Development Lead

Remuneration:	R75000 per month negotiable
Benefits:	22 days leave, R600 WiFi reimbursement, R900 therapy stipend, currently trialing a 4 day work week (Fridays off), 1 x menstrual leave day a month.
Location:	South Africa
Remote work:	Only remote work
Education level:	Degree
Job level:	Senior
Type:	Permanent
Reference:	#OCLDevelopmentLead
Company:	Open Cities Lab

Job description

Are you passionate about leading a dynamic team in the world of data and technology? Do you thrive in a collaborative environment where innovation and excellence are paramount? If so, this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for!

As the development lead, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our Tech ecosystem, optimising productivity, and driving excellence in product design, development, and deployment.

Accountable directly to the CTO and collaborating with cross-functional teams, you'll lead a team of developers, ensuring they align with OCL's aspirational culture and work ethos. You will be the guiding voice of our development products and will shape the features developed by the Development Team to be used by people across the continent and beyond.

The work is challenging, fast-paced and always changing. You are anempathetic and creative leader with strong analytical skills, a commitment to quality, a collaborative work ethic and strong coding skills.

Further, with data- driven decision-making being a core tenet of our approach to impact, this role requires a strong adherence to and an enthusiasm for careful, rigorous, responsible, and empathetic use of development, both personal and institutional; seeking to build for safety, inclusivity, and equity.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive development strategy aligned with business objectives.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather feedback and ensure product relevance and effectiveness. 
• Oversee the design, development and implementation of Civic Tech products, ensuring that they meet high quality standards and the needs of city partners. 
• Manage timelines, budgets and resources to ensure successful product releases and implementations. 
• Lead, mentor and develop the development team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and excellence 
• Grow professionally and develop

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of computer science or relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent practical experience.
• Certifications in design methodology, project management or UX would be advantageous. 

Skills and technical expertise:

• Python: Advanced Python proficiency for developing scalable and maintainable code, focusing on Web Development Python Frameworks
• (Flask, Django, FastAPI).
• Cloud engineering: Advanced proficiency in public cloud platforms such as AWS. Ability to design, implement, and manage cloud infrastructure and services.
• Open-source development would be beneficial: Strong background in contributing to and managing open-source projects advantageous. 
• Familiarity with open-source licensing, community engagement, and leveraging open-source tools and libraries.
• Data automation and integration: Proficiency in automating data workflows and integrating diverse data sources to streamline processes and enhance data accuracy, Apache airflow experience a bonus.
• In-depth knowledge of product release processes and technical concepts. 
• Ability to innovate and apply emerging technologies effectively.
• Strong leadership and management abilities.
• Excellent communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Competencies in problem-solving, decision-making, organisational skills, and the ability to lead remote teams.
• Knowledge of and experience working with Notion, Slack, Microsoft, Google Suite, Toggl etc. would be an advantage.

Experience:

• Proven experience in a technical development environment, ideally within Civic Tech, with a track record of successful product deployments.
• Experience with city systems is highly beneficial.
• Experience working with data automation and integration is required.
• Proven experience leading software development teams and building out complex software solutions.

Culture and values

• Personal values aligned with OCL's aspirational culture.
• High ethical standards, integrity, and a strong desire for continuous learning and growth.
• Commitment to ongoing performance improvement and coaching programmes.

Company Description

We believe that through empowering citizens, building trust and accountability in civic space, and building capacity with government, we will enable participation in decision making, evidence-based urban intervention, and inclusive co-design that will improve the lives of residents in urban spaces.

Our organisation is made up of Researchers, Software Developers, Economists, Data Scientists, Designers and Product Owners who get to constantly expand their knowledge and learn peripheral skills as part of the job. We are all driven by a common purpose as a non-partisan community founded on the belief of equality and inclusion through openness across all aspects of society.

We are growing! And we need help expanding our data capacity...

All applicants who are drawn to serve the mission of Open Cities Lab will enjoy Equality of Opportunity and fair treatment without regard to:
• Race
• Colour
• Age
• Religion
• Pregnancy
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Gender identity
• Gender expression
• National origin
• Genetic information
• Marital status
• Prior protected activity

Women, Nonbinary, BIPOC, People with disabilities are strongly encouraged to  apply.

Posted on 18 Jun 15:27, Closing date 24 Jul