Lead Staff Engineer

Scale Army Careers; Remote; ZAR 300 000 - 400 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm is seeking a skilled Lead Staff Engineer to oversee backend architecture and AI/ML integrations. This fully remote role demands 7-8+ years of technical experience, preferably in fintech and data infrastructure. The position involves mentoring team members, designing scalable systems, and ensuring high engineering standards. Applicants should possess expertise in Python and strong proficiency in data engineering. If you are passionate about driving architecture decisions in a fast-scaling environment, this opportunity is for you.

Qualifications

• 7–8+ years of engineering experience with progressively senior responsibilities.
• Strong background in Python, data engineering, and ML-powered systems.
• Experience with large datasets, ETL pipelines, and high-scale services.
• Ability to lead engineering planning, mentor team members, and drive architectural decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture for backend systems, data pipelines, and AI-powered tools.
• Make high-level decisions on infrastructure, scalability, and system design.
• Oversee engineering projects and mentor junior and mid-level engineers.
• Ensure code quality, system reliability, and best-practice engineering standards.
• Architect pipelines for LLM models, fraud detection models, and predictive analytics.

Skills

Fintech

Payments

Risk scoring

Compliance system experience

DevOps

Python

Data engineering

ML-powered systems

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

Microservices

Job description

Lead Staff Engineer at Scale Army Careers

Role Overview

The Lead Staff Engineer will act as the senior technical leader responsible for backend architecture, AI / ML integrations, data infrastructure, and engineering standards. This role requires 7–8+ years of experience, ideally with exposure to fintech, large datasets, ETL pipelines, and DevOps. You will guide engineering direction, mentor junior team members, and design systems that power a data- and AI-driven global commerce platform.

Location: Fully Remote | 9 AM - 5 PM EST

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Architecture
Lead architecture for backend systems, data pipelines, and AI-powered tools.
Make high-level decisions on infrastructure, scalability, and system design.
Oversee engineering projects and mentor junior and mid-level engineers.
Ensure code quality, system reliability, and best-practice engineering standards.

AI / ML & Data Engineering
Architect pipelines for LLM models, fraud detection models, and predictive analytics.
Work closely with data scientists and ML engineers to integrate models into production.

Fintech & Compliance-Driven System Development
Work with payment systems, risk scoring, and data compliance workflows.
Architect systems related to onboarding, KYC / KYB processes, and fraud detection.

DevOps Collaboration
Contribute to CI / CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and cloud reliability.
Support monitoring, logging, and deployment best practices.

Qualifications

Experience: 7–8+ years of engineering experience with progressively senior responsibilities.
Strong background in Python, data engineering, and ML-powered systems.
Experience with large datasets, ETL pipelines, and high-scale services.
Ability to lead engineering planning, mentor team members, and drive architectural decisions.

Skills: Fintech, payments, risk, or compliance system experience.
Experience with DevOps (Docker, CI / CD, microservices).
Prior technical leadership in small, high-velocity engineering teams.

What Success Looks Like

A scalable, well-architected system powering global data and AI workflows.
Strong engineering culture and improved team velocity.
Well-designed, reliable pipelines that support real-time analytics and automation.

Opportunity

This is a high-impact leadership role shaping the technical direction of a fast-scaling, data-intensive platform.
You’ll own architecture decisions and drive the engineering function toward world-class reliability and innovation.

Application Process

To be considered for this role these steps need to be followed:

Fill in the application form
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