Managed API Services Technical Lead

Clicks Group; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Clicks Group is seeking a hands-on Technical Lead to steer a team of backend developers across Junior to Senior levels. You will design, develop, secure RESTful services and microservices in a containerised .NET/C# environment, balancing 60% hands-on coding with 40% people leadership.

You will mentor engineers, ensure delivery against standards, and collaborate with Solution Architects, DevOps, security and product stakeholders to deliver end-to-end solutions and maintain production readiness.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software development with backend focus.
• At least 5 years of .NET/C# backend experience.
• Proven track record in leading teams and technical design.
• Experience with REST, microservices and containerised apps.

Responsibilities

• Lead the detailed technical design of backend services and APIs.
• Remain hands-on in developing, reviewing, testing and troubleshooting .NET/C# services.
• Decompose designs into tasks, interfaces and acceptance criteria.
• Guide containerised services using Docker and orchestration platforms.
• Ensure security, resilience, performance and observability standards.
• Enforce engineering practices, code reviews and release readiness.
• Collaborate with architects, DevOps, security and product stakeholders.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and production support activities.
• Lead diagnosis of defects and driving continuous improvement.
• Mentor and manage Junior to Senior backend developers.

Skills

C#

.NET

ASP.NET Core

REST APIs

Microservices

Docker

Kubernetes

Security

CI/CD

Cloud

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Kubernetes

Azure Cloud

Job description

To provide hands-on technical leadership and first-line people management for a team of Junior, Intermediate and Senior Backend Service Developers. The role is accountable for the design, development, quality, delivery and operational support of secure RESTful services and microservices in a containerized environment, primarily using .NET and C#. The Technical Lead balances approximately 60% hands-on solution design and development with 40% team coaching, management and leadership, ensuring that delivery commitments, engineering standards and employee development are managed effectively.

Key Responsibilities

Hands-on Technical Design and Development - Approximately 60%

• Lead the detailed technical design of backend services, RESTful APIs and microservices within approved solution architecture and enterprise standards.
• Remain hands-on in developing, reviewing, testing, troubleshooting and improving .NET and C# services, particularly for complex or high-risk components.
• Decompose solution designs and business requirements into implementable technical tasks, service boundaries, interfaces and acceptance criteria.
• Guide the implementation of containerised services using Docker and approved orchestration and deployment platforms.
• Ensure services meet non-functional requirements for security, resilience, scalability, performance, supportability, observability and maintainability.
• Define and enforce engineering practices covering coding standards, API design, automated testing, version control, branching, documentation and secure development.
• Lead peer reviews of code and technical designs and ensure that material defects and technical risks are resolved before release.
• Work with Solution Architects, integration specialists, DevOps engineers, security teams, analysts, testers and product stakeholders to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, release automation, environment configuration, operational readiness and production-support practices.
• Lead diagnosis and resolution of complex defects and production incidents, including root-cause analysis and preventative improvements.
• Identify technical debt and recommend practical remediation, modernisation and continuous-improvement actions.
• Evaluate relevant frameworks, libraries, platforms and development approaches through controlled technical assessments or proofs of concept.

Team Leadership and First-line Management - Approximately 40%

• Lead, coach and manage Junior, Intermediate and Senior Backend Service Developers, setting clear expectations for delivery, quality and professional conduct.
• Allocate work according to delivery priorities, developer capability, development needs and available capacity.
• Monitor work progress, remove impediments, manage dependencies and escalation delivery, quality, capacity or people risks early.
• Conduct regular one-on-one discussions, provide timely feedback and support individual development plans and career progression.
• Manage performance objectives and formal performance-review activities in accordance with organisational processes.
• Manage day-to-day people administration, including leave planning and approval, attendance, team coverage and workload balancing.
• Support recruitment, technical assessment, selection, onboarding and probation activities for backend development roles.
• Create mentoring, pairing and knowledge-sharing opportunities across junior, intermediate and senior levels.
• Promote an inclusive, accountable and collaborative engineering culture focused on learning, quality and continuous improvement.
• Participate in sprint and capacity planning and provide transparent reporting on delivery status, risks, resource needs and team health.
• Address performance or conduct concerns fairly, consistently and promptly, engaging Human Resources and the line manager where required.
• Support succession planning and development of future senior developers and technical leaders.

