As an engineer at Mara, your role extends beyond feature development to constructing the foundational “trust infrastructure” that guarantees every dollar effectively reaches those who need it most. This infrastructure empowers community-led organizations to deploy hyper-proximate interventions tailored to women and girls in critical need.
We establish the foundational engineering principles that drive technical excellence and scalable solutions. Our core focus includes designing robust systems, optimizing performance, and ensuring reliability across all platforms. We collaborate with cross-functional teams to align engineering strategies with business objectives, fostering innovation while maintaining high standards of quality and security. Additionally, we prioritize continuous improvement through process refinement, technology adoption, and knowledge sharing to stay ahead of industry advancements. Strong problem-solving skills, proficiency in modern development practices, and a commitment to mentorship are essential for success in this role.
Crafting a Fintech solution under the “single-contract” framework to optimize financial infrastructure, ensuring alignment with government procurement demands while enabling dynamic capital reallocation across diverse geographic regions.
AI-Powered Verification and Fraud Prevention: Leveraging artificial intelligence and the established Tito platform streamlines data collection and validates real-world outcomes, eliminating the need for manual, high-cost auditing in favor of instantaneous, high-integrity data insights.
Our platform delivers an ecosystem-scale architecture, creating a unified and transparent environment that extends far beyond Tito to accommodate diverse organizations and funders across the entire sector.
Ensuring the highest security standards for managing sensitive health and educational data, this role upholds data integrity to promote the global adoption of “paying for what works” as the standard in philanthropy.
We are actively seeking qualified candidates who are currently residing in South Africa or Kenya for this role.
The Job
Our Java Engineering Team Lead spearheads the development and guidance of a team of software engineers while overseeing the creation and upkeep of the Mara Impact software. Additionally, this role encompasses the following responsibilities:
Demonstrate leadership by fostering the growth and development of each team member, ensuring their professional advancement and alignment with organizational goals.
Design, create, and maintain innovative features for the Mara Impact software platform.
As part of our team, you will actively participate in our agile methodologies and collaborative practices, contributing to our dynamic work environment and iterative processes.
The software engineering team’s tasks are managed and organized to ensure efficient workflow.
Utilizing software engineering methodologies to architect, build, maintain, validate, and assess our software systems is a core responsibility of this role.
Implementing robust security measures to safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of all developed software and its associated data assets.
You ensure thorough documentation of your work, maintaining clarity and comprehensibility to facilitate future reference by colleagues.
About You
You possess extensive hands-on expertise in Java development and constructing software solutions from inception to completion. Your analytical mindset and innate problem-solving abilities drive you to leverage your technical capabilities to deliver meaningful results.
To fulfill this role successfully, candidates must meet the following qualifications: a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, at least three years of professional experience in a similar position, strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, proficiency in industry-standard software tools, excellent communication and organizational skills, and the capacity to work both independently and collaboratively within a team. Additionally, prior experience with project management methodologies and a proven track record of delivering results under tight deadlines are strongly preferred. Knowledge of regulatory compliance standards and a commitment to continuous professional development will be key differentiators in this hiring process.
With over eight years of specialized expertise in backend engineering, particularly in JVM-based languages, the ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in these technologies.
Requires a minimum of three years of proven leadership experience in overseeing a team of Java backend engineers, with accountability for performing team performance evaluations.
Proficiency in developing and deploying microservices architectures, coupled with hands-on experience utilizing Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure, is essential.
Professionally experienced with the Spring framework and a diverse range of Java backend tools and frameworks.
Candidates with prior exposure to or expertise in Salesforce CRM will be viewed favorably.
You’re not merely interested in coding; rather, you’re driven to design and implement robust, scalable systems that prioritize quality at every stage.
You will operate from either Kenya or South Africa.
You possess strong proficiency in English, both written and verbal, demonstrating clear and effective communication abilities.
Qualifications
BA/BSc/HND
Experience Required
8 years
