Industry: Global Sports Tech and Data
Role: Head of Software
Location: Cape Town (Claremont) - Hybrid 3 days in office per week
Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent
Remuneration: R1.5m-R2m per annum
Introduction:
Our client is a leading sports data provider who have pioneered world-first innovations (Smart Balls, player tracking, etc.) combining cutting-edge embedded systems, wireless technology, and cloud-based platforms.
We are searching for a Head of Software to own the end-to-end software strategy, architecture, delivery, and reliability of their athlete and ball tracking platform. This is for pitch side systems, through mobile edge compute to cloud services and customer facing APIs.
The Head of Software must have a successful track record of managing a team of software engineers (Front End / Back End and Data Scientists) as well as technically strong to provide input on architectural decisions.
This is a senior leadership role. You will:
- Build and lead a high-performing software organisation (backend / API, cloud services, frontend, data science)
- Establish engineering standards, and drive execution against product and commercial commitments.
- You will set the technical direction and operating cadence that keeps our client fast while making reliability feel like a core product feature.
- You will still be technically credible and capable of diving into architecture and incident response, but your primary job is leading people and systems at scale: hiring, coaching, delivery, and operational excellence.
If you thrive in a fast-paced, innovative environment and bring strong IT and people management expertise, we’d love to hear from you.
Required skills / Experience:
- Minimum 3 years managing software engineers or technical leads.
- Education: Engineering degree, Diploma, or equivalent practical experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional software teams.
- Proven track record of shipping production systems at scale.
- Experience owning or significantly influencing architecture decisions.
- Strong exposure to structured software design and release management practices.
- Soft Skills: Exceptional attention to detail and ability to manage multiple requests simultaneously. Good written and verbal communication.
- Able to work independently with a hands-on, sleeves rolled-up approach that thrives in a fast-paced environment.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategy, architecture, and platform ownership
- Own the software strategy and technical roadmap across backend services, edge compute, APIs, and supporting developer platforms.
- Define and evolve system architecture for low-latency real-time tracking workloads (streaming ingestion, processing, synchronisation and delivery).
- Make pragmatic technology decisions that improve reliability, scalability, and speed of delivery.
- Drive strong engineering practices: design reviews, RFCs, coding standards, test strategies, telemetry and release governance.
Leadership & Process
- Operate as both a strategic leader and technical authority.
- Enforces engineering discipline without creating delivery friction.
- Prioritises clarity, predictability, and quality over reactive development.
- Builds scalable team structures rather than hero-driven execution.
- Drive measurable improvements in delivery and reliability metrics.
Nice to Have:
- Experience scaling teams through growth phases
- Exposure to high-availability or low-latency systems
- Experience working closely with hardware / embedded / data systems
- Familiarity with DevOps and infrastructure reliability practices
Reporting Lines:
- Reports to VP of Engineering
Working Closely With:
- All Engineering teams
- VP of Engineering
Perks and Benefits:
- Hybrid work environment
- Generous annual leave