Software Engineer - Backend

We are looking for a Backend Software Engineer to join our Engineering team in Cape Town. 

The world is changing.
We all want something different.
At Luno, we see you as individuals. 

Together, we are upgrading the world of work to unleash the potential within and empower you to become the best possible version of yourself.  

Upgrading the entire planet to a new financial system is a challenge of epic proportions. Like the first moon landing, it requires a special kind of people working together with unusual skill, focus and determination. We’re changing the financial landscape, and to do so, well we need the best team on board for our mission. In short, to achieve our goals, we need rockstars. As simple as that.

A little about us:

  • We make it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
  • We currently have over 7 million customers across 40 countries.
  • We're part of the Digital Currency Group, a group of companies driving progress in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space that includes Grayscale, Genesis, Coindesk and Foundry Services.
  • Our platform has processed over $21 billion to date.
  • We’re proud to be one of the world’s most international cryptocurrency teams from 43 different nationalities — working across South Africa, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore.

How we work

Our engineering team (currently ~100 engineers) is split into organisations which we call Fleets. Each Fleet focuses on a core customer journey (onboarding, security, payments, support, new business, growth and marketing etc.). Each of these fleets contains multiple smaller teams called Pods, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of the product. 

Pods will include a product owner, product designer, back-end engineers, Android, iOS and Web developers, who each bring a unique perspective to the problem you are all contributing towards. 

We're agile, use scrum, continuous integration and continuous delivery, deploying to production every single day.

We're building teams to help us succeed in our mission to upgrade the world to a better financial system. You’ll be joining a group of highly motivated software engineers who you’ll work collaboratively with across our pods.

As a fast-growing company with offices around the world, you’ll immediately see how your contributions directly impact both our internal users and client experience. Many of the problems we are solving result in trail blazing solutions which can’t be found on Stack Overflow; so we’re looking for engineers who flourish working in a complex domain.

In your first six months, you will:

...start at Luno by learning our processes, meeting the wider team and starting our engineering on-boarding program. After getting comfortable with the basics, you'll start learning our idiomatic patterns in a safe, easy-to-follow way - by building your own toy micro services. You'll get to practice how we do design docs, code reviews, deployments, events, logging and monitoring.

You’ll meet the Pod(s) you’ll be working with and quickly align on the teams’ current OKRs and product roadmap. We succeed as a team, so we will provide you with regular feedback from your manager and peers and will encourage you to do the same.

Your mission will involve:

  • Build distributed microservices that are accessed by 2.5m customers from across the globe.
  • Design, build and maintain advanced applications services.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new features.
  • Write testable, maintainable code for robustness and reliability.
  • Work on bug fixing and improving application performance.
  • Write code that directly affects users, the company and the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

  • A passion for blockchain and cryptocurrencies (this is a new industry so we’ll help you learn about how the blockchain works and the technicals).
  • A proven background in computer science in areas such as algorithms, data structures, and software design.
  • Extensive programming experience in at least one language such as Go, Java, C++, C#, Python, etc.
  • A continuous improvement mindset.
  • BSc/MSc/PhD in computer science or other technical discipline, or equivalent working experience
  • A passion for software development, mobile technology and Bitcoin
  • To be friendly, transparent, articulate and driven to succeed
  • A work permit for South Africa if you are not a South African citizen

Don’t be put off if you don’t tick all of the boxes – they’re a guide based on what we’d love to see but we appreciate that excellent software engineers have diverse backgrounds.

Remote Life at Luno

If you’re looking to work on something truly global and disruptive with a forward-thinking and ambitious team that highly values diversity, teamwork, and the continuous quest for excellence, then this is an opportunity for you.

Like the majority of the companies, Luno is currently working remotely to keep our employees safe, which means you will not be physically, but virtually onboarded for now!

  • Live long and prosper. We’ve got you covered with excellent private medical insurance. 
  • You'll be able to continuously up-skill yourself with access to free courses on Udemy, Coursera and Codeacademy.
  • For the crypto fans among you (should be everyone!), you'll pay 0 fees with Luno from the day you start
  • Generous maternity / paternity and even (yes, you are reading it correctly) paw-ternity for your furry friend.
  • Apple all the way. New Macbook, mouse and keyboard.
  • Annual Inspiration Day... for that pottery course you’ve always been meaning to do!
  • Work with a diverse team of hardworking, ambitious and friendly people on something that will truly revolutionise the financial world.
  • We have virtual cooking, dancing, drawing and house planting classes hosted by our Lunauts to break up your day and work that other part of your brain.
  • Work is important, but your mental health should always take priority. At Luno, we do everything we can to make sure you lead a healthy and happy life. That's why Luno gives you free access to Headspace – a full library of guided meditations, sleep stories, and music.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. You'll need to hold the legal right to work in South Africa already as we cannot provide visa sponsorship. 

Be part of the change! 🚀

Luno is a leading global cryptocurrency company with over 5 million customers in 40 countries and a team of over 350. Headquartered in London, Luno operates across Africa, South East Asia and Europe. Luno's products and services make it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies.