Cape Town, Western Cape, ZA
At Switch, we're putting digital insurance in the hands of more people. We are the only
digital insurer in South Africa offering switchable on-demand cover for your favourite
portables (phones, laptops, bicycles, etc.), home items and cars.
Part of the Santam Group, we're using technology to redefine personal insurance for the
21st century and make short-term insurance simpler, easier and more affordable. We're a
team of dynamic, talented and experienced technology, marketing and insurance
professionals from diverse backgrounds.
THE ROLEWe are searching for a Software Engineer with solid Python experience to improve and
maintain the Backend components of our AWS-native insurance platform. The Backend
team builds and maintains the business layer, databases, and APIs that power our mobile
app, administration portal and partner integrations. Your ultimate goal is to deliver
Backend improvements that support our ambition to be SA's leading fully digital insurer.
You enjoy moving fluidly between developing new software, debugging and fixing bugs,
analysing and improving existing code, and collaborating with other team members. You
will work on a modern software platform which is natively architected for the cloud and
delivered using modern DevOps practices. You embrace the collaborative philosophy of
the team and contribute to building a high-trust environment that allows each member to
excel.
You will report to the Backend Tech Lead and work daily with a squad that includes product
managers, designers, engineers and testers. You will collaborate with the rest of the
Engineering team (Mobile App, Infrastructure, QA) and with colleagues from other areas of
the business (e.g. Finance, Marketing, Client Services etc) to deliver on our technology
goals.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?? Develop new features that extend the Backend capabilities of our insurance policy
administration platform.
? Contribute to the evolution of our Backend platform in line with best practices,
emerging trends and new technologies.
? Contribute towards architectural design and decision-making across Backend
components.
? Participate in maintenance activities such as paying down technical debt,
rearchitecting old design decisions, and improving performance and resilience.
? Monitor the key performance indicators of the Backend components and drive their
visibility.
? Collaborate with the Product team to ensure clear, realistic, and pragmatic
development roadmaps.
? Ensure that monitoring across Backend components is adequate, visible and
attended to.
? Support the incident management process to ensure that errors are logged and
acted on, with consideration for defined SLAs.
? Support the evolution of the team's engineering practices in terms of
documentation, test-driven development, continuous integration and automated
deployment.
? Collaborate with the Infrastructure team to ensure Backend components are
always available and performant, and that CI/CD is fit-for-purpose and reliable.
? Participate in recruitment activities (e.g. interviews, events) to attract and secure
high-quality Engineering talent who are aligned with the company values.
? Improve our team by sharing your experience and knowledge, improving our
documentation, and documenting your design decisions and rationale.
QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE? 4+ years of software development experience.
? Strong prior experience in Python, i.e. a level of Python mastery (knows the
ecosystem, knows the libraries). You'll be expected to be code-productive in
minimal time.
? Strong Django knowledge and experience.
? Strong SQL knowledge and experience.
? Recent experience developing production systems on Amazon Web Services (AWS)
with direct experience with core AWS services e.g. ECS, RDS (Postgres), S3, Lambda,
API Gateway, SQS, SNS etc.
? Experience creating and running containerised applications (e.g. with Docker).
? Relevant tertiary qualification (e.g. IT, computer science, information systems etc.)
or equivalent industry experience.
? Exceptional communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills.
? Experience in Insurance or Financial Services is advantageous.
? Experience in a start-up environment is advantageous.
ENVIRONMENT AND BENEFITS? Remote-first
? Start-up environment within a leading insurance corporate
? Market-related compensation
? State-of-the-art hardware to work on (e.g. Macbook Pro)
? Training resources
? Flexible working hours
? Access to co-share offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town that allow us to
connect in person and ideate around a whiteboard
? Generous leave to balance your work and life
? Group benefits (life insurance, disability insurance etc.)
OUR CULTURECare | We win if our people are winning. Our teams are more than just their work. We strive
to foster a compassionate work environment that extends beyond professional
boundaries, championing our people in every facet of their lives. Embracing this holistic
approach is what empowers our teams to thrive and achieve remarkable success.
Collaboration | Build together. We build together, with our teams and community. We
believe these diverse perspectives drive collaboration and better products for everyone.
Our space is one where individuals express their ideas and opinions freely.
Innovation | Innovate everywhere. We embrace the belief that we're never done.
Innovation permeates every aspect of our work and is not limited to a single department or
role; instead, it is a mindset that we encourage and foster throughout the entire company.
Integrity | Be an owner. We embody an owner mindset. We care about our actions,
decisions and outcomes. We take accountability, act with transparency, and consistently
strive to do what is right, even when no one is watching.
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