Background information about the job or company (e.g., role context, company overview)

The African Leadership University is at the beginning of a rapid growth spurt, expanding its student numbers, course offerings, and campus locations. Over the next 5-­7 years, it expects its student numbers to grow from the current 360 (on one campus) to over 25,000 (distributed on perhaps 6-­8 campuses and in the 'cloud’). Despite this multi-­cam...

Responsibilities or duties

Salesforce-Led Platform Architecture

Lead the architecture, development and administration of ALU’s Salesforce platform across domains.

Design and govern integrations between Salesforce and AWS, Oracle NetSuite, BambooHR and other platforms.

Define and document data models, integration patterns and API standards involving Salesforce.

Ensure architectural decisions are practical, scalable and aligned with institutional needs.

Balance scalability, flexibility and cost-efficiency in architectural and implementation decisions.

Hands-on Development & Salesforce Administration

Remain an active technical contributor through Salesforce development (Apex, LWC, integrations) and configuration.

Oversee and, where required, perform Salesforce administration including security models, roles, permissions and environment management.

Review code and configurations to ensure quality, performance and alignment with architectural standards.

Enterprise Integration & Cloud Architecture

Design scalable, modular integration architectures using APIs, event-driven patterns or microservices where appropriate.

Optimise and secure cloud and integration infrastructure, particularly within AWS.

Ensure integrations are resilient, observable and well documented in production.

Ensure appropriate monitoring, logging and observability are in place across integrations and platforms to support operational stability and incident response.

Engineering Standards, Governance & Documentation

Establish and enforce technical standards across Salesforce and integrated platforms, including:

• async processing and integration patterns
• error handling and resilience approaches
• naming conventions and data ownership
• documentation and architectural decision records

Define where technical knowledge is captured and how it is maintained over time.

Influence and continuously improve delivery models across teams and vendors, ensuring work moves predictably from design through to production.

DevOps, Version Control & Release Discipline

Define and own the version control and Git strategy across Salesforce and integrated platforms.

Establish CI/CD pipelines and release management practices, ensuring environment parity across development, QA and production.

Ensure traceability, controlled releases and rollback strategies across vendors and teams.

Vendor & Technical Leadership

Act as the technical authority across internal teams and external delivery partners.

Review vendor designs and deliveries, challenge assumptions and enforce architectural standards.

Mentor engineers and product teams, raising the overall technical and architectural bar.

Responsible Use of AI in Engineering

Use AI tools to accelerate development, improve code reviews, enforce standards and support documentation.

Contribute to a structured, responsible approach to AI use within engineering workflows.

Qualifications or requirements (e.g., education, skills)

Essential

9+ years of experience in Salesforce platform engineering, enterprise architecture or technical leadership roles.

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field

Deep, hands-on Salesforce development and administration experience.

Proven full-stack development experience and operation at Lead Architect, Technical Architect or Principal Engineer level.

Strong experience integrating Salesforce with enterprise systems such as ERP, HR and cloud platforms.

Solid understanding of Salesforce data models, security architecture and performance constraints.

Experience designing integration and cloud architectures across AWS or similar environments.

Hands-on experience in API design, CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure management, with version control and collaboration using Git and Jira.

Proficiency in setting up and managing secure, scalable development environments and automation pipelines.

Strong grasp of software architecture, including monolith-to-microservice transitions.

Experience working with and holding external vendors to account.

• Lead the architecture, development and administration of ALU’s Salesforce platform across domains.
• Design and govern integrations between Salesforce and AWS, Oracle NetSuite, BambooHR and other platforms.
• Define and document data models, integration patterns and API standards involving Salesforce.
• Ensure architectural decisions are practical, scalable and aligned with institutional needs.
• Balance scalability, flexibility and cost-efficiency in architectural and implementation decisions.
• Remain an active technical contributor through Salesforce development (Apex, LWC, integrations) and configuration.
• Oversee and, where required, perform Salesforce administration including security models, roles, permissions and environment management.
• Review code and configurations to ensure quality, performance and alignment with architectural standards.
• Design scalable, modular integration architectures using APIs, event-driven patterns or microservices where appropriate.
• Optimise and secure cloud and integration infrastructure, particularly within AWS.
• Ensure integrations are resilient, observable and well documented in production.
• Ensure appropriate monitoring, logging and observability are in place across integrations and platforms to support operational stability and incident response.
• Establish and enforce technical standards across Salesforce and integrated platforms, including: async processing and integration patterns, error handling and resilience approaches, naming conventions and data ownership, documentation and architectural decision records.
• Define where technical knowledge is captured and how it is maintained over time.
• Influence and continuously improve delivery models across teams and vendors, ensuring work moves predictably from design through to production.
• Define and own the version control and Git strategy across Salesforce and integrated platforms.
• Establish CI/CD pipelines and release management practices, ensuring environment parity across development, QA and production.
• Ensure traceability, controlled releases and rollback strategies across vendors and teams.
• Act as the technical authority across internal teams and external delivery partners.
• Review vendor designs and deliveries, challenge assumptions and enforce architectural standards.
• Mentor engineers and product teams, raising the overall technical and architectural bar.
• Use AI tools to accelerate development, improve code reviews, enforce standards and support documentation.
• Contribute to a structured, responsible approach to AI use within engineering workflows.

• Salesforce development (Apex, LWC, integrations)
• Salesforce administration
• API design
• CI/CD pipelines
• Cloud infrastructure management
• Version control using Git
• Collaboration using Jira
• Software architecture
• Monolith-to-microservice transitions
• AI tools for development, code reviews, standards enforcement, and documentation

• 9+ years of experience in Salesforce platform engineering, enterprise architecture or technical leadership roles.
• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• Deep, hands-on Salesforce development and administration experience.
• Proven full-stack development experience and operation at Lead Architect, Technical Architect or Principal Engineer level.
• Strong experience integrating Salesforce with enterprise systems such as ERP, HR and cloud platforms.
• Solid understanding of Salesforce data models, security architecture and performance constraints.
• Experience designing integration and cloud architectures across AWS or similar environments.
• Hands-on experience in API design, CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure management, with version control and collaboration using Git and Jira.
• Proficiency in setting up and managing secure, scalable development environments and automation pipelines.
• Strong grasp of software architecture, including monolith-to-microservice transitions.
• Experience working with and holding external vendors to account.