Head of Platform & Architecture

IT Jobs, Caava Group Jobs. Head of Platform & Architecture defines enterprise architecture and scalable platform engineering strategies, requires a Computer Science/IT Degree and 5+ years in software engineering. Full-time role in Nairobi.

Role Purpose

• Lead the Architecture & Evolve Platform portfolio: Architecture & API Standards, Evolve Studio, Shared Experience and Quality Assurance. Give product teams clear technical direction, reusable capabilities and objective quality evidence so they can deliver reliably.
• Work through the four squad leads. Evolve Engineering owns product domains, including COP and FCP. Platform Operations owns infrastructure, deployment, operational continuity and Cybersecurity, Trust & Governance; this role embeds their requirements in designs, shared code and testing.

Key Responsibilities

Set clear architecture and API standards

• Own target architecture, domain boundaries, API and data contracts, integration patterns, architecture decision records and developer documentation.
• Chair the Architecture Forum; resolve cross-team decisions by agreed dates, review significant designs before build and record approved exceptions.
• Define Legacy-to-Evolve transition designs with the delivery Heads; assess technology choices and maintain the architecture roadmap.

Deliver reusable Evolve Studio capabilities

• Own Evolve Studio’s product and pricing configuration, workflow and underwriting controls, multitenancy and multilingual capabilities.
• Agree requirements with product Heads; deliver tested, documented capabilities, support adoption and resolve Studio code defects. Product squads own their domain rules and customer outcomes.

Build a consistent shared experience

• Own shared frontend foundations, the design system and reusable components that support consistent journeys across products and channels.
• Agree UX and accessibility standards with product teams; remove integration friction and reduce duplicate frontend builds while product squads own their journeys.

Provide objective release-quality evidence

• Lead QA strategy, test automation, regression and performance validation across the portfolio.
• Publish test results and defects against agreed release criteria; flag blocking risks before release and verify fixes through retesting.
• Product squads remain accountable for their code and quality; Platform Operations owns deployment, operational readiness and Cybersecurity, Trust & Governance.

Build capable teams and deliver a resourced roadmap

• Lead the Architecture & API Standards, Evolve Studio, Shared Experience and QA squad leads; develop skills, succession and clear performance expectations.
• Match commitments to available skills and an approved hiring plan; protect support capacity and escalate unresourced work before committing.
• Own the portfolio roadmap, quarterly outcomes and budget; assess build-versus-buy and explain costs, dependencies and investment trade-offs to the CTO and ExCo.

Experience and Leadership Style

• 5+ years in software engineering with proven senior architecture or platform leadership experience.
• Strong service architecture, API, data-contract and integration skills across large-scale, regulated platforms.
• Experience delivering reusable configuration platforms or shared frontend capabilities adopted by multiple teams.
• Practical leadership of QA, test automation, regression and performance validation, with clear release-quality evidence.
• Cloud expertise, secure design judgement and experience working with Security and Platform Operations.
• Experience leading teams of 5+ across disciplines, developing leads, managing investment trade-offs and communicating clearly with executives.

How to Apply

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