Principal Software Engineer

Sabenza IT & Recruitment; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabenza IT & Recruitment in Johannesburg, South Africa, seeks a senior software engineer with 20+ years of experience who still codes daily and thrives in AI-native environments. This hands-on leadership role combines architecture with production delivery across cloud, backend, web, mobile and AI.

You’ll design and ship enterprise-grade systems, define architectures, mentor engineers and evaluate emerging technologies.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field (preferred).
• Extensive experience building cloud-native applications on Azure, AWS and/or Google Cloud.
• Deep knowledge of modern software architecture, APIs, distributed systems, DevSecOps, CI/CD and secure software engineering.
• Hands-on experience with multi-agent AI systems, Edge AI and On-device AI.
• Proven ability to build intelligent applications using LLMs and modern AI platforms.
• Experience developing native mobile applications using Swift and/or Kotlin.
• Experience with cross-platform frameworks (Flutter, React Native or .NET MAUI).

Responsibilities

• Design and build enterprise-grade software solutions from concept through to production.
• Define architecture across cloud, backend, web, AI and mobile platforms.
• Develop production-quality software using AI-assisted engineering workflows.
• Build intelligent applications powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) and modern AI platforms.
• Design and develop native mobile applications (iOS & Android) and cross-platform solutions.
• Partner with clients and engineering teams to solve complex technical challenges.
• Mentor senior engineers and raise engineering standards through hands-on technical leadership.
• Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies that improve engineering capability and business outcomes.
• Continue coding, prototyping and experimenting with new technologies as part of daily work.

Skills

20+ years software engineering

Cloud-native architectures

AI-native engineering

Mobile development (Swift/Kotlin)

Cross-platform frameworks (Flutter, RN

DevSecOps CI/CD

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Information Systems

Tools

Azure

AWS

Google Cloud

Job description

Johannesburg, South Africa | Posted on 19/08/2026

Ready to code the future — while still getting your hands dirty in the present?

We’re hunting for a rare breed: a battle-tested software engineer with 20+ years of scars and wins who still gets a genuine rush from writing elegant code… and who’s already deep in the AI-native trenches.

This is not a strategy-only architecture role.You will design and ship enterprise-grade systems across cloud, backend, web, mobile and AI — from first sketch all the way to production.

Role Overview

We’re looking for someone with over 20 years of professional software engineering experience who is still writing code every day. Someone who treats AI as a true engineering partner, not just a productivity tool. Someone who can architect complex systems, build production software, mentor senior engineers, and continuously redefine what’s possible with modern software development.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You lead through technical excellence, curiosity and execution — not management.

What You’ll Do

• Design and build enterprise-grade software solutions from concept through to production
• Define architecture across cloud, backend, web, AI and mobile platforms
• Develop production-quality software using AI-assisted engineering workflows
• Build intelligent applications powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), multi-agent systems and modern AI platforms
• Design and develop native mobile applications (iOS & Android) and cross-platform solutions (Flutter, React Native or .NET MAUI)
• Partner with clients and engineering teams to solve complex technical challenges
• Mentor senior engineers and raise engineering standards through hands-on technical leadership
• Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies that improve engineering capability and business outcomes
• Continue coding, prototyping and experimenting with new technologies as part of your daily work

Requirements

What We’re Looking For

Core Experience

• 20+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related field (preferred)
• Extensive experience building cloud-native applications on Azure, AWS and/or Google Cloud
• Deep knowledge of modern software architecture, APIs, distributed systems, DevSecOps, CI/CD and secure software engineering

AI & Emerging Tech

• Hands-on experience with multi-agent AI systems, Edge AI and On-device AI
• Proven ability to build intelligent applications using LLMs and modern AI platforms
• Experience developing native mobile applications using Swift and/or Kotlin
• Experience with cross-platform frameworks (Flutter, React Native or .NET MAUI)

AI-Native Engineering & Developer Experience

• Active daily use of modern AI coding tools and platforms, including:Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, Windsurf, Gemini Code Assist, Lovable, Bolt.new, Firebase Studio
• Experience building engineering platforms, accelerators and improving Developer Experience (DevEx)

If you’re a Principal-level engineer who still loves shipping code and is already operating in the AI-native era, this is one of the most interesting opportunities currently open.