Software Development Manager (Centurion Hybrid) at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

• LEAD Engineering teams with a strong balance of people leadership, technical judgement, and delivery ownership as the next Software Development Manager sought by a dynamic provider of Integrated Security Solutions.
• This role is for someone who understands how software is built, how teams work best, and how to guide projects from planning and design through to development, release, and continuous improvement.
• The ideal candidate should be able to support and grow Engineers, help shape technical decisions, and work closely with product, design, operations, and business stakeholders to deliver reliable and scalable software solutions.
• You will require a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Software Engineering, or a related field with years of experience including hands-on experience with multiple Backend Programming languages such as Python, C#, or Rust, and/or modern Frontend frameworks such as React.

DUTIES:

Team Leadership and Management –

• Oversee Engineering teams by handling recruitment, integration, and coaching.
• Drive professional growth and performance while cultivating a workplace culture where technical staff feel empowered and inspired to achieve excellence.

Delivery Ownership –

• Direct the roadmap, timeline, and deployment of technical releases through various workstreams.
• Maintain transparency regarding goals and interdependencies, ensuring that all production targets are both feasible and effectively articulated to the business.

Technical Leadership –

• Provide technical guidance to Engineering teams and support architectural and design decisions.
• Ensure that solutions are scalable, maintainable, secure, and aligned with the broader technology strategy.

Engineering Standards and Best Practices –

• Promote strong Software Engineering practices, including clean code, design patterns, code reviews, automated testing, CI/CD, DevOps practices, documentation, and operational readiness.

Cross-Functional Collaboration –

• Work closely with PMO, Designers, business stakeholders, Infrastructure teams, and other departments to define priorities, clarify requirements, and ensure that technical solutions meet business objectives.

Mentorship and Coaching –

• Mentor Developers across different levels of experience, helping them improve their technical skills, problem-solving ability, communication, and ownership.

Problem Solving and Decision Making –

• Assist teams in resolving complex technical, delivery, and operational challenges.
• Make pragmatic decisions that balance business urgency, technical quality, team capacity, and long-term maintainability.

Performance and Reliability –

• Support the design, implementation, and maintenance of scalable and reliable software systems.
• Help identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, production issues, and areas of technical debt.

Agile and Process Improvement –

• Lead and support Agile or Scrum delivery practices.
• Continuously improve engineering processes, team rituals, estimation, planning, and delivery predictability.

Stakeholder Communication –

• Communicate progress, risks, trade-offs, and technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior leadership and executive teams.

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications –

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field with years of experience.
• A Master’s Degree or higher is a plus.

Experience/Skills –

• Proven experience leading and managing Engineering teams, including hiring, mentoring, coaching, performance management, and team development.
• Hands-on experience with multiple Backend Programming languages such as Python, C#, or Rust, and/or modern Frontend frameworks such as React.
• Strong understanding of software design patterns, architectural principles, system design, and scalable Software Development practices.
• Strong Project Management skills, including planning, scheduling, tracking progress, managing dependencies, and communicating delivery risks.
• Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, cloud platforms such as AWS and Google Cloud Platform, and modern software deployment practices.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to lead discussions, influence decisions, and build consensus across teams.

Nice to haves –

• Experience in writing reports and delivering presentations to stakeholders and executives.
• Enthusiasm for staying hands-on with coding, technical problem solving, and engineering best practices.
• Active participation in the technology community through conferences, open-source contributions, publications, or knowledge-sharing forums.
• Experience in regulated industries, identity, KYC, biometrics, fintech, or high-availability platform environments would be advantageous.

ATTRIBUTES:

• Able to work in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities, mentoring Engineers, and building a strong team culture based on ownership, quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Comfortable rolling up your sleeves when needed, helping teams solve difficult problems, guiding by example, and leading from the front. While this is a management role, it still requires someone who can earn technical trust, make sound Engineering decisions, and show the team what good looks like.