M-Pesa Africa Senior Software Architect at Safaricom Kenya

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 minimise 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.