Lead a newly formed cross-functional engineering squad and drive improvements in engineering practices across the organization. Combine technical leadership, direct people management, and active development to ensure reliable and secure product delivery within a fast-growing digital bank serving Francophone Africa.
Responsibilities
- Lead a cross-functional engineering team, dedicating about 70% of your time to team leadership and operations
- Own the technical direction and end-to-end delivery of a product squad comprising engineers, a designer, and a product manager
- Manage team operations including weekly one-on-one meetings, ongoing feedback, career development discussions, and sprint coordination
- Break down complex projects into well-defined tasks, manage cross-team dependencies, and ensure consistent delivery
- Collaborate closely with Product and Design to influence product decisions and shape development priorities
- Elevate engineering standards across the organization, dedicating approximately 20% of your focus to cross-team impact
- Serve as a technical advisor and sounding board for other tech leads and engineering teams
- Support first-time engineering managers by sharing leadership frameworks and practical patterns, not just advice
- Champion improvements in engineering practices such as code review quality, testing approaches, CI/CD pipelines, and design documentation
- Participate in architectural decisions that span multiple teams and impact the broader system landscape
- Maintain strong technical involvement, with about 30% of your role overlapping with hands-on development responsibilities
- Write and review production code regularly, staying actively engaged in the codebase rather than operating at a distance
- Model strong technical leadership through high design standards, systems thinking, and balanced decision-making
- Make technical decisions for your squad, escalating only those that require broader organizational input
Requirements
- At least 10 years of experience in software engineering, including work on large-scale production systems
- Minimum of 5 years leading engineering teams with direct people management responsibilities, including one-on-ones, performance feedback, and career development planning
- Proven experience collaborating in cross-functional teams with product managers and designers
- Strong background in mobile or frontend engineering, with a track record of delivering user-facing applications used by real customers
- Ability to switch effectively between deep technical work and people leadership without compromising quality in either area
- Fluent English communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to clearly explain complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders
- Demonstrated history of improving engineering practices, such as introducing better testing, code review, CI/CD, or documentation standards in prior roles
Nice to Have
- Experience working with Flutter
- Proficiency in French
- Background in fintech, payments, or regulated industries
- Experience mentoring or coaching other engineering managers or tech leads
- Familiarity with backend systems including APIs, event-driven architectures, and distributed systems
Tech Stack
Flutter
Benefits
- A balanced work environment that values autonomy, collaboration, insight, intuition, and work-life harmony
- Opportunity to work in small, transparent, and supportive teams building widely used digital products
- Ethical and intellectually engaging workplace
- Contribute to the growth of a startup expanding across French-speaking Africa
- Make a positive impact by enabling accessible and fair banking for millions
- Enjoy a collaborative and enjoyable work culture with strong team cohesion and a focus on continuous learning and development
Work Arrangement
Remote-first, asynchronous by default, with team members across Côte D'Ivoire, Cameroun, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Spain, South Africa, Portugal, Ghana, Greece, Romania, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Serbia
Team
27 engineers organized into 4 cross-functional product squads; a fifth squad is being launched. Reports to the VP of Engineering.
- Remote-first and asynchronous by default
- Small engineering team of 27, where individual contributions have immediate and visible impact
- Fast-moving environment with minimal process overhead, with ongoing efforts to establish the right balance
- High commitment to reliability and security, reflecting the company's role as a financial institution
- Balance between autonomy and collaboration, insight and intuition, work and personal life
- Work in small, open, and friendly teams focused on building high-quality products
- Ethical and stimulating work environment
- Opportunity to support the rapid expansion of a startup in French-speaking Africa
- Positive social impact by delivering simple and fair banking solutions
- Collaborative and enjoyable workplace with strong team spirit and a culture of continuous employee growth
Additional Information
- Work location: Remote, with availability between GMT-3 and GMT+3
- Reports to the VP of Engineering
- Will lead a new cross-functional squad and have functional oversight over mobile and frontend engineers
- After 6 months: Your team is delivering consistently and engineers are progressing in their roles
- After 6 months: At least one other tech lead has improved due to your mentorship or influence
- After 6 months: You have implemented a measurable improvement to an engineering practice beyond your immediate team
- After 6 months: You have established strong working relationships with Product, Design, and peer tech leads
- After 6 months: The head of engineering can point to autonomous decisions you made that previously required their involvement
- Contract type: Contractor via DEEL for non-residents of Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal
- Contract type: CDD / CDI for residents of Côte d’Ivoire or Senegal
- Desired start date: As soon as possible
- Industry sector: Mobile Financial Services
- All applications will be considered equally. The company is committed to diversity and inclusion and fosters an inclusive environment for all employees
- Even if you don’t meet every requirement or feel uncertain about your fit, apply anyway—we’re always interested in strong candidates at every level
