Technical Architect

Company Description

iKhokha is a place where chance-takers become change-makers.

At iKhokha, we believe in better. As you'd expect, our pace is fast-moving and ever-changing. We like it that way.  As one of the fastest-growing FinTech's in Africa, we've built a team of global change-makers who want to make an impact. If you believe in a better future, be a chance-taker and help us empower small businesses in South Africa.

Job Description

Ready to architect technology that powers millions of transactions?

Join iKhokha and help shape the technology behind an ecosystem of payments, business tools, and digital services that empower merchants across South Africa.
 

So, what will you do? 

• You will sit on our architecture board, advising on best practice, reviewing the technologies we currently run on, and putting forward new ones worth adopting.
• You'll drive technical strategy within your teams and keep their software deliverables aligned to company-wide architectural standards.
• You'll also assess the technical feasibility of high-level backlog items and projects and present those findings to senior management.

In addition to the above, you will: 

• Define components and modules as needed by following best architecture principles, including interfaces and interactions with internal- as well as external systems.
• Design and contribute highly cohesive and loosely coupled micro services to our existing architecture.
• Research and vet 3rd party tools and services.
• Database modeling and review.
• API design and review.
• Design systems with security in mind from the start (OWASP, secure communication protocols, network architecture).
• Stay up to date with the latest threats and vulnerabilities in the industry.
• Advise on weak-points and areas of improvement within iKhokha’s architecture as well as provide solutions.
• Ensure that architecture complies with regulatory requirements (PCI, POPIA, GDPR).
• Front-load design and produce adequate technical documentation for development teams.
• Review documentation from peers.
• Give input on architecture standards and practices, introducing new technologies, tools and practices.
• Give input in scoping and feasibility exercises.
• Make technical dependencies visible to stakeholders.
• Present technical knowledge and material to product team (TED Talk etc).
• Mentor and guide engineers.
• Assist in creating technical roadmap.
• Help set standards around tools and technologies / technical radar.

Qualifications

• Degree or Diploma in Computer Science, Information Technology or related field.
• Relevant certification(s) in cloud native technology such as AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Certification(s) in Agile methodology would be advantageous.

Deal Breakers: 

Minimum 7-10+ years’ experience with the following:

• 2+ years of Technical Architecture experience designing systems for scalability, high availability and resilience as well as working with distributed systems or micro services architecture.
• 5+ years of Software Engineering experience with excellent software development skills utilizing one or more high level language such as Java, C#, Python etc.
• Architecture design according to best practices and industry standards.
• Experience working in the fintech space, particularly in card payment integration design and development.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts to different audiences with varying degrees of technical ability.
• Comfortable documenting and diagramming designs according to UML standards (Context, Sequence, BPMn etc).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills as well as pragmatism.

Additional Information

Perks of joining the Tribe? 

• Work in a high-growth company with tangible results you're accountable for.
• Enjoy hybrid, remote, and in-office work models.
• Competitive remuneration and benefits, including reduced Gap cover rates. Medical Aid and Group Risk scheme contributions.
• Visionary leadership.
• Seize the opportunity for study leave.  
• Access to on-demand learning at your fingertips.
• Experience a friendly, collaborative culture with a team of all-round-lekker humans (it’s true, we surveyed our Employees and they told us so).
• If you find yourself at HQ, coffee on tap and a selection of hot beverages provided by our very own onsite Barista. 

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