Software Engineering Team Lead

OfferZen Enterprise; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

OfferZen Enterprise in Johannesburg seeks an Engineering Team Lead to deliver software projects independently while building a high-performing team across web, mobile and backend systems. You will own initiatives from planning through release and mentor engineers.

You will structure teams, manage capacity, set objectives, coach performance, and ensure adherence to architectural and security standards within an agile environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in a technical/software engineering role.
• Significant experience leading software development teams.
• Experience with software integrations and complex technical environments.
• Demonstrated experience independently managing projects from planning through to delivery.
• Experience with people management, coaching and performance management.

Responsibilities

• Take end-to-end ownership of assigned software projects — including scoping, planning, estimation, sequencing and execution.
• Drive projects to completion with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Provide structured mentorship, coaching and regular performance feedback to engineers.
• Ensure approved architectures and engineering standards are followed, including QA, security and release processes.
• Recruit and onboard new engineers and support succession planning.
• Coordinate delivery readiness for major launches and high-demand releases.

Skills

Team leadership

Project management

Mentoring

Stakeholder communication

Job description

The Engineering Team Lead is responsible for delivering software projects independently and reliably while building and leading a high-performing engineering team. The role owns assigned initiatives across a large-scale digital and technology ecosystem, including web applications, mobile applications, point-of-sale systems and integrations with core business systems. This includes ownership from planning and estimation through execution, risk management and release. Beyond delivery, the Team Lead is accountable for the people within the team — structuring and resourcing the team, developing and coaching engineers, and holding team members accountable for agreed deliverables. The Team Lead is also responsible for ensuring the team consistently follows agreed architectural, engineering, agile, quality and security standards.

Responsibilities

Project & Delivery Ownership:

• Take end-to-end ownership of assigned software projects — including scoping, planning, estimation, sequencing and execution.
• Drive projects to completion with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Make and own delivery decisions within the agreed mandate, escalating genuine blockers, risks or scope changes.
• Manage project scope, capacity and timelines.
• Proactively identify and remove obstacles to keep delivery on track.
• Coordinate delivery readiness for high-demand periods, major launches and business-critical releases.
• Build, structure and resource the engineering team, matching people and skills to committed deliverables.
• Direct, motivate and hold the team accountable for delivery.
• Address performance issues promptly and fairly.
• Provide structured mentorship, coaching and regular performance feedback.
• Agree and maintain individual development plans with direct reports.
• Recruit and onboard new engineers.
• Support succession planning and ongoing talent development within the team.
• Maintain up-to-date performance objectives and scorecards for direct reports.
• Conduct regular performance and development check-ins.

Engineering Standards & Architecture:

• Ensure approved technical designs, architecture and technical decisions are followed by the team.
• Drive adoption of agreed engineering standards and best practices.
• Ensure changes go through the required code review, peer review and quality processes before being merged or released.
• Promote consistent engineering quality and maintainability across the team's work.

Delivery, Roadmap & Agile Execution:

• Drive execution against the agreed technology roadmap across digital products, applications and business-system integrations.
• Ensure the team follows established CI/CD pipelines, quality gates, branch protection and release processes.
• Drive consistent participation in agile ceremonies, including stand-ups, refinement, planning, retrospectives and demos.
• Monitor sprint cadence, work in progress and team allocation.
• Balance feature delivery with technical debt, maintenance and operational improvements.

Quality, Compliance & Governance:

• Ensure the team follows the agreed QA strategy and testing requirements for releases.
• Monitor compliance with relevant security, risk and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure change control, repository governance and release management processes are followed.
• Promote a culture of quality, security and engineering discipline.

Stakeholder Management & Prioritisation:

• Work with business stakeholders and technical subject-matter experts to translate business goals into clearly scoped initiatives.
• Ensure work is appropriately defined and captured before development begins.
• Communicate delivery status, risks, dependencies and blockers clearly.
• Manage escalations quickly and effectively.
• Work with stakeholders to prioritise initiatives and allocate capacity.
• Ensure appropriate capacity is reserved for technical debt and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' experience in a technical/software engineering role.
• Significant experience leading software development teams.
• Experience working with software integrations and complex technical environments.
• Demonstrated experience independently managing projects from planning through to delivery.
• Experience with people management, coaching and performance management.