Senior Software Architect - Backend Systems

Placements24; LegKraal Gate; Hybrid; ZAR 2,538,000 - 3,553,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & bonus

Health insurance

Stock options / equity

Flexible remote hours

Professional development budget

Remote-first culture

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Software Architect to lead the design and development of scalable backend systems for a growing e-commerce platform. This remote-first role emphasizes asynchronous collaboration, high performance, and architectural excellence across microservices, APIs, and data services.

You will mentor engineers, define standards, evaluate technologies, and partner with product teams to translate business needs into robust technical solutions, ensuring security and reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years in professional software development with 3+ years in senior architecture.
• Proven experience designing complex microservices and distributed systems.
• Strong backend tech skills across languages and frameworks, API design (REST/GraphQL).

Responsibilities

• Lead design and architecture of scalable backend systems (microservices and APIs).
• Define architectural standards, best practices and patterns.
• Collaborate with engineering to ensure architectural integrity.
• Evaluate technologies, frameworks, and tools for backend development.
• Mentor junior engineers and architects to promote technical excellence.
• Conduct architectural and code reviews and performance analyses.
• Address technical debt, scalability challenges, and bottlenecks.
• Work with product management to translate business needs into designs.
• Ensure security, reliability, and maintainability of backend services.
• Contribute to tooling and infrastructure improvements.

Skills

Backend architecture

Microservices

Distributed systems

REST APIs

GraphQL

Cloud platforms

Containerization

Remote collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a rapidly growing e-commerce platform, is seeking a highly skilled Senior Software Architect to lead the design and development of their backend systems. This is a fully remote position, offering the flexibility to work from anywhere. As a remote-first organization, we champion asynchronous communication, trust, and high performance. You will be instrumental in shaping the architectural vision for our core services, ensuring they are scalable, resilient, and performant. This role involves close collaboration with engineering teams, product managers, and other architects to deliver robust solutions that power our expanding business. If you have a passion for building complex, distributed systems and thrive in a dynamic remote environment, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and architecture of scalable, high-performance backend systems, including microservices and APIs.
• Define architectural standards, best practices, and patterns for backend development.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to guide implementation and ensure architectural integrity.
• Evaluate and select appropriate technologies, frameworks, and tools for backend development.
• Mentor junior engineers and architects, fostering a culture of technical excellence.
• Conduct architectural reviews, code reviews, and performance analyses.
• Identify and address technical debt, scalability challenges, and performance bottlenecks.
• Work closely with product management to translate business requirements into technical designs.
• Ensure the security, reliability, and maintainability of backend services.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of development processes and infrastructure.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of professional software development experience, with at least 3 years in a senior architectural role.
• Proven experience designing and implementing complex microservices architectures and distributed systems.
• Deep understanding of backend technologies, programming languages (e.g., Java, Python, Go, C#), and frameworks.
• Expertise in designing and building RESTful APIs and understanding of GraphQL.
• Familiarity with message queuing systems (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ) and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong understanding of database technologies (SQL and NoSQL) and data modeling.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with experience in fully remote team settings.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and performance bonus.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Stock options and equity participation.
• Flexible remote working hours and generous paid time off.
• Professional development budget for conferences, training, and certifications.
• Opportunity to work with a leading e-commerce platform and cutting-edge technologies.
• A collaborative and innovative remote-first culture.