Job Related Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of C#, .NET, ASP.NET Core and object-oriented software development.
• Strong knowledge of REST API design, HTTP, OpenAPI, service versioning, error handling and backward compatibility.
• Strong understanding of microservices, distributed systems, service boundaries, resilience patterns and asynchronous processing.
• Practical experience with Docker and working knowledge of Kubernetes or an equivalent container-orchestration platform.
• Software architecture and design principles including SOLID, dependency injection, domain modelling and common enterprise patterns.
• API and application security, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JSON Web Tokens, OWASP principles, secrets management and least-privilege access.
• Relational database design, SQL, transactions, indexing and data-access frameworks such as Entity Framework Core.
• Automated testing approaches including unit, integration, contract, API, performance and regression testing.
• CI/CD, source control, pull-request workflows, release management and DevSecOps practices.
• Observability practices including structured logging, metrics, tracing, correlation, alerting and production diagnostics.
• Agile delivery, estimation, work planning, risk management and the software development lifecycle.
• First-line people-management practices including performance management, coaching, leave administration, recruitment and employee development.
• Working understanding of architecture governance and the respective accountabilities of Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects and Technical Leads.

Job Experience

• 10 or more years of software development experience, preferably with a substantial focus on backend services and enterprise application development.
• At least 5 years of strong practical experience developing backend services using .NET and C#.
• Proven experience designing and delivering RESTful APIs, microservices and containerised services in production environments.
• Experience acting as a Technical Lead, Lead Developer or equivalent, with accountability for technical design, code quality and delivery outcomes.
• Practical experience coaching developers and coordinating technical work across mixed levels of seniority.
• Previous formal line-management experience is advantageous; candidates must demonstrate readiness to perform first-level managerial responsibilities.
• Experience with production support, root-cause analysis and remediation of complex service issues.
• Experience collaborating with architects, product or business stakeholders, security, quality assurance, DevOps and operational teams.
• Experience with cloud platforms, container orchestration, API management, event-driven architecture or messaging is advantageous.

Education

• Bachelor's degree or diploma in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

Preferred

• Relevant Microsoft .NET or cloud certification.
• Leadership or people-management training.
• Certification or formal training in Kubernetes, secure software development, Agile delivery or DevOps is advantageous.

Job Related Competencies

• Technical design and hands-on backend development
• REST API and microservices engineering
• Containerised application delivery
• Code quality and engineering governance
• Troubleshooting and technical decision-making
• DevOps, CI/CD and operational readiness
• Technical risk and dependency management

Leadership and Management Competencies

• People leadership and coaching
• Performance and development management
• Work allocation and capacity planning
• Decision-making and accountability
• Constructive feedback and conflict resolution
• Stakeholder communication and influence
• Planning, organising and delivery management
• Building team capability and succession
• Leads by example
• Balances delivery urgency with engineering quality
• Creates psychological safety for learning and challenge
• Communicates clearly and transparently
• Acts fairly and consistently as a people manager
• Maintains composure under pressure
• Demonstrates business and customer awareness
• Azure, AWS or another enterprise cloud platform.
• Kubernetes and service-platform operations.
• Event-driven architecture and messaging using Kafka, RabbitMQ, Azure Service Bus or similar technologies.
• API gateways and API management platforms.
• Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Bicep or equivalent.
• NoSQL databases, distributed caching and high-volume service design.
• Application performance monitoring and observability platforms.
• Experience supporting enterprise architecture standards and solution-governance reviews.

Key Success Measures

• Predictable delivery of backend services that meet agreed functional and non-functional requirements.
• Consistent adherence to coding, security, testing, documentation and deployment standards.
• Reduction in escaped defects, recurring incidents and unmanaged technical debt.
• Effective team capacity, leave coverage, work allocation and delivery visibility.
• Completion of performance reviews, development plans, coaching and people-management activities within required cycles.
• Measurable growth in developer capability, autonomy and succession readiness.
• Positive collaboration with architecture, product, delivery, security, DevOps and operational stakeholders.

This role provides a progression path toward Software Development Manager, Engineering Manager, Principal Engineer, Solution Architect or other senior technical and people-leadership roles. Development should balance increasing accountability for people leadership with continued depth in backend service architecture, engineering governance and enterprise delivery.