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Senior Software Engineer

Lagos, NIGERIA Engineering Full-Time
APIUnixPythonSQLJavaScriptAgileREST

Do you want to help build digital tools that strengthen our democracies and empower citizens?

Code for Africa (CfA) has an immediate vacancy for a Senior Software Engineer to join our civic technology lab to help build digital tools that strengthen our democracies and empower citizens.

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis so we encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible for consideration.

The successful candidate will report to CfA’s Tech Lead and will work closely with our data, design and content teams to build robust systems and infrastructures for our partners in watchdog civil society organisations, the investigative media and selected progressive government agencies.

CfA is a non-profit advocate for open source software (along with open data), and the successful candidate will therefore be required to help champion these principles by adopting best practices and helping document all our technologies to help others reuse it free of charge. Also in keeping with CfA’s values, you will be expected to regularly interact with the wider civic tech community, as well as CfA’s grantees and partners, to share insights and offer guidance.

The successful candidate will work as part of a multinational and multilingual team across the continent, using digital collaboration tools to create content for a global audience and international media partners.

About the Role: Senior Software Engineer

The successful candidate will join CfA’s Technology team as a Senior Software Engineer. The technology team is responsible for designing, developing, deploying and maintaining all digital tools at CfA.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be contributing to the design and development of robust systems and infrastructure tools as well as being responsible for the availability, performance, monitoring, and incident response of our platforms and services.

Responsibilities: Your daily responsibilities will include:

  • Participate and influence every aspect of the software development process,
  • Design, develop and deploy robust systems and infrastructure tools that will be used by the organisation and partners.
  • Contribute to and drive the technological and architectural decisions.
  • Collaborate with a geographically distributed team of designers, researchers, developers, and journalists; proactively explore all options.
  • Provide actionable feedback on the work of junior technologists.

Required: minimum requirements include:

  • BSc/BEng Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
  • 4 years of relevant programming experience building and operating multi-tier web applications (including REST APIs) using Unix-like operating systems.
  • Deep expertise in Python & proficiency in SQL and JavaScript.
  • Working knowledge of modern software development practices and technologies such as Agile methodologies and DevOps.
  • Self starter with the ability to work effectively in teams across internal and external organisations and virtual teams

Language and Location Requirements:

  • Location: Labs are located in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), and Cape Town or Johannesburg (South Africa). However the role can be performed remotely, and applicants across Africa will therefore be considered.
  • Primary language: English
  • Preferred but not required: French, Amharic or Arabic

What We Offer:

  • A competitive salary, subject to experience, with opportunities for performance-based growth, both in terms of career path and public stature.
  • A dynamic workplace, with a transnational team, occasional international travel, and generous vacation benefits.
  • Ongoing opportunities to learn new cutting-edge skills and techniques/technologies to future-proof yourself in a rapidly evolving industry.
  • A chance to shine on a global stage, writing for international audiences and interacting with colleagues around the world.
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Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories, with over 70 staff in 19 countries, who build digital democracy solutions that are intended to give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and that strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability. This includes building infrastructure such as the continent’s largest open data portal, open.AFRICA, and largest open source civic software portal, commons.AFRICA, as well as the largest repository of investigative document-based evidence, source.AFRICA, as well as incubating initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network that gives citizens their own ‘eyes in the sky’, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative in 12 African countries, and the sensors.AFRICA remote-sensing citizen science initiative to combat air/water pollution. CfA also incubates the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), as an association of the continent’s best investigative newsrooms, ranging from large traditional mainstream media to smaller specialist units. ANCIR member newsrooms investigate crooked politicians, organised crime and big business. The iLAB is ANCIR’s in-house digital forensic unit, with teams in east, south and west Africa. ANCIR uses its resources to strengthen newsrooms’ own internal capacity, by providing access to the world’s best whistleblower encryption and investigative semantic analysis technologies, as well as skills development, and seed grants for cross-border collaboration.

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