Software Engineering Manager: Fulfilment Web - Takealot

takealot.com, a leading South African online retailer, is looking for a highly talented Software Engineering Manager to join our team in South Africa. 

We are a young, dynamic, hyper-growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with integrity to join us! 

Think you’ve been challenged before? Think again!

• Scale: Over 4 million happy shoppers shop online on takealot.com. Show them what you can do.
• Learn: We work with the best of the best, and then some. Code alongside industry leaders and upskill in record time. 
• Grow: Expand your career in the fast-growing Takealot Group: takealot.com and Mr D. We like to promote from within: Here’s your chance. 

Who’s who in the tech space

The position reports to the Senior Director of Fulfilment Engineering.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

We are looking for an experienced Front-end Web focused software engineering manager to join a versatile and creative IT management team. Bring your love of all things front-end and that desire to make the best experience for the fulfilment operations and customers.

As the engineering manager, you will lead a group of software engineers constantly striving for quality solutions that are delivered on time, within budget and scope, and drive a culture of quality and personal accountability. The remainder of your time will be split between architectural and strategic planning with peers and senior developers, day-to-day operational running of the team and the people management and development required of a high-performing and successful team.

You will be an advocate of Agile engineering practices and you will have prior project lead experience with a track record with a strong sense of production ownership and a quality first approach. You will have solid Web and Front-end development experience in building restful-based responsive web solutions using JavaScript-based client-side libraries such as React, Angular or Vue.js against a restful api using best practice JavaScript techniques.

You will possess a strong understanding of design principles, html/css and have development experience and good understanding of architectural practices is also an essential aspect of the role. You'll have a natural affinity for well-structured html, css and JavaScript code that enables us to take our site to the next level, including a best practice responsive web front-end that delivers an experience that delights our customer.

Successfully launch new products quickly as well as manage a large existing code base. Although it isn’t the main focus of the role, you should expect to write code, or work with others on your team directly contributing to the production of code. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a growing team of engineers working on Takealot’s new Fulfilment arms ambitious development roadmap.

Your responsibilities will include the following:

• Build and retain a high-caliber engineering team
• Build relationships through regular one-on-one conversations
• Remove roadblocks and interruptions to help the team perform
• Be involved with architectural and strategic planning with peers and senior developers
• Work with stakeholders to gather requirements, and manage expectations
• Support and develop the careers of members of the team
• Support and give direction to innovation in the team
• Present practical input for strategic technology decisions
• Stay up to date with industry trends, and standards
• Lead the Agile processes within the team
• Manage the roadmap for the team, playing a key role in prioritization
• Successfully see new projects to completion and launch new products while maintaining the existing code base.
• Facilitate discussions in the team and ensure a good design methodology is used on projects.
• Resolve conflict in the team when necessary
• Promote the achievements of the team
• Track and ensure team productivity is healthy using a metrics-based approach
• Track and ensure operational excellence in the team using a metrics-based approach
• Interview candidates for technical and organizational fit
• Drive innovation, vision, and strategy

The skills we need:

• A solutions-oriented, can-do attitude and high-energy
• Strong analytical and critical thinking, using data to inform decisions
• Solid quantitative skills
• Capability to present ideas succinctly, in writing and verbally
• Versatile and with the appetite to learn by doing
• Mentorship and leadership skills

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma in Computer Science, Engineering, or any related area of study. In the event that you do not have a Bachelor’s Degree or an Advanced Diploma, equivalent experience in the related area is sufficient. 
• Some experience leading a team of engineers on complex software projects.
• Experience developing software in an agile, quality-focussed environment.
• Experience with a broad range of related disciplines such as Development, Cloud Infrastructure, Site Reliability, Provisioning, Configuration Management, and Managed Systems.
• Experience in building best practice responsive frontend Html and CSS solutions
• Experience or understanding of UX/UI design principles
• Significant technical experience and a proven track record of architectural ownership and understanding.
• Experience developing server-side on php/node (or similar) in a test-driven environment 
• Solid Web and Front-end Development experience Html, JavaScript and related client-side libraries (such as React, Angular, Vue) against a restful api
• Experience with Web Architectures (e.g. SOA, REST).
• Excellent understanding of theoretical Software Engineering fundamentals, including but not limited to distributed systems, highly scalable systems, algorithms, data structures, design patterns, and programming paradigms is advantageous.
• Experience working with GCP/AWS and/or other cloud platforms is advantageous.