Lead Engineer

Principal

Engineering Lead

C#/.NET | Microservices Architecture | Python | LLM Inference | Azure

OUR SCRUMS.COM STORY

Scrums.com (formerly SovTech) started in a garage in Johannesburg in 2012, building custom software for growing businesses. In 2024 we became Scrums.com to reflect what we had grown into: an AI-native platform that runs software engineering end to end, not just a software agency.

Today we are headquartered in London, with hubs in New York, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nairobi. Our belief hasn't changed since the garage: some of the world's best engineers are in Africa, and global companies should be able to build with them as easily as with a team down the hall.

WHAT WE DO

Scrums.com is the Software Engineering Orchestration Platform (SEOP): one platform where engineering and product leaders deploy AI agents, engineers, delivery teams and cloud infrastructure, then track all of it in real time. We are not a staffing agency or a job board. When you join, you become one of the operators who keeps that platform delivering for clients across the UK, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.

OUR CULTURE

Our culture is underpinned by 8 core values.

Earth's leading software company from Africa: that's where we're going.

WHY JOIN OUR TEAM?

Be part of a dynamic, people-first team that's showcasing and advancing Africa's tech landscape on the global stage. At Scrums.com, we celebrate your individuality, empower your decision-making and create meaningful experiences. Together, we're driving innovation and building exceptional teams 🚀 Take a look at some of the highlights:

Remote First, with Offices When You Want Them 🌍

- Johannesburg: our guild overlooks a spruit, great for biking and running.

- Cape Town: central in Woodstock, with a rooftop gym and pool.

- London (HQ): in Paddington, where we whiteboard with clients.

Our Teams Are Powered by AI: Transforming How We Work 🤖

- Frontier models and agents: build with closed and open-source models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Llama and more), coding agents and MCP tooling through our own secure internal platform.

- No licences needed: we cover the costs, so you can choose the tools that suit you best.

- Real AI work: our clients deploy AI agents in production through our platform, so the skills you build here are the ones the market wants.

The Scrums.com Vibes 💙

- Annual Foos-Fest ⚽️: Showcase your skills at our legendary Foosball Festival and take home quirky, sought-after awards.

- AI-Powered Hackathons 💻: Collaborate with your team to create innovative, market-ready products in just 24 hours, all while enjoying live music and family-friendly fun.

- Year-End Celebrations 🏞️: Reflect and connect at our unforgettable year-end events, a decade-old tradition we continue to cherish.

- Popcorn Fridays, Dev Chats and Braais 🍿: Bond with colleagues over insightful discussions and sizzling good vibes.

- Fluid Clubs 🥾: Join like-minded peers in activities like hiking, running and more to foster shared interests beyond work.

- Weekly All-Hands 🙌: Stay inspired and in the loop with weekly sessions that bring us together as one team.

- Explore Week 🐘: Our annual tradition encourages you to work from anywhere around the globe for one exciting week. Freedom meets inspiration!

Scrums.com Rewards & Recognition 🎉

- Stacos (our company currency): Reward and recognise your peers with Stacos and exchange them for vouchers to celebrate accomplishments big and small.

- Commission Incentives: Unlock attractive rewards for successful business development leads and employee referrals.

Continued Career Growth & Support 🔑

- Internal AI Platforms: Access to both closed and open-source LLMs that make work easier and support your professional growth. We love AI!

- High-Performance Culture: Stay aligned and on track with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and structured annual reviews.

- Personalised Mentorship: Receive dedicated guidance from leadership and the Talent Success Team through one-on-one sessions and quarterly check-ins tailored to your career aspirations.

Outstanding Employee Benefits* ➕

- Discovery Medical Aid: Prioritising your health with the best care.

- Half-Day Birthday Leave: Celebrate your special day with an afternoon off!

- Family Responsibility & Parental Benefits: Full support for a meaningful work-life balance.

*Please note: benefits may vary depending on employment type.

Join us and be part of a dynamic, supportive team that's making waves across Africa.

ROLE DETAILS

- Scrums.com is looking for a Principal Engineering Lead to help shape their client's next-generation fintech platform, built from the ground up.

- Step into the most senior technical seat on the engagement, owning architecture and engineering direction from day one.

- Lead a team scaling towards roughly 18 engineers across backend, AI, data, frontend and cloud infrastructure, and shape how it grows, builds and ships.

- Work where enterprise .NET engineering meets modern AI, including open-weight LLM serving on GPU-backed infrastructure.

- Be the trusted technical voice to client leadership, with real influence over technical decisions.

- Take on a 12-month contract, hybrid from Johannesburg or Cape Town, in a regulated environment where engineering quality genuinely matters.

Responsibilities

- Own the architecture, technical standards, backlog direction and delivery across the full engineering team.

- Lead, mentor and direct the team as it scales towards approximately 18 engineers, including onboarding and team structure.

- Provide hands-on technical leadership across backend (.NET microservices), AI and Python services, data and messaging, frontend and Azure infrastructure.

- Set and enforce engineering practices covering code quality, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, security and observability.

- Guide the design and operation of LLM serving and GPU-backed inference workloads within the platform.

- Act as the primary technical point of contact for the client, representing Scrums.com's engineering and DevOps capability to senior stakeholders.

- Translate business and regulatory requirements into sound technical decisions and clear delivery plans.

Experience/Qualifications

- 10+ years in software engineering, with a proven track record of leading engineering teams of 10 or more.

- A career built through senior individual contributor roles rather than a pure management track, with the ability to stay close to the code.

- Deep expertise in C#/.NET, RESTful APIs and microservices architecture.

- Working knowledge of Python and LLM serving concepts (Gemma or equivalent open-weight models), including GPU-backed inference.

- Production experience with MongoDB and Kafka.

- Familiarity with modern frontend frameworks (React or Angular).

- Strong Azure experience, including Azure DevOps, Key Vault and VNets, with infrastructure as code in Terraform or Bicep.

- Demonstrated CI/CD pipeline design experience.

- Comfortable operating in a regulated fintech or financial services environment.

- Advantageous: Keycloak or enterprise identity federation experience.

Location: Johannesburg or Cape Town, South Africa

Contract Type: Independent Contractor

Engagement Length: 12 months

Certifications: None required

Work Model: Hybrid

Core Tech Stack/Skills: C#/.NET; Microservices Architecture; Python; LLM Inference; Azure; Kafka; MongoDB; Terraform; CI/CD Pipeline Design; Engineering Leadership

TALENT ACQUISITION PROCESS

1. Sign Up: Join Scrums.com 📃

Submit your details and our talent team will review your profile. If we see a strong match, we'll reach out to schedule a technical and culture screening. 👉 Sign up here: https://talent.scrums.com/

2. Technical & Culture Introductory Call: Get to know each other 🗣️

We'll have an open conversation to understand your background, skills and what you're looking for. Depending on your experience and what you share with us, we'll explore the best ways to position you with the teams looking to hire.

3. Technical Assessment: Prove your abilities 💡

You'll complete a role-specific assessment tailored to the position, giving your skills a chance to speak for themselves.

4. Interview: Technical interview to understand your abilities 💻

You'll meet the hiring team to discuss the project in detail, walk through your technical capabilities and explore how your experience aligns with their needs.

5. Background & Reference Checks: Verification ✅

We'll verify your identity, work history and references to complete the hiring process.

6. Offer & Project Kickoff: Welcome to Scrums.com! 💙

Once you've accepted your offer, we'll get you onboarded and set up for success. You'll be introduced to your team, aligned on project details and given everything you need to hit the ground running from day one.

CONNECT WITH US

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