Developer (JHB Illovo) at BDO South Africa

Primary Purpose of the Job

• The Application Developer is responsible for designing, building, enhancing, and supporting internal business applications and integrations across the organisation’s enterprise platforms.
• The role focuses on backend development, system integrations, performance optimisation, and operational reliability, while also contributing to frontend usability and configuration-driven design.
• This role plays a critical part in modernising internal systems, improving automation, and ensuring stable, scalable, and auditable solutions that integrate with core platforms such as ERP, CRM, and reporting systems. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain internal web-based business applications that support core operational processes.
• Build and maintain backend services and RESTful APIs to support application functionality and integrations.
• Develop configuration-driven features (e.g. rules, thresholds, mappings, flags) to minimise hard-coded logic and improve maintainability.
• Contribute to frontend usability through practical UI enhancements, including validation feedback, progress indicators, and status tracking.
• Build and maintain integrations between internal applications and enterprise systems.
• Analyse and improve application performance through optimisation, background processing, and architectural improvements.
• Structure and manage data to support reporting, audit requirements, and traceability.
• Deploy, support, and maintain applications across Development, Test, and Production environments.
• Perform controlled deployments, fixes, and hot patches while minimising business disruption.
• Support business users and stakeholders during testing, UAT, and rollout phases.
• Assist with documentation of business requirements, user stories, technical designs, and effort estimates.
• Collaborate with technical and non-technical stakeholders to translate business requirements into working solutions.
• Work closely with the Applications team, Enterprise Enablement team, Projects team, and IT to deliver solutions.
• Participate in solution discussions, design reviews, and demonstrations.
• Provide realistic technical input into timelines, risks, and dependencies.
• Work within and contribute to all phases of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

Requirements
Qualifications, Work Experience, and Knowledge 

Qualifications

• Grade 12
• Degree or Diploma in Computer Science or related discipline

Work Experience

• Minimum 3- 5 years’ relevant experience 

Knowledge

• C# (.NET) - Required
• JavaScript / TypeScript – Required
• SQL – Required
• REST APIs (JSON, HTTP) – Required
• HTML & CSS – Required
• Cloud‑hosted application environments (Azure) – Working Knowledge
• Exposure to AI-enabled features, AI agents, or AI model integrations - Desirable

Competencies: Technical & Behavioural

Technical Competencies

• Strong experience in backend application development
• Experience building web applications and APIs
• Solid understanding of enterprise system integration patterns
• Experience working with databases and structured data models
• Comfortable working across multiple environments (Dev/Test/Prod)

Behavioural & Professional Competencies

• Strong problem‑solving and analytical skills
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment while managing multiple priorities
• Pragmatic mindset — balances “ideal architecture” with business reality
• Clear communicator with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Takes ownership of solutions end‑to‑end, from design to production support
• Detail-oriented. With a focus on quality and reliability
• Ability to learn new software and technologies quickly.