Senior Payment Backend Developer - Kafka

DataTech Recruitment; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 300,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic FinTech company seeks a Senior Payment Backend Developer. You will play a vital role in building a new payment platform and financial ledger system, emphasizing security and reliability. This remote position requires strong expertise in distributed systems, event-driven architecture, and financial transactions. Join a forward-thinking team focused on creating value for users.

Qualifications

• 6+ years backend software development experience, 3 years in financial systems.
• Expertise in event-driven architecture using Kafka.
• Strong knowledge of security for financial applications.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build a payment platform from scratch.
• Develop event-first architecture and workflow orchestration.
• Ensure accuracy and compliance in financial transactions.

Skills

Backend Software Development

Financial Systems

Event-Driven Architecture

Distributed Systems

Database Transaction Models

Problem-Solving

Tools

Kafka

Temporal io

GitHub

Docker

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Payment Backend Developer to work within a Canadian-based FinTech client’s Agile Product team. You will architect and build the clients' new payment platform and financial ledger system from the ground up. You'll be the technical cornerstone of the clients’ next-generation payment infrastructure, designing and implementing a robust double-entry bookkeeping system with an event-driven architecture.

You will lead the development of the core financial processing engine – the foundation that powers all money movement across the platform. With strong expertise in distributed systems and financial technology, you'll design and implement a scalable, fault-tolerant payment platform that handles complex financial transactions with absolute reliability and consistency. You'll build mission-critical systems that process financial data with the highest standards of accuracy, security, and auditability.

6+ years of backend software development experience, with at least 3 years building financial systems, payment platforms, or ledger services. Develop an event-first architecture using Kafka to ensure reliable, scalable message processing for financial transactions. Implement robust workflow orchestration using Temporal io to manage multi-step payment processes, reversals, and reconciliation tasks.

Type : 12-month Contract (Rolling)

Rate : R80 000 – R100 000 Depending on experience

Area : Remote within South Africa

What You'll Be Doing

• Implement Financial Ledger : Build a double-entry bookkeeping system that maintains strict data integrity and audit trails for all financial transactions.
• Build Event-Driven Architecture : Develop an event-first architecture using Kafka to ensure reliable, scalable message processing for financial transactions.
• Orchestrate Complex Workflows : Implement robust workflow orchestration using Temporal io to manage multi-step payment processes, reversals, and reconciliation tasks.
• Product Mindset : Passionate about creating value for users, with a focus on outcomes rather than just output. Experience making informed technical decisions that balance user needs, business goals, and engineering constraints.
• Ensure Financial Accuracy : Create systems that guarantee accurate accounting, prevent race conditions, and maintain strict consistency in financial records.
• Develop Integration Layer : Design and build APIs that securely connect our platform with banking partners, payment processors, and other financial institutions.
• Implement Compliance Features : Build functionality that ensures regulatory compliance, including transaction monitoring, reporting, and audit capabilities.
• Establish Resilient Systems : Design for fault-tolerance with emphasis on recovery mechanisms, transaction replay capability, and comprehensive audit logs.
• Collaborate on Architecture : Work closely with the engineering leadership to define architectural patterns and infrastructure choices that enable scale and reliability.
• Documentation and Knowledge-Sharing : Create comprehensive documentation of system design, financial models, and technical decisions. Mentor team members on financial systems best practices.

What We're Looking For

• Experience : 6+ years of backend software development experience, with at least 3 years building financial systems, payment platforms, or ledger services.
• Financial Domain Knowledge : Deep understanding of financial ledgers, double-entry bookkeeping principles, and reconciliation processes. Experience with financial data modeling and transaction flow design.
• Event-Driven Expertise : Strong experience with event sourcing, CQRS patterns, and message broker systems, particularly Kafka for high-throughput financial systems.
• Workflow Orchestration : Experience with workflow orchestration frameworks, ideally Temporal io, for managing complex, long-running financial processes.
• Distributed Systems : Proven track record building highly available, fault-tolerant distributed systems with an emphasis on data consistency and reliability.
• Database Proficiency : Expert-level understanding of database transaction models, consistency patterns, and optimizations for financial data.
• System Design : Ability to architect complex systems with careful consideration for scalability, maintainability, and operational excellence.
• Security Mindset : Strong knowledge of security best practices for financial applications and data protection.
• Technical Leadership : Proven ability to make sound technical decisions, mentor other engineers, and communicate complex concepts clearly.
• Problem-Solving Skills : Exceptional analytical abilities to solve complex financial and technical challenges.
• Ability to work remotely with your own equipment.
• Willingness to overlap work hours until 12 : 00-13 : 00 EST (negotiable).

It's a Bonus if You Have

• FinTech Experience : Previous work in cross-border payments, banking platforms, or currency exchange systems.
• Regulatory Knowledge : Familiarity with financial regulations, compliance requirements, and security standards for payment systems.
• Cloud Infrastructure : Experience with cloud-native services, infrastructure as code, and containerization for financial applications.
• Performance Optimization : Track record optimizing high-volume transaction systems for throughput and latency.
• International Payment Systems : Understanding of SWIFT, SEPA, Fedwire, or other international payment networks.
• Languages : Ruby
• Observability : PagerDuty, Sentry
• Development Tools : GitHub, Docker

If you're a highly skilled Payment Backend Developer looking for an exciting remote opportunity with a dynamic fintech team, apply now!

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