Lead Developer (Hands-On) (Head of Technology) Cape Town (Hybrid: 3 Days In Office – Woodstock, 2 Days Remote) at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT

• Our client is a well-established digital agency working with world-class luxury travel and hospitality brands. After years of rapid growth and innovation, they are entering a phase where execution, stability, and delivery excellence are the priority.
• They are seeking a hands-on Head of Technology / Developer Team Lead, someone who is technically strong, people-focused, and calm under pressure. This role is not about being distant or purely strategic. It’s about leading from the front, owning delivery, and building a stable, high-performing engineering function in a fast-paced agency environment.
• This is a Cape Town–based hybrid role (3 days in office, 2 days remote) and is suited to someone who enjoys agency velocity, cares deeply about quality, and knows how to lead without ego.

THE ROLE

• You will act as the technical anchor and team lead for a group of Full Stack Developers, owning both technical delivery and people leadership.

This role has historically been difficult to fill, not because of culture, but because it requires a rare balance of:

• Strong technical capability
• Emotional intelligence
• Calm, credible leadership
• Comfort with agency pace and accountability

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Hands-On Technical Leadership

• Remain close to the code and delivery, providing technical direction and unblockers
• Lead and mentor Full Stack Developers while maintaining technical fluency
• Set and uphold standards for code quality, architecture, security, and reliability
• Guide development across web platforms, CMS builds, APIs, and infrastructure
• Own production stability and technical outcomes across client and internal platforms

Delivery, Infrastructure & Reliability

• Oversee hosting environments, deployments, CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring
• Ensure security best practices, backups, documentation, and incident readiness
• Reduce operational risk through systems, validation, and preventative improvements
• Lead infrastructure upgrades and platform evolution pragmatically (no rebuild-for-ego)

Architecture & Platform Ownership

• Guide architectural decisions with a focus on maintainability, performance, and scale
• Manage technical debt sensibly while keeping delivery moving
• Partner with leadership on internal platforms and proprietary tooling (Next.js-based)
• Balance short-term agency delivery with long-term platform health

People & Culture Leadership

• Build a calm, accountable, execution-focused tech culture
• Mentor developers and help them grow without micromanaging
• Encourage autonomy while maintaining high standards
• Collaborate closely with Marketing, Client Experience, Ops, and Leadership
• Lead with credibility, emotional intelligence, and trust

Commercial & Leadership Contribution

• Act as the senior technical voice in leadership discussions
• Support accurate scoping, estimation, and delivery planning
• Protect margins through sound technical decisions and realistic timelines
• Partner closely with the CEO on technology direction and resourcing

REQUIREMENTS

Essential

• 8+ years’ experience in full-stack web development, with deep hands-on experience in JavaScript / Next.js, CMS platforms (WordPress, Payload), REST APIs, and cloud infrastructure, this is not a people-only leadership role.
• Proven experience leading developers in a delivery-focused environment
• Strong JavaScript foundations (Next.js or similar)
• Experience with CMS-driven and custom web platforms (WordPress, Payload, etc.)
• Solid understanding of APIs, CI/CD, version control, and cloud environments
• Strong grasp of security, reliability, and operational risk
• Experience in agency, SaaS, or high-output delivery environments
• Based in Cape Town and open to hybrid work (3 days in office)

Nice to Have

• Experience with DigitalOcean or similar cloud providers
• Exposure to performance optimisation, CRO, and SEO from a technical perspective
• Experience contributing to internal platforms or proprietary products
• Familiarity with headless CMS and API-first architectures
• Experience inheriting and stabilising existing systems rather than rebuilding

ATTRIBUTES (IMPORTANT)

• A hands-on technical leader, not a distant manager
• Calm, grounded, and confident, no ego, no insecurity
• People-focused with strong EQ and ethical leadership
• Comfortable owning imperfect systems and improving them steadily
• Thrives in fast-moving agency environments
• Commercially aware and understands the impact of tech decisions
• Motivated by execution, stability, and team success, not novelty