Principal Software Engineer - Software Engineering Practice Lead

About the role

Old Mutual is looking for a Principal Software Engineer in Harare, Zimbabwe, to lead its software engineering economics and architecture practice. The role works closely with business digital teams, programme and portfolio managers and other IT teams, advising on technical feasibility and engineering solution options.

Key responsibilities

• Lead software engineering economics and architecture practices, and the software engineering delivery process practice.
• Lead and practically demonstrate the established Old Mutual software engineering process practice, supporting it from inception, prototyping, build, testing, deployment and launch, with a focus on agile development, DevOps and process automation.
• Lead and take part in the detailed design of integrated digital systems, working across web and mobile front ends, USSD, SMS, mobile payment gateways, microservices, workflow systems and financial and insurance information systems.
• Use engineering expertise to challenge and shape the group's engineering strategy.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years as a Full-Stack Software Engineer with a track record of delivering complex projects.
• 3+ years of demonstrated experience in software systems testing and quality assurance.
• Demonstrated experience in software engineering process automation and DevOps.
• Previous leadership or mentorship experience within a development team.
• Exceptional communication, teamwork and leadership abilities, and commitment to keeping up with emerging industry trends.

Required skills

• Front-end technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and frameworks such as React, Angular or Vue.js.
• Strong proficiency in one or more languages such as JavaScript, Python or Ruby, and web application frameworks.
• In-depth knowledge of database systems, including design, optimisation and complex queries.
• Cloud services such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, and microservices architecture.