Director, Digital Platforms & Engineering (Nairobi Digital Hub)
2026-03-18T10:49:10+00:00
Palladium International
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https://www.greatkenyanjobs.com/jobs/
FULL_TIME
Nairobi
Nairobi
00100
Kenya
Professional Services
Computer & IT, Management, Science & Engineering, Business Operations
2026-03-31T17:00:00+00:00
8
Palladium develops and delivers solutions that create positive impact for communities, businesses, societies and economies. We transform lives and create enduring value by working with governments, corporations and non-profit organisations.
Read more about this company
Director, Digital Platforms & Engineering (Nairobi Digital Hub)
Primary Responsibilities:
Portfolio Leadership and Team Management
- Lead and scale the Nairobi Digital Hub as a multidisciplinary engineering organization (software, data, DevOps, cloud, QA, security, UX)
- Provide executive oversight for major digital and platform implementations, balancing innovation, delivery discipline, risk, and financial performance
- Represent Palladium as a senior digital and engineering leader with clients, funders, governments, and private sector partners
- Balance innovation with delivery discipline, risk management, and financial performance
- Ensure projects align with Palladium’s platform strategy and Digital Hub delivery model
- Recruit, mentor, and retain high caliber engineering and product talent, building sustainable delivery capacity
- Foster a builder culture emphasizing ownership, accountability, learning, and delivery of excellence
- Establish clear career pathways for engineers, architects, and technical leaders within Palladium
Technical Strategy and Execution Oversight
- Define and own Palladium’s digital platform strategy, including interoperable architectures, opensource and global public goods ecosystems, data platforms, analytics, and AI enablement
- Establish and enforce engineering excellence standards across architecture, coding practices, security, scalability, documentation, and DevOps
- Oversee the design, build, and operation of shared digital platforms, accelerators, and reusable components
- Champion product and platform-oriented delivery models, moving beyond project-by-project implementations
- Ensure adoption of modern software engineering practices (Agile, CI/CD, cloud native, API first, modular architectures)
- Serve as a senior technical authority on platform architecture, integration, and interoperability across sectors
- Ensure platforms are secure, scalable, and compliant with donors, regulatory, and data protection requirements
- Develop and maintain reference architectures, blueprints, and reusable assets for global use
Growth and Business Development
- Originate and close digital business opportunities, including platform build and scale and managed services for both public and private sector clients, supporting diversification of revenue beyond traditional donor funded work
- Lead or significantly contribute to deal shaping, solution design, pricing models, and commercial structures including authoring and reviewing technical and management sections of proposals
- Translate complex technical concepts into clear business and impact value propositions
- Build and maintain strategic partnerships with technology firms, startups, investors, and delivery partners to support cocreation, co-investment, and platform adoption
Essential Criteria:
- 15+ years in software engineering, digital platforms, or technology leadership roles
- Proven experience leading engineering teams and growth of digital platform engineering teams at scale; experience leading a P&L with accountability for revenue growth, cost management, and profitability preferred
- Strong understanding of: Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP); Modern software architectures (microservices, APIs, event-driven systems); Data platforms and analytics
- Demonstrated success in business development or commercial technology roles including selling, deal shaping, or partnerships
- Experience working across public sector, development, and/or private sector technology environments
- Track record of delivering complex digital solutions in multi-stakeholder environments
* Lead and scale the Nairobi Digital Hub as a multidisciplinary engineering organization (software, data, DevOps, cloud, QA, security, UX) * Provide executive oversight for major digital and platform implementations, balancing innovation, delivery discipline, risk, and financial performance * Represent Palladium as a senior digital and engineering leader with clients, funders, governments, and private sector partners * Balance innovation with delivery discipline, risk management, and financial performance * Ensure projects align with Palladium’s platform strategy and Digital Hub delivery model * Recruit, mentor, and retain high caliber engineering and product talent, building sustainable delivery capacity * Foster a builder culture emphasizing ownership, accountability, learning, and delivery of excellence * Establish clear career pathways for engineers, architects, and technical leaders within Palladium * Define and own Palladium’s digital platform strategy, including interoperable architectures, opensource and global public goods ecosystems, data platforms, analytics, and AI enablement * Establish and enforce engineering excellence standards across architecture, coding practices, security, scalability, documentation, and DevOps * Oversee the design, build, and operation of shared digital platforms, accelerators, and reusable components * Champion product and platform-oriented delivery models, moving beyond project-by-project implementations * Ensure adoption of modern software engineering practices (Agile, CI/CD, cloud native, API first, modular architectures) * Serve as a senior technical authority on platform architecture, integration, and interoperability across sectors * Ensure platforms are secure, scalable, and compliant with donors, regulatory, and data protection requirements * Develop and maintain reference architectures, blueprints, and reusable assets for global use * Originate and close digital business opportunities, including platform build and scale and managed services for both public and private sector clients, supporting diversification of revenue beyond traditional donor funded work * Lead or significantly contribute to deal shaping, solution design, pricing models, and commercial structures including authoring and reviewing technical and management sections of proposals * Translate complex technical concepts into clear business and impact value propositions * Build and maintain strategic partnerships with technology firms, startups, investors, and delivery partners to support cocreation, co-investment, and platform adoption
* Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) * Modern software architectures (microservices, APIs, event-driven systems) * Data platforms and analytics * Business development * Commercial technology roles * Selling * Deal shaping * Partnerships
* 15+ years in software engineering, digital platforms, or technology leadership roles * Proven experience leading engineering teams and growth of digital platform engineering teams at scale * Experience leading a P&L with accountability for revenue growth, cost management, and profitability preferred * Strong understanding of Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) * Strong understanding of Modern software architectures (microservices, APIs, event-driven systems) * Strong understanding of Data platforms and analytics * Demonstrated success in business development or commercial technology roles including selling, deal shaping, or partnerships * Experience working across public sector, development, and/or private sector technology environments * Track record of delivering complex digital solutions in multi-stakeholder environments
JOB-69ba8326c70fe
[Type: FULL_TIME, Industry: Professional Services, Category: Computer & IT, Management, Science & Engineering, Business Operations]