Technical Support Engineer

Technical Support Engineer We usually respond within two weeks Mission As a Technical Support Engineer at Root you keep our clients’ running, stable, and evolving. Where the Solutions Engineer builds for launch, you own what happens after - ensuring ongoing client satisfaction, that bugs get resolved, and that the steady stream of BAU changes are delivered with the same engineering rigour as the original build. You are the technical specialist within the Support team, sitting above first-line triage and acting as the deepest layer of client-side resolution before work reaches core engineering. You will investigate and fix production issues at code level, build solutions for approved Change Requests, and develop the kind of platform breadth understanding that makes you the fastest path to an answer when something complex breaks. You will work closely with Client Success and Delivery to ensure that what you build is right, well-tested, and clearly communicated, to clients and to the colleagues who will maintain it after you. KPI’s First-Time Fix Rate Measure: % of resolved Tier 2 tickets that do not reopen within 14 days. Target: ≥ 85% CR Delivery Accuracy Measure: Average variance between estimated and actual effort for Change Request delivery. Target: ≤ 20% variance SLA Measure: % of Tier 2 tickets resolved within the agreed response and resolution SLA per severity tier. Target: ≥ 90% Outcomes Production systems are protected, stable, and restored quickly Investigate and resolve escalated technical tickets at code, configuration, and integration level. Diagnose root causes accurately, not just symptoms, and implement fixes that fully resolve the issue, and document findings clearly so problems don't recur. Manage your own ticket queue with ownership: no ticket stalls without a clear status, and no resolution is delivered without a test. Know when to escalate to core engineering and give them everything they need to act quickly. Uses AI to accelerate investigation and root cause analysis Applies critical thinking to validate AI-generated technical outputs Improves documentation and knowledge management through AI-assisted workflows Identifies opportunities to automate repetitive support tasks Change Requests are scoped, built, and shipped to production standard Help solution and scope CRs before build: turn requests into clear technical approaches with agreed boundaries and acceptance criteria. Translate approved CRs into working solutions: configuring Product Modules, updating business logic, adjusting integration behaviour, or building middleware. Flag design ambiguity or technical risk before building, not after. Build to the same standard as implementation work - clean code, solid tests, maintainable output. Keep CR delivery on track: scoped, communicated, and closed cleanly. Clients and internal teams have confidence in your work Communicate the status, cause, and resolution of issues in clear, plain language to non-technical stakeholders. Keep Support and Client Success informed so they can manage client expectations Join client-facing conversations when technical clarification is needed, and carry the discussion with confidence. The Support function gets smarter over time Document fixes, patterns, and workarounds so institutional knowledge is retained and shared. Identify recurring issue types and surface them as systemic - feeding structured insight back to Product and Engineering. Contribute to internal tooling, runbooks, and playbooks that raise the floor for the whole support team. Competencies Technical depth Strong competency in JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, and Git. Strong understanding of APIs and software integration - able to trace failures across system boundaries. Good understanding of data models (e.g. purpose of primary keys, foreign key relationships). Able to read, understand, and modify existing Root Platform configurations and middleware without needing full context up front. Use AI tools responsibly to accelerate technical investigation, log analysis, issue triage, documentation, scripting, and support operations while maintaining strong technical validation and judgment. Advantageous: AWS tools (S3, Lambda, EC2, API Gateway, IAM, DynamoDB); Mocha and Chai unit testing. A snapshot of the tools Technical Support Engineers regularly use: JavaScript/TypeScript (encoding and modifying insurance business rules), Node.js (npm packages), JSON (configuring UI components and product modules), HTML & CSS (document templates), Postman or similar (API testing and reproduction of client-reported failures), Git & GitHub (source control and change tracking), Mocha and Chai (unit testing), AWS (S3, DynamoDB, Lambda). Diagnostic thinking Approaches problems methodically - forms hypotheses, tests them, and follows evidence rather than assumptions. Can distinguish between a configuration issue, an integration failure, and a platform bug. Attention to detail High attention to detail in code, tests, and documentation - the things that keep a live production system reliable. Reads Change Requests carefully and catches gaps or ambiguities before building, not after. Technical communication Able to clearly articulate complex problems and resolutions to both technical and non-technical audiences. Writes clear, structured ticket updates and resolution notes that others can act on. Comfortable in client-facing conversations when pulled in for technical input or clarification. Collaboration within a defined role Works well with Support, Client Success, and Delivery on client issues and CR delivery. Understands where the role’s scope ends and escalates cleanly, with full context, when it does. Craft mindset Takes pride in the quality of the fix, not just the speed of closure. Invested in improving support standards, tooling, and technical practice over time. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in a technical or scientific field (Engineering, Computer Science) or similar. Demonstrable coding skills (Bachelor’s degree in computer science, boot camp, or equivalent). 3+ years working as a developer or in a technical support or implementation engineering role. Nice to have: experience in the insurance industry; experience debugging production systems; experience working directly with clients to triage and resolve technical issues. Root Values Lead by example: “Lean in, take charge, and always set a positive precedent.” Exceed expectations: “Know your customer to delight your customer.” Rally as one team: “Put aside egos and personal agendas to triumph as one.” Own the mission: “Your job is not done until the job is done.” Rise to the challenge: “Meaningful change requires meaningful effort and the courage to make bold moves.” Locations Cape Town, South Africa Remote status Hybrid Cape Town, South Africa Meet the Team Nic Botes Head of Engineering Rail Da Ribeira Software Engineer Nkosilathi Vundla Software Engineer Dionne Software Engineer Ryan Page Software Engineering Team Lead Simone Seesink Junior Solutions Engineer Lindsay Hardie Product Manager Daniel Software Engineer More people