Senior Engineering Lead / Tech Lead

Liquid Thought; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Liquid Thought is seeking a Senior Engineering Lead / Tech Lead to provide hands-on technical leadership for the core mobility and data platform. You will own architecture, drive delivery, and ensure scalable, secure solutions across the ecosystem.

You will mentor junior engineers, coordinate with outsourced teams, and maintain API consistency and integration quality to support a product-led roadmap.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years software engineering experience
• Proven experience as Tech Lead / Senior Engineer in a product-led environment
• Strong backend engineering background (APIs, integrations, data flows)
• Experience with mobile applications and analytics platforms
• Comfortable working with in-/outsourced teams

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on technical leadership across the core mobility and data platform
• Own technical architecture and day-to-day engineering decisions
• Ensure scalable, secure, and reusable solutions across the ecosystem
• Oversee code quality, environments, releases, and technical debt
• Work with outsourced partners to maintain standards and continuity
• Mentor and coach junior and mid-level developers
• Be the technical authority within the team
• Own third-party integrations and API consistency

Skills

Technical leadership

Backend engineering

APIs

Data flows

Mobile apps

Analytics platforms

Decision making

Communication

Team mentoring

Job description

About the job Senior Engineering Lead / Tech Lead

Role Purpose

The Senior Engineering Lead will provide hands-on technical leadership across the core mobility and data platform. This role owns technical decision-making, architecture integrity, and engineering execution, ensuring predictable delivery aligned to the agreed customer journey and product roadmap.

This role is critical to stabilising delivery and providing the development team with clear direction, standards, and accountability.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Leadership

• Own the technical architecture of the core mobility and data platform
• Make day-to-day engineering decisions to unblock delivery
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and reusable across the ecosystem
• Protect the integrity of the core product (no ad-hoc client builds)

Delivery & Execution

• Lead the development teams execution across app, dashboard, integrations, and data flows
• Translate product requirements into clear technical plans
• Oversee code quality, environments, releases, and technical debt
• Work closely with outsourced partners to ensure standards and continuity
• Provide direction, mentoring, and coaching to junior and mid-level developers
• Be the technical authority within the team

Integration & Ecosystem

• Own third-party integrations (clients, providers, wearables, partners)
• Ensure API consistency, data flow integrity, and integration scalability

Experience & Skills

• 8–12+ years software engineering experience
• Proven experience as a Tech Lead / Senior Engineer in a product-led
• Strong backend engineering background (APIs, integrations, data flows)
• Experience working with mobile applications and analytics platforms
• Comfortable working with in/outsourced teams
• Strong decision-making and communication skills
• Health, mobility, logistics, or data-heavy platform experience

Success Measures (First 6 Months)

• Clear technical ownership and reduced delivery ambiguity
• Improved delivery predictability and code quality
• Reduced reliance on advisory intervention for day-to-day execution