Principal Engineer (Full-Stack / Platform / Data)

Lesaka Technologies Inc.; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Lesaka Technologies Inc. is looking for a Principal Engineer in Cape Town, South Africa. This hybrid role involves leading the evolution of their platform by defining architectural standards across infrastructure, data, backend, and frontend systems. With hands-on experience required, the ideal candidate has over 10 years in software engineering, focusing on scalable systems and mentoring. You will contribute to complex projects, ensuring technical quality and guiding other engineers while collaborating on strategic goals.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience.
• Experience designing, building, and scaling complex production systems.
• Demonstrated experience across backend, frontend, data, and infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive system architecture across the stack.
• Make high-impact technical decisions for scalability.
• Contribute hands-on across backend and frontend when needed.
• Design and maintain cloud infrastructure.
• Architect data models supporting product and analytics.
• Improve reliability and developer experience.
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar.

Skills

Backend engineering experience

Frontend engineering experience with modern frameworks

Data modeling and pipeline design

Strong technical judgment

Clear communication skills

Job description

Overview

Job Description

Role: Principal Engineer (Full-Stack / Platform / Data). Location: Cape Town, South Africa (Hybrid or On-site). Open to relocation within South Africa for the right candidate.

Role Overview

We are hiring a Principal Engineer to lead the evolution of our platform across infrastructure, data, backend, and frontend systems. This is a senior, hands-on role focused on solving complex technical challenges while shaping long-term architecture and engineering direction.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive system architecture across frontend, backend, data, and infrastructure
• Make high-impact technical decisions with long-term scalability in mind
• Contribute hands-on across the stack when needed (backend, frontend, data, infrastructure)
• Design and maintain cloud infrastructure and deployment systems
• Architect data models and pipelines that support both product and analytics
• Improve reliability, observability, and developer experience
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar across teams
• Partner with leadership on technical strategy and execution

Experience

• 10+ years of hands-on software engineering experience
• Proven experience designing, building, and scaling complex, production systems
• Demonstrated experience working across backend, frontend, data, and infrastructure domains

Key Competencies

• Strong backend engineering experience (APIs, distributed systems, service design)
• Solid frontend engineering experience with modern frameworks (e.g., React) and performance optimization
• Proven experience designing and operating data systems (data modeling, pipelines, storage)
• Deep experience with cloud infrastructure, CI/CD systems, and observability tooling
• Technical Ability
• Strong technical judgment and ability to make high-quality tradeoffs
• Track record of influencing technical direction and mentoring engineers
• Clear and effective communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Nice to Have

• Leadership
• Experience in high-growth or scaling environments
• Experience building internal platforms or developer tooling
• Experience balancing product delivery with platform/infrastructure investment