Vacancy title:
M-Pesa Africa Senior Software Architect

[Type: FULL_TIME, Industry: Telecommunications, Category: Computer & IT]

Jobs at:
Safaricom Kenya

Deadline of this Job:
Monday, June 23 2025

Duty Station:
Nairobi | kenya | Kenya

Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, June 17 2025, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

Similar Jobs in Kenya
Learn more about Safaricom Kenya
Safaricom Kenya jobs in Kenya

JOB DETAILS:

We are hiring a Senior Software Architect to support M-Pesa in achieving its goal of becoming the #1 FinTech company in Africa, and, as part of the M-PESA Africa Architecture Team you will be responsible for establishing and maintaining software architecture and designs for deployment of payments solutions. You will also work with the Software Engineering Team, Cyber Team, as well as other Technology and Operations teams to ensure alignment with company and industry standards and policies. You will propose new software architecture options using approved design patterns or working to agree on architectural approaches with multiple parties for new business propositions.

The agile SAFe Framework has been adopted across M-PESA and in line with the framework you will acquire a systems thinking mindset that supports the continuous flow of value through the Continuous Delivery Pipeline enabling and fostering a DevOps culture. Working closely with Agile Teams, you will help them implement enablers that define, explore and evolve our solutions. You will help plan and develop the Architectural Runway in support of new business Features and Capabilities by actively participating in Program Increment (PI) planning, System Demos and Inspect and Adapt (I&A) events. You will have an overarching appreciation for Agile Architecture in SAFe promoting a set of values, practices and collaborations that support the active, evolutionary design and architecture of our systems.

                                                              Key Responsibilities:

Software Architecture Design

• Provide high- and low-level software architecture and designs for Tier 1 applications including mobile app ecosystems, backend APIs, and orchestration layers.
• Perform code reviews and map software design to code.
• Define architectural strategies and initiatives which enhance solution design, performance, and usability.
• Provide guidance for inter-team design and lead architectural implementation.
• Create high-level software architecture blueprints and design specifications for applications.
• Define the overall structure of the application, including the choice of frameworks, platforms, and tools.
• Provide the technical basis for a fully evolutionary and incremental implementation approach – help developers and designers respond to immediate user needs while allowing the architectural design to evolve.

Mobile App Design

• Define end-to-end architecture for mobile-first digital experiences, supporting super app frameworks, mini-app platforms, and SDK integrations.
• Lead the architectural design of mobile application backends that ensure responsiveness, session resiliency, and scalable concurrent user handling.
• Create reusable architectural patterns for mobile-to-backend communication including REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and asynchronous event-driven APIs.
• Collaborate with Android/iOS teams to align mobile app architecture with backend service evolution, authentication flows, and CI/CD processes.
• Design architectures that embed observability, mobile crash analytics, real-user monitoring (RUM), and distributed tracing for mobile interactions.
• Define secure mobile design patterns including token lifecycle management, device attestation, secure API access, and encrypted data at rest and in transit.
• Support agile teams with architecture enablers that accelerate delivery of mobile releases — via BFFs (Backends-for-Frontends), API orchestration, and feature flagging.
• Evaluate and guide adoption of technologies such as Flutter, React Native, Kotlin Multiplatform, or platform-specific SDKs within the M-PESA super app stack.

Architecting for DevOps and Release on Demand

• Design software architecture for testability, reusability, deployability, and releasability.
• Ensure solutions are architected for continuous deployment and delivery by decoupling deployments from releases.
• Define a Minimum Viable Architecture supporting the creation and evolution of systems and systems interfaces.
• Foster architecture as code through common naming conventions, attributes, and annotations.
• Build quality in by automating architectural compliance checks.
• Promote and build trust in the Continuous Delivery Pipeline for Agile Release Trains to independently explore and test ideas in a true production environment.
• Develop prototypes to validate architectural decisions and demonstrate concepts.
• Experiment with new technologies and methodologies to assess their viability.
• Architect deployment-ready solutions with progressive rollout, A/B testing, and blue-green deployments for app version management.

Support Alignment

• Collaborate with Systems, Security, and Data Architects to ensure discrete solutions created by ARTs and Suppliers fit into and support the larger capabilities of the overall solution.
• Participate in backlog refinement and prioritization sessions.
• Define enabler capabilities, architectural runway, and NFRs.
• Participate in regular Architect Sync sessions to ensure consistency in emerging designs and managing trade-offs across all ARTs and Shared Service teams.
• Participate in regular Solution Demo sessions to demonstrate new implemented approaches and assess fit for purpose.
• Collaborate with Release Management to assess releasability of elements of the solution in line with the Release Strategy.
• Actively work with Agile Teams to ensure that emergent design choices minimize technology complexity and avoid unnecessary duplication of capabilities while reducing or eliminating technical debt.

                                                             Qualifications

Technical Experience:

Essential:

• Proficiency in producing High- and Low-Level Software Architecture designs for Tier 1 Business Critical Applications.
• Expertise in deploying, configuring, and supporting software into Dev, Test, and Production environments.
• API and middleware/orchestration layer design and build experience.
• Strong understanding of security principles, standards, and frameworks such as ISO 27001, NIST, and CIS Controls.
• Proficiency in multiple programming languages (e.g., Java, C#, Python, Rust).
• Experience of various software engineering playbook frameworks (Agile development, Automated testing, Code reviews, Continuous delivery, Continuous integration, Machine learning, Observability, Privacy, Reliability, Security).
• Strong experience in designing high traffic, scalable, reliable, and secure software systems.
• Knowledge of architectural styles and patterns (e.g., Microservices, SOA, MVC, Event-driven architecture).
• Expertise in cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Proficiency in SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Experience with data modelling, data warehousing, and data integration.
• Experience in Mobile App Development and Mini-app Frameworks.
• Knowledge of software security principles and best practices.
• Experience with identity management, authentication, and authorization.
• Skills in performance tuning, load balancing, and monitoring.
• Ability to diagnose and resolve performance issues.

Desirable:

• Experience of continuous delivery and release automation processes.
• Experience in Blockchain Software Architecture.
• Experience in tools such as TIBCO, WSO2, Mulesoft, Apache, etc.
• Experience in analysing application demands to ensure correct sizing of infrastructure.
• Experience running and maintaining software repositories.
• Experience with implementing software design governance processes and methods.
• Knowledge and interest in market-leading Payments technologies, suppliers, and innovations.
• Understanding of technical and architectural policies and ability to transform that policy into detailed technical design.
• Ability to convey technical details at technical forums (e.g., technical change advisory boards, architectural review boards).
• Experience in Service Management and knowledge of ITIL.

Educational Qualifications:

• Science/Computer Science/Engineering related degree or equivalent work experience.
• 8 years technical background inclusive of software architecture, software design, and software development in a large enterprise environment.
• Certification in Solution Architecture, TOGAF, Cloud expertise is desired.
• Domain experience in Financial Services and Financial Technologies will be an added advantage.
• Has demonstrable knowledge and experience in both Agile and Waterfall methodologies.                                               

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 96

Level of Education: bachelor degree

Job application procedure

Interested and qualified? Click here to apply

All Jobs | QUICK ALERT SUBSCRIPTION