Software Engineering Lead

Reed Technology; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 100 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm is searching for a Software Engineering Lead in Cape Town, South Africa. You will oversee a skilled team developing AI-driven applications and be responsible for modernizing the product. The role involves leading development practices, managing product optimization, and collaborating with stakeholders across multiple regions. Ideal candidates will have experience in cloud services like AWS and a strong background in software engineering techniques. A supportive environment promoting work-life balance and professional growth is offered.

Benefits

Medical Aid Retirement Plan

Flexible working hours

Study Leave

Shared parental leave

Sabbaticals

Qualifications

• Experience in software engineering, particularly in agile environments.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, preferably AWS.
• Experience leading teams in a software development context.

Responsibilities

• Oversee product optimization and enhancements.
• Coordinate backend and frontend maintenance efforts.
• Lead a software engineering team in a Scrum-based environment.

Skills

React

AWS

Python

JavaScript

Go

Scrum

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Tools

Azure Pipelines

GraphQL

Job description

About our Team

We are strengthening our software engineering team to modernize our existing application stack, powering one of LexisNexis Intellectual Property's flagship AI products, LexisNexis Classification.

This team enhances the application with new features and functions to enrich the user experience as well as optimizing existing functionalities.

This is an opportunity to lead a team that works on modern, cloud‑native infrastructure and become an essential part of building and maintaining the product architecture. We expect this team to work across multiple technologies around a core including: React, Go, Python, JavaScript, Java, C# / .NET, PostgresSQL, AWS.

About the Role

We are hiring a Software Engineering Lead to take the responsibility for the work on maintaining, modernizing and enhancing a key product, LexisNexis Classification.

This product uses AI to read millions of patents globally and pull the relevant patents into custom categories that are relevant to the specific technology areas users define. You'll be the go-to person for a small highly skilled agile team, with ownership over the mission and your development practices and process.

Your engineering team will be based mainly in South Africa but also across Europe.

You will also work closely with existing application teams, as well as with a broader range of stakeholders distributed across the UK, Germany, Netherlands and the USA. As a Software Engineering Lead, you will play a crucial role in overseeing software development mainly within LexisNexis Classification.

You will contribute directly to solving technical problems as well as guiding your team to success.

Responsibilities

• Owning and executing backlog of product optimization and enhancements.
• Being responsible for backend and frontend maintenance of the product and ensuring bug fixes are prioritized in a timely manner.
• Assisting in requirements gathering, decomposition and implementation of new features, such as additional features for product integration into existing LexisNexis Intellectual Property products.
• Integrating performance and cost‑optimization considerations into development work, throughout the entire development lifecycle.
• Able to communicate and take ownership within the team and across team boundaries.
• Helping to maintain AWS platform infrastructure with CDK, such as NodeJS / Python Lambdas.
• Assisting in refactoring the existing application.
• Writing and reviewing detailed specifications for the development of complex system components.
• Leading in development processes, coding best practices, and code reviews.
• Managing a team of software engineers in a Scrum based development environment while collaborating with stakeholders.

Requirements

• Understand Software Engineering techniques and processes, particularly adapting Scrum and agile frameworks to meet business needs.
• Experience with AWS or similar cloud providers, including knowledge on running cost‑effective serverless architecture.
• Experience working with React.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills applicable to a wide audience.
• Experience with Python, JavaScript, Go, Azure Pipelines, GraphQL (or similar API schemas) or willingness to rapidly learn.
• Experience in leading software engineering efforts for AI‑enabled SaaS products is desirable, but not essential.
• We promote a healthy work / life balance across the organisation.

Benefits

• Medical Aid Retirement Plan inclusive of Risk Benefits (Disability, Critical Illness, Life Cover & Funeral Cover)
• Modern family benefits, including adoption and surrogacy
• Study Leave
• Shared parental leave, study assistance, and sabbaticals
• Flexible working hours, with the ability to flex times when you work to fit your productivity

We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long‑term goals. Working flexible hours – flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are the most productive. Working for you: We know that your well‑being and happiness are key to a long and successful career.

As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis and Nexis services. We are committed to providing a fair and accessible hiring process.

We are an equal opportunity employer: qualified applicants are considered for and treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, disability status, protected veteran status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. USA Job Seekers: EEO Know Your Rights.