Senior Software Engineer

Nairobi, Kenya

Job Type

Gross Salary

Full Time

Ksh 200,000 – 280,000

Workspace

Nairobi, Kenya

Apply Now

About the Role

We are looking for highly capable Senior Software Engineers to strengthen Zeraki’s engineering capability and help us build scalable, reliable and high-quality technology across our education technology ecosystem.

This is a hands-on engineering role for someone with strong technical depth, sound engineering judgment and a high level of ownership. You will work on complex systems, contribute to architectural decisions, solve challenging technical problems and help improve the reliability, performance and scalability of Zeraki’s platforms.

You will work primarily within our Java/Spring Boot backend ecosystem, while collaborating closely with Frontend, DevOps, Product and other engineering teams to deliver cohesive, scalable and reliable systems.

For engineers who demonstrate the capability and take on formal technical leadership responsibilities, Zeraki will provide a Tech Lead allowance.

Our culture

At Zeraki, our culture defines how we work, how we make decisions, and how we succeed together. We are united by eight core values: Integrity, Love of Learning, Highest Standards, Deliver Results, Hire & Develop the Best, Manage Through Trust, Empathy, and Have Backbone; Disagree & Commit.

We act with integrity, doing what is right and taking ownership of our actions. We have a love of learning, staying curious and continuously seeking to improve. We hold ourselves to the highest standards, continually raising the bar in the quality of our work, and we deliver results by taking ownership, acting with urgency, and following through on our commitments.

We hire and develop the best, surrounding ourselves with exceptional people and creating opportunities for them to grow and excel. We manage through trust, giving people the context, freedom, responsibility, and accountability to do their best work.

We lead with empathy, creating an environment where people are respected, supported, and able to thrive. And we have backbone, disagree and commit - we speak up when we disagree, challenge ideas respectfully, and once a decision is made, commit fully to making it successful.

Together, these values create a culture of freedom and responsibility, high performance, continuous learning, and meaningful impact, empowering every Zerakian to Be Extraordinary.

About the Company

Zeraki is a pioneering EdTech startup on a mission to redefine education across Africa. Our innovative technology tools are designed to make learning more accessible, effective, and engaging for parents, teachers, and students alike. At the heart of Zeraki is a deep-rooted passion for harnessing the power of education to unlock the potential of the continent's youth and drive transformative change. Zeraki proudly serves over 2.7 million users in 10 countries, establishing itself as one of Africa's leading EdTech companies. Our commitment to excellence and innovation has not gone unnoticed. Zeraki was the proud recipient of the African Union Commission Innovating Education in Africa Award in 2022. Zeraki is one of three EdTech companies participating in the 2024 cohort of the EY AI SDG Accelerator and is also part of the 2024 cohort of the Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact Program. Through these accolades and partnerships, Zeraki continues to shape the future of learning in Africa, demonstrating the transformative role of technology in education.

Technical Leadership & System Design

• Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and maintainable backend systems using Java and Spring Boot
• Own architectural decisions across services, ensuring clear contracts between backend, frontend (Angular), and infrastructure
• Translate ambiguous product requirements into well-defined technical designs and execution plans
• Drive system design discussions, identifying trade-offs in scalability, performance, and maintainability
• Ensure alignment between frontend and backend through well-structured APIs and data contracts

Backend Engineering & Execution

• Write high-quality, production-grade code for mission-critical systems
• Build and maintain RESTful APIs and backend services
• Optimize system performance, reliability, and scalability
• Proactively identify and address technical debt and bottlenecks
• Establish and enforce best practices in code quality and testing

Team Productivity & Enablement

• Act as a force multiplier through code reviews and technical leadership
• Unblock engineers quickly when they face challenges
• Balance personal contribution with team enablement

Ownership & Delivery

• Take full ownership of multi-sprint projects
• Coordinate execution across engineers
• Drive incident response and post-mortems
• Proactively identify and resolve risks

Cross-Stack Collaboration

• Work closely with Angular frontend engineers
• Partner with DevOps on deployment pipelines
• Ensure end-to-end system reliability

Business & Product Alignment

• Align engineering decisions with product goals
• Collaborate with Product Managers
• Balance technical excellence with delivery timelines

Mentorship & Team Development

• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers
• Contribute to hiring and onboarding
• Foster a culture of ownership and learning

Performance Expectations

• Deliver complex multi-sprint projects reliably
• Improve team velocity and code quality
• Maintain high system uptime
• Drive system performance improvements
• Mentor engineers effectively

What We’re Looking For

Experience & Technical Skills

• 5+ years in backend engineering
• Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot
• Experience with distributed systems
• Strong System and API design skills
• Database experience (SQL/NoSQL)
• Familiarity with cloud services and CI/CD configurations
• Working knowledge of Angular frontend concepts

Leadership & Mindset

• Strong ownership mentality
• Proven leadership ability
• Excellent communication skills
• Pragmatic decision-maker
• Passion for mentorship

What we offer

• ● A chance to contribute to a mission-driven company that's making a real difference in education across Africa.
• ● A collaborative, inclusive, and dynamic work environment where your input is valued.
• Apply Now