Engineering Team Lead (JHB or Stellenbosch) at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

• A start-up, agricultural software company building solutions to optimise the value chain, while offering a business-to-business service, is seeking an Engineering Team Lead who is responsible for managing a cross-functional development team, owning team delivery and performance, and ensuring alignment with product and business priorities.
• This role blends people leadership with project delivery, while fostering a strong team culture and growth mindset.

DUTIES:

Team Management & People Leadership

• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and personal development check-ins.
• Support each engineer’s growth by identifying training needs, mentorship opportunities, and stretch projects.
• Champion team health, culture, and morale by fostering inclusion, trust, and accountability

Delivery Ownership

• Collaborate with Product and Design to ensure on-time, high-quality delivery of roadmap items.
• Manage sprint planning, backlog grooming, and ensure work is appropriately scoped and prioritised.
• Track and report on team performance metrics (velocity, quality, throughput).

Quality & Engineering Practices

• Ensure high standards in testing, documentation, and code quality through structured processes.
• Facilitate healthy technical decision-making and ensure alignment with broader architectural goals.
• Encourage a culture of continuous improvement, retrospectives, and learning from incidents.

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Liaise with other Team Leads, QA, DevOps, and stakeholders to resolve dependencies and share learnings.
• Serve as an escalation point for blockers or interpersonal challenges within the team.
• Contribute to broader engineering initiatives like hiring, onboarding, or process improvements.

REQUIREMENTS:

Formal Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 1–2 years in a leadership or mentorship role.
• Strong understanding of the SDLC, agile methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to manage both people and projects effectively.
• Experience building and nurturing healthy, high-performing teams.
• Empathetic, communicative, and solution-oriented leadership style.

Languages

• English
• Afrikaans (Beneficial)

ATTRIBUTES:

• Innovation-Driven: Embrace a culture of innovation and continuous learning, where creativity and curiosity are encouraged.
• Collaborative Environment: Foster a team-centric environment where open communication, mutual respect, and shared goals are prioritised.
• Commitment to Excellence: Strive for high-quality outcomes, with a focus on delivering value to the business and stakeholders.
• Integrity and Accountability: Maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct and take responsibility for the quality of work produced.