Head of Engineering, Johannesburg

Location: Hybrid
Employment Type: Full-Time
Industry: Technology | FinTech | Enterprise Software

WatersEdge Solutions is partnering with an innovative global technology-driven business to appoint an experienced Head of Engineering. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior technical leader who thrives on shaping architecture, mentoring engineering teams, and driving modern software practices in a fast-evolving environment.

This role is ideal for someone who combines deep technical expertise with a collaborative leadership style and enjoys building scalable, high-quality platforms that make a real business impact.

About the Role

As Head of Engineering, you'll play a key role in defining the technical direction of a growing software platform and engineering function. Reporting into senior technology leadership, you'll lead architecture decisions, establish engineering standards, and help scale systems and teams effectively.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you'll remain close to the technology while empowering developers through mentorship, coaching, and best-practice engineering principles. You'll work closely with cross-functional stakeholders to align technical outcomes with business objectives and support the ongoing evolution of modern, scalable platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the architectural direction and technical strategy across the engineering function.
• Establish engineering standards, best practices, and scalable development frameworks.
• Guide the evolution of enterprise platforms with a focus on scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Drive engineering excellence through automation, CI/CD, code reviews, and test-driven development practices.
• Mentor and support developers across varying levels of seniority, helping grow technical capability and leadership.
• Collaborate with product and business stakeholders to translate requirements into effective technical solutions.
• Encourage a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and constructive collaboration.
• Explore and introduce emerging technologies and AI-enabled engineering practices where they add measurable value.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of software development experience within complex production environments.
• Strong hands-on Java development experience.
• Experience leading engineering architecture across teams and large-scale systems.
• Proven background implementing CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and deployment workflows.
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering principles and scalable system design.
• Experience mentoring and developing engineering teams.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving ability with a pragmatic and solutions-focused mindset.
• A collaborative leadership style with high levels of accountability and ownership.

Nice to Have

• Salesforce / Apex development experience.
• Salesforce certifications such as Platform Developer I or II, Application Architect, or Technical Architect.
• Experience with RESTful APIs and integration architecture.
• Front-end development exposure.
• Experience in security-conscious engineering or penetration testing.
• Agile / Scrum leadership experience.
• Exposure to AI-assisted development tools and workflows.

What's On Offer

• Opportunity to shape the future of a growing engineering function.
• A highly collaborative and technically driven environment.
• Modern technology stack and engineering practices.
• Flexible hybrid working environment.
• Strong focus on learning, development, and career growth.
• A people-focused culture that values innovation, curiosity, and teamwork.

Company Culture

This organisation values technical excellence, continuous improvement, and collaboration. The environment encourages curiosity, ownership, and open communication, creating space for engineers to innovate while remaining closely aligned to meaningful business outcomes. Teams are empowered to challenge ideas constructively, grow professionally, and contribute to a culture built on trust, accountability, and high performance.

Please note: If you have not been contacted within 10 working days, consider your application unsuccessful.