Senior Backend Developer (AI)

A Bit About You; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Aid contribution

Pension fund contribution

Quarterly performance incentive bonus

Risk benefit company contributions

Reimbursable communications allowance

Half‑day off on your birthday

5 personal days leave a year, over and

Flexible working conditions (remote &

Home office set‑up with laptop

Job summary

Clickatell, founded in Cape Town, seeks a backend engineer who uses AI to accelerate development and build scalable, reliable systems. You will own backend services end‑to‑end, standing up production‑grade systems with a focus on speed and correctness, and you will ensure robust integration of AI features into workflows.

You will work with Java, Spring Boot, and Python, leveraging AWS and containerized deployments, while maintaining high standards of code quality and reliability.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with Java (Spring Boot) and Python backend systems.
• Experience building high-scale, low-latency distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of APIs, databases, caching, and event-driven systems (e.g., Kafka).
• Experience with cloud environments (AWS) and containerized deployments.
• Familiarity with LLM APIs, token usage, latency, and response handling.

Responsibilities

• Build and own backend services using Java, Spring Boot, and Python—designed for scale, reliability, and real‑time use.
• Use AI tools (Amazon Q, Cursor, Copilot, Claude, GPT) to accelerate development, refactoring, and problem‑solving.
• Turn product ideas into production‑ready systems quickly, without compromising quality.
• Integrate AI capabilities (LLMs, RAG, vector search) into backend workflows where they add real value.
• Act as the final filter for AI‑generated code—identify flaws, inefficiencies, and incorrect assumptions before they ship.
• Design clean APIs, handle distributed system challenges, and ensure performance at scale.
• Write and validate tests to keep fast‑moving systems stable.
• Debug production issues and take full ownership of reliability and performance.

Skills

Java Spring Boot

Python

Distributed systems

APIs

Databases

Caching

Kafka

AWS

LLM APIs

Job description

We Are Innovators & Category Creators

Clickatell, founded in Cape Town in 2000, was the first company to connect businesses with consumers via SMS using just four lines of code. Today, it powers AI-driven chat commerce for leading global brands across industries like banking, retail, telecoms, and healthcare—including Visa, ABSA, MTN, Toyota, and Pick n Pay. Over 25 years, Clickatell has led multiple industry firsts, such as tokenized WhatsApp payments, KYC chat banking, and Chat-2-Pay, through its award-winning AI Chat Commerce Platform that enables brands to interact and transact with customers seamlessly.

The Role

We’re looking for a backend engineer who believes the way software is built has fundamentally changed. You don’t write everything from scratch; you use AI to move faster, think better, and focus on what matters. Boilerplate is not your job; building scalable, reliable systems is. In this role, you will own backend services end‑to‑end and use AI as a force multiplier to ship faster than traditional development teams. If you’re still coding the same way you were two years ago, this role isn’t for you.

Responsibilities of the Role

• Build and own backend services using Java, Spring Boot, and Python—designed for scale, reliability, and real‑time use.
• Use AI tools (Amazon Q, Cursor, Copilot, Claude, GPT) to accelerate development, refactoring, and problem‑solving.
• Turn product ideas into production‑ready systems quickly, without compromising quality.
• Integrate AI capabilities (LLMs, RAG, vector search) into backend workflows where they add real value.
• Act as the final filter for AI‑generated code—identify flaws, inefficiencies, and incorrect assumptions before they ship.
• Design clean APIs, handle distributed system challenges, and ensure performance at scale.
• Write and validate tests to keep fast‑moving systems stable.
• Debug production issues and take full ownership of reliability and performance.

Requirements of the Role

Technical Skills & Competencies

• Strong experience with Java (Spring Boot) and Python backend systems.
• Experience building high‑scale, low‑latency distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of APIs, databases, caching, and event‑driven systems (e.g., Kafka).
• Experience with cloud environments (AWS) and containerized deployments.
• Familiarity with LLM APIs, token usage, latency, and response handling.

AI‑Native Capabilities

• You are already using AI tools (Amazon Q, Cursor, Copilot, Claude, GPT) as part of your daily workflow.
• You know how to manage context, structure prompts, and get reliable outputs from AI systems.
• You don’t trust AI blindly; you verify, refine, and take responsibility for every line shipped.

What Makes You a Fit

• You take full ownership; “the AI wrote it” is never an excuse.
• You optimize for speed and correctness.
• You have a tinkerer’s mindset, experiment with new tools, and figure out what works.
• You constantly look for better, faster ways to build.
• You are comfortable operating in ambiguity and turning ideas into working systems.

A Bit About You

• Team Player: Self‑directed and dedicated team player who positively engages with the team.
• Optimizing Processes: Utilizes tools and resources to maximize output and recommend process improvements.
• Expert Thinker: Equipped with specialist knowledge and offers practical, smart recommendations.
• Effective Problem‑Solver: Resourceful, persistent, and creative; balances quick decisions with experience.
• Connecting Collaboratively: Brings cohesion and aligns operations to meet objectives.
• Maximizing Awareness: Recognizes emotions, self‑manages, and responds effectively to feedback.
• Enabling Strategy: Implements action plans producing practical outputs while considering implications.
• Action‑Orientated Mindset: Eager to deliver solutions and focus on commitments.
• Embracing Change: Resilient, flexible, and uses failure as a learning opportunity.
• Driving Delivery: Goal‑oriented and monitors processes to ensure progress toward goals.

Perks of the Role

• Medical Aid contribution
• Pension fund contribution
• Quarterly performance incentive bonus
• Risk benefit company contributions
• Reimbursable communications allowance for internet and mobile phone bills
• Half‑day off on your birthday
• 5 personal days leave a year, over and above your annual leave plus one half day off on your birthday
• Flexible working conditions (remote & in person) with access to office hubs as required, current policy
• Home office set‑up with laptop, monitor and other related items.

Stronger Together

At Clickatell, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging is at the core of who we are—from how we build our product platforms to how we build our workforce. We believe that we are stronger together and, by leveraging the power of diversity and inclusion, we generate innovative ideas to revolutionize the way the world uses chat technology. We create common ground—the platform is for all, and so is the workplace. Everyone is welcome at Clickatell and our employees feel psychologically safe and empowered to show up with their authentic selves at work.