Engineer – Backend Microservices at Safaricom

Reporting to the Development Lead Fintech - Financial Services IT, the role holder responsibilities will include financial services system development, support, capacity planning and technology evolution to attain a service availability of 99.999%.

• Develop microservices using Java/Spring, Apache Camel, Django, Flask, and Go.
• Build front-end applications with HTML, CSS, TypeScript, JavaScript, and frameworks such as AngularJS, React, Next.js, Nuxt.js, and Vue.js.
• Perform full-stack development including microservices and micro-frontend architectures.
• Design, plan, and implement new financial software solutions based on approved solution designs.
• Conduct software testing (functional and non-functional) including monitoring, performance, and security testing using TDD and automation.
• Maintain and optimize systems through troubleshooting, debugging, upgrades, documentation, and system improvements.
• Manage development lifecycle processes including code reviews, release and change management, CI/CD automation, and Agile/Scrum delivery using tools like Jira and Confluence.
• Support platform reliability and evolution through infrastructure evaluation, capacity planning, system integration, and initiatives to achieve high availability (up to 99.999%) and improved delivery quality.
   

Qualifications

• Degree in one of the following: Computer Science, Telecommunications; Electronic Engineering; IT (Computing) – Operating systems, databases, system development
• 2 years of work experience as an engineer in Financial Technology or a telecommunications environment.
• Knowledge and experience on coding languages (e.g., Java, Python, JavaScript, html, css, type script) and frameworks/systems (e.g., Spring framework, AngularJS, React, Git, Apache camel, Node Js and GraphQL.)
• Experience and Strong understanding of both JSON and SOAP
• Experience in securing APIs using JWT, Oauth2, SAML, Spring security etc.
• Knowledge in Agile methodology. Certification in Scrum fundamentals is an added advantage.
• Knowledge in DevSecOps, CI/CD and version control (Git)
• Good understanding of writing unit tests.
• Experience working with relational and non-relational databases i.e., Oracle, MySQL, Mongo DB, Cassandra
• Experience in mobile money systems.  
• Knowledge in cloud technologies (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Huawei or GCP).
• Knowledge in container orchestration technologies (Kubernetes, openshift container platform etc.) 
   

Safaricom is the leading technology company in East Africa. Our purpose is to transform lives by connecting people to people, people to opportunities and people to information. We keep over 60 million customers connected across Kenya and Ethiopia, and play a critical role in the society, supporting over 1.13 million jobs both directly and indirectly while our total economic value was estimated at KES 1.1 trillion ($ 8.5 billion) for the 12 months through March 2025.

Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and with annual revenues of close to KES 388 billion as at March 2025, Safaricom provides connectivity through wide range of technology. Our 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G network in aggregate covers over 99% of Kenya’s population.

We run the world’s largest mobile payment system and Africa’s largest Fintech, M-PESA, the world’s first mobile money transfer system. By empowering millions of customers to transact, save or borrow money through their mobile phone, M-PESA has driven financial inclusion in Kenya to 84.8% of the adult population in 2024, from a low of 26.7% in 2006, and generated over KES 161 billion in revenue as at FY25.

Our subsidiary, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, has deployed world class network and services to contribute to Ethiopia’s digital transformation.

Safaricom is an equal opportunity employer, actively recruiting staff from different backgrounds reflecting the communities that we serve. We are committed to equal gender representation at all levels.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we continue to work towards improving energy and resource efficiency in our network and facilities to reduce carbon emissions and our fuel consumption. We remain committed to becoming a Net Zero carbon-emitting company by 2050.