Zeraki is all about using technology to solve some of the toughest challenges encountered in providing quality education in Africa. Our cutting edge solutions, provide insights that enable informed decision making, provide access to quality instruction and take the stress out of everyday administrative tasks.About the Role We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who will also serve as a Tech Lead for a cross-functional engineering team (Frontend, Backend, and DevOps). This is not just a senior IC role—it is a leadership role grounded in strong technical execution. You will be responsible for delivering complex systems end-to-end, setting engineering standards, and elevating the performance of the entire team. You will work primarily within a Java/Spring Boot backend ecosystem, while also collaborating closely with frontend engineers (Angular) and DevOps to ensure cohesive, scalable, and reliable systems. Key Responsibilities  Technical Leadership & System Design  Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and maintainable backend systems using Java and Spring Boot  Own architectural decisions across services, ensuring clear contracts between backend, frontend (Angular), and infrastructure  Translate ambiguous product requirements into well-defined technical designs and execution plans  Drive system design discussions, identifying trade-offs in scalability, performance, and maintainability  Ensure alignment between frontend and backend through well-structured APIs and data contracts  Backend Engineering & Execution  Write high-quality, production-grade code for mission-critical systems  Build and maintain RESTful APIs and backend services  Optimize system performance, reliability, and scalability  Proactively identify and address technical debt and bottlenecks  Establish and enforce best practices in code quality and testing  Team Productivity & Enablement  Act as a force multiplier through code reviews and technical leadership  Unblock engineers quickly when they face challenges  Balance personal contribution with team enablement  Ownership & Delivery  Take full ownership of multi-sprint projects  Coordinate execution across engineers  Drive incident response and post-mortems  Proactively identify and resolve risks  Cross-Stack Collaboration  Work closely with Angular frontend engineers  Partner with DevOps on deployment pipelines  Ensure end-to-end system reliability  Business & Product Alignment  Align engineering decisions with product goals  Collaborate with Product Managers  Balance technical excellence with delivery timelines  Mentorship & Team Development  Mentor junior and mid-level engineers  Contribute to hiring and onboarding  Foster a culture of ownership and learning  Performance Expectations  Deliver complex multi-sprint projects reliably  Improve team velocity and code quality  Maintain high system uptime  Drive system performance improvements  Mentor engineers effectively  What We’re Looking For  Experience & Technical Skills  5+ years in backend engineering  Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot  Experience with distributed systems  Strong System and API design skills  Database experience (SQL/NoSQL)  Familiarity with cloud services and CI/CD configurations  Working knowledge of Angular frontend concepts  Leadership & Mindset  Strong ownership mentality  Proven leadership ability  Excellent communication skills  Pragmatic decision-maker  Passion for mentorship