Tech Lead

Progressive IT Resourcing; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Progressive IT Resourcing is seeking a Platform Tech Lead in Cape Town, South Africa, to provide senior technical leadership for an intermediary digital platform. The role requires 12-15 years of software engineering experience, with a focus on architectural leadership and organizational development. Responsibilities include defining technical strategies, leading multiple teams, and ensuring delivery effectiveness across initiatives. The ideal candidate should have strong communication skills and proven experience in influencing at senior levels.

Qualifications

• Typically 12–15+ years of software engineering experience, with significant experience in senior technical or engineering management roles.
• Proven experience leading multiple teams or complex technical domains in enterprise scale environments.
• Strong technical depth and architectural credibility, with the ability to engage deeply in complex technical discussions.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of translating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical strategy and roadmap for the intermediary platform.
• Lead and influence multiple engineering teams or complex technical areas spanning several teams.
• Partner closely with Product and Design leadership to translate strategy into robust technical solutions.
• Ensure architectural coherence and technical alignment across initiatives and teams.

Skills

IT Strategic Planning

Trend Analysis

Business Knowledge

Relationship management

Resource planning and risk management

Education

Degree or Diploma in Information Technology, Computer Science or a related field

Job description

What will you do?

We are looking for a Platform Tech Lead to provide senior technical leadership for their intermediary digital platform. This role is responsible for leading the technical strategy, architecture and delivery across a complex platform environment that supports intermediary journeys across the Companies Risk and Savings (SRS) and Company.

The Platform Tech Lead operates primarily through influence, delegation and strategic direction, balancing long‑term technical vision with pragmatic execution. While retaining strong technical credibility, the role spends less time on hands?on coding and more time on architectural leadership, organisational development and enabling effective delivery across multiple teams.

Working closely with the Senior Product Manager, Design Lead and other senior stakeholders, the Platform Tech Lead ensures that platform capabilities deliver consistent value to the business while maintaining high standards of engineering excellence, operational maturity and organisational health.

As the Platform Tech Lead, you will be accountable for the technical direction, integrity and effectiveness of the intermediary platform, enabling multiple teams to deliver high quality, secure and scalable solutions.

You will:

• Define and drive the technical strategy and roadmap for the intermediary platform in alignment with companies business strategy.
• Lead and influence multiple engineering teams or complex technical areas spanning several teams.
• Partner closely with Product and Design leadership to translate strategy and experience intent into robust technical solutions.
• Ensure architectural coherence and technical alignment across initiatives and teams.
• Build engineering capability, develop leaders and foster a strong, collaborative engineering culture.
• Provide senior technical input into investment decisions, prioritisation and delivery trade?offs.

What will make you successful in this role?

Leadership & Organisational Development

• Lead multiple engineering teams or a complex technical area spanning several teams.
• Develop and mentor other Tech Leads and senior engineers, building leadership depth and succession.
• Coach senior engineers and leaders, providing guidance on technical, organisational and delivery challenges.
• Drive engagement across teams and foster an inclusive, collaborative and high?performance culture.
• Navigate complex organisational dynamics and resolve multi?stakeholder conflicts effectively.
• Contribute to hiring, team design and organisational structures that improve delivery effectiveness.
• Manage performance across teams, addressing complex performance and capability challenges.

Technical Strategy & Architecture

• Define and evolve the technical strategy and roadmap for the intermediary platform.
• Make architectural decisions that span multiple systems and teams, establishing clear standards and governance.
• Lead the design of complex, multi?team systems, ensuring alignment and long?term sustainability.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards, patterns and best practices across teams.
• Balance technical excellence with business needs, making informed and pragmatic trade?offs.
• Lead large?scale technical initiatives such as platform evolution, modernisation and architectural change.

Delivery & Programme Enablement

• Coordinate complex, multi?team delivery initiatives, ensuring alignment with business priorities.
• Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies and delivery bottlenecks across initiatives.
• Drive consistent delivery and continuous improvement in engineering effectiveness and operational maturity.
• Support resource planning and capacity decisions for the area of responsibility.
• Establish key technical and operational measures and promote a data?driven engineering culture.
• Standardise delivery and operational processes across teams where appropriate.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Partner with senior business, product and technology leaders on strategy, planning and execution.
• Represent engineering in senior and executive forums, clearly articulating technical direction, risks and trade?offs.
• Influence product and experience strategy through strong technical insight and systems thinking.
• Build strong cross?functional partnerships to enable collaborative, end?to?end delivery.
• Communicate technical vision and strategy clearly through written and verbal channels.

Operational Excellence & Quality

• Drive high standards for reliability, resilience, security and operational excellence across the platform.
• Ensure appropriate operational practices, including incident management and continuous improvement.
• Lead and coordinate responses to significant technical incidents and root?cause improvements.
• Foster a culture of quality, innovation and technical excellence beyond immediate teams.
• Contribute to organisation?wide improvements in engineering practices and maturity.

Qualification and Experience

• Degree or Diploma in Information Technology, Computer Science or a related field.
• Typically 12–15+ years of software engineering experience, with significant experience in senior technical or engineering management roles.
• Proven experience leading multiple teams or complex technical domains in enterprise scale environments.
• Demonstrated ability to influence at senior levels without direct authority.
• Strong technical depth and architectural credibility, with the ability to engage deeply in complex technical discussions.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of translating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Strong strategic thinking, balancing long?term vision with incremental delivery.
• Proven track record of driving change at scale and building high?performing engineering organisations.

Knowledge and Skills

• IT Strategic Planning
• Trend Analysis
• Business Knowledge
• Relationship management
• Resource planning and risk management