Lead Software Engineer

Spec-Savers Distribution; Gqeberha; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Spec-Savers Distribution in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa, is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across software development while remaining hands-on with design, coding, testing, deployment and production support.

The role focuses on secure, reliable, maintainable applications aligned with business requirements and technology strategy, guiding engineers, and coordinating with stakeholders, infrastructure, and external service providers.

Qualifications

• The candidate holds a completed bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering or related field.
• At least ten years of professional software development experience with leadership roles.
• Minimum five years in senior/lead/technical-lead capacity guiding engineers and code reviews.
• Experience delivering business-critical applications and supporting production systems.
• Familiarity with solution design, systems integration and database development.
• Experience with testing, release-management and change-management processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and code reviews for the development team.
• Design, develop, test, and maintain business-critical applications while remaining hands-on.
• Translate business requirements into technical tasks, estimates and delivery plans.
• Provide senior-level production support and perform root-cause analysis.
• Ensure secure development practices, governance and POPIA compliance.
• Contribute to architecture, legacy modernization and debt reduction.
• Foster relationships with stakeholders and vendors; communicate clearly.

Skills

C#

.NET ecosystem

PHP development

REST APIs

Object-oriented programming

Unit testing

Security best practices

Software development life cycle

Code reviews & mentoring

Technical documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Computer Science/IT/Software Engineering

Tools

Bitbucket

DevOps

Source-control platforms

Job description

Closing Date 2026/09/21

Reference Number KFM260917-1

Job Title Lead Software Engineer

Job Type Permanent

Business Unit Preferred Provider Negotiators

Department IT and Software Development

Number of Positions 1

Location - Town / City Port Elizabeth

Location - Province Eastern Cape

Location - Country South Africa

Minimum Education Level Bachelors Degree | Advanced Diploma

Job Category IT

Job Advert Summary

The Lead Software Engineer provides technical leadership across the software-development function while remaining actively involved in solution design, coding, testing, deployment, and production support.

The position ensures that business-critical applications and integrations are secure, reliable, maintainable and aligned with approved business requirements and the organisation’s technology strategy.

The Lead Software Engineer will guide the development team, oversee technical quality, support the modernisation of legacy applications and work closely with business stakeholders, infrastructure, data, security and external service providers.

Minimum Requirements

• A completed bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering or a related discipline.
• A minimum of ten years' professional software-development experience.
• At least five years' experience in a senior engineer, lead engineer or technical-lead role.
• Demonstrated experience developing and supporting business-critical applications.
• Demonstrated experience guiding engineers and conducting code reviews.
• Experience in solution design, systems integration and database development.
• Experience supporting production systems and resolving complex technical incidents.
• Experience working within formal testing, change-management and release-management processes.

Strong Practical Knowledge Of

• C#, the .NET and PHP development ecosystem.
• Microsoft SQL Server, including database design, stored procedures, query optimisation and performance troubleshooting.
• REST APIs, web services and systems integration.
• Object-oriented programming and recognised software-design patterns.
• Bitbucket or DevOps or comparable source-control platforms.
• Application debugging, logging, monitoring and error handling.
• Unit, integration and regression testing.
• Secure coding and common application security risks.
• Software-development lifecycle and change-management practices.
• Technical documentation and solution-design principles.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership, direction and mentorship to the development team, including work allocation, code reviews, standards and technical guidance.
• Design, develop, test and maintain business-critical applications, remaining hands-on with coding, debugging, APIs, integrations and databases.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions, estimates and development tasks while managing risks, dependencies and delivery.
• Provide senior-level production support, resolving complex incidents, conducting root-cause analysis and implementing preventative solutions.
• Ensure software quality and testing standards are maintained, including unit, integration, regression, security and automated testing where appropriate.
• Manage source control, releases and change management, ensuring deployments are properly tested, authorised, documented and traceable.
• Ensure secure development, POPIA, governance and compliance requirements are met, including vulnerability management and protection of confidential information.
• Contribute to architecture, legacy-system modernisation and technical-debt reduction, ensuring solutions are scalable, maintainable and aligned with business needs.
• Identify opportunities for automation, AI, OCR, analytics and other innovations while maintaining appropriate security, governance and data quality.
• Build strong stakeholder and vendor relationships, communicate technical matters clearly, manage expectations and promote accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.