Platform Architect & Technical Leader

Catch; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Catch is seeking a Principal Engineer to be the technical authority for its software platform, providing coherence of vision, architecture, and implementation across multiple squads. Reporting to the Head of Tech, you will influence architecture decisions and guide teams while still contributing to code.

The role demands hands-on leadership with 8+ years in software development, 5+ years in Java, and a proven ability to drive technical direction and platform evolution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years software development experience with leadership experience.
• 5+ years hands-on Java in production.
• Senior technical voice across multiple teams; architecture reviews under pressure.
• Hands-on CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and GitHub deployment workflows.
• Experience with test-driven development and modern engineering practices.
• Experience introducing AI-assisted engineering into team workflows.

Responsibilities

• Technical direction and architecture across the team, setting standards and guardrails.
• Decide on implementation style and stack choices and enforce them.
• Evolve the platform with evidence-based growth and clear technical direction.
• Ensure coherence across squads and reuse patterns across the platform.
• Provide quality oversight of team leads' work and review major architectural decisions.
• Champion test-driven development and code review culture.
• Define standards across the broader stack and guide engineers.
• Support Head of Tech as trusted technical partner turning business ambition into technical excellence.

Skills

8+ years experience

Java expertise

CI/CD

Automated testing

GitHub workflows

AI in engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Salesforce

Apex

Job description

Catch is seeking a Principal Engineer to be the technical authority for its software platform, providing coherence of vision, architecture, and implementation across multiple squads. Reporting to the Head of Tech, you will influence architecture decisions and guide teams while still contributing to code.

The role demands hands-on leadership with 8+ years in software development, 5+ years in Java, and a proven ability to drive technical direction and platform evolution.