Software Engineer - Platform Engineer

Electrum Software; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

20 days leave

Daily catered lunch (Cape Town)

Job summary

Electrum Software is seeking a Platforms Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable, secure backend services in a Java environment. You will enable engineering teams by automating infrastructure, optimizing CI/CD pipelines, and ensuring platform reliability across the organisation.

The role requires 3+ years in Java software development, hands-on backend experience, and a strong drive to advance Platform Engineering practices within a FinTech setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• 3+ years of strong software development experience in Java, with hands-on experience designing, developing, and deploying maintainable backend services.
• Proven experience working as a Developer within a software development team building and running enterprise Java applications.
• Strong desire to learn, adopt, and drive Platform Engineering best practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain scalable backend services powering Electrum's platforms.
• Automate infrastructure and optimize CI/CD pipelines to improve developer productivity.
• Enable engineering teams by providing robust platform tooling and reliability practices.
• Mentor engineers on best practices and platform use.

Skills

Java development

Backend design

CI/CD pipelines

Platform Engineering

Docker/Kubernetes

AWS

Terraform

Communication

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

Kubernetes

Istio

ArgoCD

Helm

GitHub Actions

Terraform

AWS

Prometheus

Grafana

ELK

Job description

Electrum is a next-generation payment software technology company.

Since 2012, we've delivered trusted, enterprise-grade, cloud-native software to optimise financial transaction processing. Our deep expertise has established us as a respected partner in high-volume, low-value payment schemes, enabling clients to deliver services to millions of South Africans daily.

At Electrum, we are grounded in impact – designing solutions that matter, acting with urgency, and continuously learning as we scale. We believe in creating together – working side by side with our clients and teams to build meaningful, lasting solutions. We prioritise making it safe – encouraging open communication, smart risk-taking, and trust so that creativity and alignment thrive. And we back empowered strong teams – hiring brilliant people, collaborating hard, and holding each other to high standards while leading with empathy and kindness.

When you join the Electrum team, you’ll get to:

• Be part of the entire journey — from the spark of an idea to the final product launch.
• Grow your skills through world-class training and hands-on learning every day.
• Receive mentorship and guidance from industry leaders who are invested in your success.
• Work in a dynamic, innovative workplace where collaboration and creativity thrive.
• Tackle real-world customer challenges and see the impact of your work firsthand.
• Explore plenty of opportunities to grow your career and expand your expertise.
• Gain valuable experience in a leading FinTech environment, contributing to meaningful, high-impact projects.

The Role
Are you a strong Java Developer looking to take your career to the next level by stepping into Platform Engineering? Electrum is seeking a Platforms Engineer with deep software development expertise in Java to design, build, and maintain scalable, secure, and resilient platforms that power the development, deployment, and operation of applications across the organisation. In this role, you'll enable engineering teams by leveraging your core Java background to automate infrastructure, optimize CI/CD pipelines, and ensure platform reliability and performance. We are looking for an experienced Java Software Engineer first and foremost we will up skill you on the platform engineering tools and practices. If you thrive in complex environments and are motivated to bridge the gap between application development and platform reliability, this role is for you.

Tooling / Stack

• Kubernetes & Containerisation: Using Kubernetes, Istio, ArgoCD, Helm & CI/CD to build & deploy & manage containerised workloads.
• Monitoring and Logging: Using tooling such as Prometheus, Loki, Grafana & ELK to monitor Kubernetes resources and Java workloads.
• Source Control & CI/CD: Making use of GitHub & Github Actions for version control & CI/CD.
• Operating Systems: Making use of Ansible and AWS tooling to manage unix environments (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
• Building, Collaboration & Communicating the IDP: Strong communication skills within a team environment with an ability to effectively document processes and mentor engineers on best practices and platform use.
• A Grasp of Backend Development: Hands-on experience in designing, developing, and deploying highly maintainable backend services using Java, and experience in writing scripts to solve ad-hoc problems.
• Cloud Infrastructure: An intermediate understanding of AWS/Cloud services and best practices, e.g. the AWS Well-Architected Framework
• Infrastructure as Code (AWS & Terraform): Experience using the AWS CDK & Terraform to write and manage infrastructure.
• Architecture and Design Patterns: Familiarity with common design patterns and architectural principles, including Domain-Driven Design (DDD), Event-Driven Architecture (EDA), and distributed computing architecture.
• Computer Networking: Knowledge/experience of core networking concepts, i.e. configuring computer networking policies, ip allocations, routing, dns, preferably with experience with AWS networking, i.e. VPCs, Subnets, NAT Gateways, Internet Gateways, Peering, VPC PrivateLink, Global Accelerators, Load Balancing etc.
• Database Management: Expertise in designing, optimising, and maintaining relational databases (e.g., MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL), including experience with event pipelining, i.e. using Apache Kafka.

Beneficial Experience

• Experience with Kubernetes & Containerisation (Istio, ArgoCD, Helm) and managing containerised workloads.
• Experience with CI/CD Pipelines & Source Control (GitHub & GitHub Actions, GitOps workflows).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) experience using AWS CDK or Terraform.
• Public Cloud Environments: 2+ years designing, operating, or rightsizing AWS/Cloud infrastructure (AWS Well-Architected Framework, VPCs, Subnets, NAT Gateways, Load Balancing).
• Monitoring & Logging: Tooling such as Prometheus, Loki, Grafana, & ELK to monitor Kubernetes resources and Java workloads.
• Operating Systems: Using Ansible and AWS tooling to manage Unix/Linux environments (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• 3+ years of strong software development experience in Java, with hands-on experience designing, developing, and deploying maintainable backend services.
• Proven experience working as a Developer within a software development team building and running enterprise Java applications.
• Strong desire to learn, adopt, and drive Platform Engineering best practices.

Why Join Electrum?

• We believe in a People First approach, ensuring a culture where you can thrive and make a real difference
  
• Career Growth: Delivering world-class financial software is challenging, but your effort will earn you hands-on experience with products used by millions, accelerating your career.
• Strong Teams: We keep teams small, focused, and collaborative to maximize impact.
• Transparency: We openly discuss strategy, finances, and salaries. Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities that we actively discuss.
• Autonomy: We trust you. You're expected to seek out the data needed for informed decisions and manage your own time—knowing when to focus and when to recharge.
• Shared Vision: You'll have the power to shape the vision of how we build the future of financial services.

Practical Perks

• Here’s how we support our culture:
• Flexible Work: Office-first environment with flexible hours.
• Generous Leave: Starting at 20 days per year.
• Office Perks (Cape Town): Fully-stocked kitchen and daily catered lunch.
• Social Life: Regular team activities like hikes, getaways, and dinners.