑generation platforms for the property sector. As the first hire in our new South Africa engineering team, you'll be the sole technical lead on the ground, working independently at first while onboarding with our UK‑based external developers. This pivotal role will see you take full ownership of projects end‑to‑end, and over time, help shape and grow the Cape Town engineering team, setting the technical standards that scale. Work in a small, agile environwhere your decisions have direct impact, while collaborating with our UK product and tech leads on an ambitious proptech roadmap. What You’ll Bring Deep JavaScript expertise – React / Redux essential; or Angular a plus. Strong background in PHP & Laravel (or Python / Django). Proven leadership experience in small teams or solo development, comprehensive AWS DevOps skills: CI / CD, Terraform / CloudFormation, scalable infrastructure design, and AWS security best practices. Monitoring, logging, and alerting (CloudWatch mastery) to ensure top performance. Backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning experience. RESTful API design & integration. Git (GitHub / Bitbucket). Modern, scalable CSS (SASS, CSS Modules). Database experience (MySQL via AWS RDS). Mobile development (React Native, iOS / Android) a bonus. Willingness to travel to the UK (including an extended onboarding period). Excellent communicator, proactive problem‑solver, and team builder.

What You’ll Do Lead development of our Laravel + React web app from concept through deployment. Own and optimise our AWS infrastructure and DevOps pipelines, ensuring security, scalability, and cost‑effectiveness. Provide technical leadership across web and mobile platforms (supporting our React Native iOS app when needed). Establish coding standards and best practices; lead technical decision‑making. Produce clear, maintainable technical documentation. Collaborate with UK IT Lead to define product strategy and technical roadmaps. Take ownership of strategic projects from day one, such as reviewing PHP and Laravel versioning to ensure long‑term stability, security, and upgrade readiness.

Why Join Us? This is more than just a development role — it's an opportunity to lead innovation in the proptech space with a company that's redefining how property marketing works. You'll be part of a dynamic, international team that has been established in South Africa for over 20 years, and now you'll help build the foundation of our new Cape Town engineering hub.