Lead Developer (C# .NET / C++)

Deviare; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Deviare seeks an experienced Lead Developer to join a client’s Back Office Development Team in Centurion, Gauteng. This permanent role combines technical leadership with hands-on back-end work on Windows-based C# and C++ applications, with on-site preference and optional remote for the right candidate.

The Lead Developer will shape engineering standards, own the technical direction, and mentor junior developers while migrating legacy components to .NET Core.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of commercial software development experience.
• 2+ years in a Lead or Technical Lead role.
• Experience moving legacy .NET Framework components to .NET Core.
• Back-end systems on Windows with C# and C++.
• Strong SQL Server skills and query optimisation.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical direction for the Back Office back-end systems.
• Lead and mentor developers, conduct code reviews and coaching.
• Architect service-oriented and microservice solutions.
• Own production stability, root-cause analysis and performance tuning.
• Drive platform modernisation from .NET Framework to .NET Core.

Skills

C#

C++

NET Core

Windows

Back-end development

Multi-threading

Microservices

REST/SOAP APIs

RabbitMQ

SQL Server

Leadership

Education

Degree in Computer Science / IT

Tools

Git

TFS

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Lead Developer to join a client's Back Office Development Team in a permanent, full-time role. The role combines technical leadership with hands-on back-end development on Windows-based applications built in C# (.NET Core and .NET Framework) and C++. The position is based at the client's office in Centurion, Gauteng. On-site work is preferred, but remote work can be considered for the right candidate. The start date is immediate.

Context & Impact

The Back Office team runs the systems behind the client's core operations. The work is mostly back-end with very little UI. It covers multi-threaded Windows Services, service-oriented and microservice architectures, and Microsoft SQL Server databases.

This is a long-term leadership position. The Lead Developer owns the technical direction and quality of the team's back-end systems, working closely with the Back Office Team Lead. A key part of the work is moving legacy .NET Framework components to .NET Core while keeping production systems stable. The role also sets the team's engineering standards. It is the escalation point for complex production issues, and it shapes how senior and intermediate developers grow over time.

Why This Role Is Exciting

• Platform modernisation: lead the move of legacy .NET Framework components to .NET Core and develop the service-oriented and microservice architecture.
• Concurrency-heavy engineering: design and tune multi-threaded and parallel-processing solutions, including Windows Services, where stability and performance matter.
• Production ownership: act as the escalation point for complex production issues and lead root-cause analysis.
• Integration complexity: build and maintain integrations across REST and SOAP APIs and message queuing such as RabbitMQ.
• Long-term influence: define coding standards, review practice and delivery approach, and build the capability of the team over time.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate is a senior back-end engineer with 8+ years of commercial software development experience. They have spent at least 2 years in a Lead or Technical Lead role. They have a track record of delivering and maintaining back-end systems on Windows using both C# and C++. Experience modernising or re-architecting legacy systems is an advantage.

Core strengths include:

• Strong .NET Core experience; exposure to .NET Framework is strongly preferred
• Recent commercial C++ development on Windows (C++14 or higher preferred)
• Proven experience designing service-oriented and microservice solutions
• Deep experience with multi-threading and parallel processing
• Solid Microsoft SQL Server skills, including tables, stored procedures, functions and query optimisation

Experience with RabbitMQ, REST/SOAP API design or C++ on Linux is an advantage. Unit testing frameworks (xUnit/nUnit), TFS/Git tooling and Agile practices can be learnt on the job.

The right person sets clear technical direction and makes sound design decisions. They are accountable for quality. They can diagnose complex performance, concurrency and integration problems and explain trade-offs clearly to the Team Lead and business stakeholders. They work to agreed timelines, raise risks early and invest in growing the developers around them through code review, pairing and coaching. A degree or diploma in Computer Science, IT, Engineering or a related field is preferred, but equivalent practical experience is also considered.