Senior Software Developer at Code for Africa (CfA)

Code for Africa (CfA) uses technology and #OpenData to empower citizens. We give citizens actionable information for better-informed decision making and digital tools to amplify their voices, so that they can hold the authorities (both governmental and corporate) to account.

 

Senior Software Developer

  • Job TypeRemote
  • QualificationBA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MA
  • Experience5 years
  • LocationNairobi
  • Job FieldICT / Computer 

Required: minimum requirements include:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
  • Five or more years building production systems with Python plus either TypeScript or JavaScript.
  • Experience deploying containerised services to at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP or Azure) using Docker/Dokku, Terraform or Pulumi.
  • Framework fluency: Django REST (or FastAPI), Next.js (or similar React meta‑framework), and Vega-Lite (or similar data visualisation platforms such as D3.js).
  • Proficiency with relational and document databases such as Postgres, MongoDB, and queueing systems like RabbitMQ.
  • Working knowledge of observability stacks (Grafana, Prometheus, OpenTelemetry) and security best practices (OWASP, SSO, secrets management).
  • Track record of leading project teams and shipping well‑tested, well‑documented code in an agile environment.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication in English.

Preferred: candidates who are able to demonstrate the following will have an advantage:

  • Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
  • Experience with open‑source or civic‑tech projects, media or non‑profit environments.
  • Hands-on experience with distributed task queues (Celery or Dask),  data‑engineering pipelines (Airflow or Dagster), event orchestration (Prefect or Temporal) and geospatial stacks (PostGIS, GeoJSON, vector tiles).
  • Experience building and deploying AI applications in production, with working knowledge of areas such as Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI, and/or AI agent frameworks.
  • French, Arabic, KiSwahili or other widely spoken African languages.

Language and Location Requirements:

  • Location: This role is open to remote candidates across Africa. For those preferring an office environment, CfA has labs in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
  • Languages: Professional fluency in English (written and verbal) is required.
  • Preferred but not required: Proficiency in Arabic, French, KiSwahili, or other major African languages is a valuable asset.x

About the Role:

The successful candidates will join the TechLab. The TechLab is CfA’s specialist software engineering team, developing digital services for the organisation and its human rights partners. Working with our distributed team of engineers, designers, and product managers, you’ll build and scale civic technology, digital democracy solutions, and AI-powered tools that directly empower citizens and make tangible social impact across Africa.

You’ll help shape the technical direction of key products including: 

  • CivicSignal (our ML/NLP powered media analysis tools),
  • sensors.AFRICA (our environmental monitoring platforms), and
  • Our data visualisation apps such as PesaYetu and HURUmap.

Responsibilities: Your daily responsibilities will include:

  • Own the architecture, implementation and operation of multi‑tenant web and data platforms, including REST and GraphQL APIs, event streams and real‑time dashboards.
  • Drive DevOps practices: CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing and observability
  • Lead the technical roadmap for integrating LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation and agent frameworks into CfA products and platforms.
  • Mentor and unblock a distributed team of engineers through code reviews, pair programming and design workshops.
  • Establish engineering standards, including data governance and responsible AI guidelines.
  • Lead open‑source contributions: review community pull requests and upstream improvements across our public repositories.

Check if your CV matches this job with MyJobMag AI

Method of Application

Interested and qualified? Go to Code for Africa (CfA) on docs.google.com to apply

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Customer Support Representative at BasiGo

BasiGo is an e-mobility start-up looking to revolutionize the public transportation sector by providing public transport bus owners with a cost-effective electric alternative to diesel. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, our team is strategically composed of seasoned entrepreneurs who have spent over a decade working and innovating within electric vehicle t...   Customer Support Representative Job Type Full Time Qualification BA/BSc/HND , Diploma Experience Location Nairobi Job Field Customer Care  About the role:  We are looking for Customer Support Representatives (CSR) to assist our customers with technical problems when using our products and services. You will be the primary point of contact for our customers and coordinate with all BasiGo departments to ensure that issues are resolved within SLA and customers are communicated promptly.  To be successful in this role, you should be an excellent communicator who easily gains client trust. You should ...
Read more

Operations Associate at Kopo Kopo Inc

Kopo Kopo was launched in 2012 where we partnered with Safaricom to bring Lipa na M-Pesa Buy Goods service to small and medium businesses throughout Kenya and, today, we serve thousands of businesses from salons to restaurants to office supply stores, to schools. We have since partnered with other aggregator and mobile money partners with the ultimate goal of helping businesses leverage mobile payments. We are grateful for our unusual journey and look forward to helping our merchants in growing and prosper in the years ahead.   Operations Associate Job Type Full Time Qualification BA/BSc/HND Experience Location Nairobi Job Field Customer Care  Salary Range KSh 50,000 - KSh 100,000/month The Job:   The role will combine aspects of customer service and operations duties. Ultimately, you will be responsible for quickly solving problems for businesses that rely on Kopo Kopo’s technology. You will ensure that Kopo Kopo’s information systems are kept up to date, and will engage...
Read more

HR Assistant at Talent Grid Africa

Talent Grid Africa is a regional consulting firm that partners with leaders in business to handle the complexities of hiring the right talent, engaging them in the right way, improving performance, and retaining top talent. We help them leverage their greatest assets-the people, to capture more opportunities and grow their businesses. Our purpose is to of...   HR Assistant Job Type Full Time Qualification BA/BSc/HND Experience 1 - 2 years Location Nairobi Job Field Graduate Jobs  , Human Resources / HR  Salary Range KSh 30,000 - KSh 50,000/month This entry-level position is ideal for recent graduates or individuals with 1-2 years of experience who want to develop their skills in recruitment, employee relations, payroll, and other core HR activities. You'll be an integral part of a supportive team, ensuring that HR operations run smoothly and efficiently. Key Responsibilities: Assist in the recruitment process by posting job ads, scheduling interviews, and communicati...
Read more