Senior Backend Engineer I

Job description

M-KOPA Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

2 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants

Opportunity

We're continuing to hire multiple Senior Backend Engineers (I, II & III) as we scale our growing FinTech team at M-KOPA.

Build sophisticated event‑driven microservices that unlock financial inclusion across Africa.

The Impact

Your code will directly power technology solutions for millions of people across Africa who have been excluded from traditional financial services.

We've already helped over 7 million customers access over $2 billion in credit.

M-KOPA Impact Report 2025: Pathways to progress

Link to Impact report.

Mission‑driven engineering

Every service you build helps expand financial inclusion for under‑banked populations.

Global recognition

Join a company named by TIME 100 as one of the world's most influential and by the Financial Times as Africa's fastest‑growing for 4 consecutive years (2022‑2025).

Scale challenges

Build backend systems serving millions across multiple African markets.

Environmental impact

We're carbon‑negative, having displaced over 2.1 million tonnes of emissions.

Fully distributed

Work remotely with diverse teams across UK, Europe, and Africa.

What You'll Do

At M‑KOPA, you'll build sophisticated event‑driven microservices with real‑world impact.

Our engineering teams own their solutions end‑to‑end – from architecture decisions to production monitoring.

Join us in combining cutting‑edge .NET development with purpose‑driven engineering that makes digital and financial inclusion possible across Africa.

Technical Environment

• Modern C# Stack: predominantly C# against the latest .NET stack
• Microservices & Cloud: favour microservices hosted on Azure using Kubernetes
• Event‑Driven Architecture: iterating toward a decoupled event‑driven architecture
• Mixed Environment: both legacy services and greenfield microservices
• On‑boarding: Internal Engineering Bootcamp with immersive onboarding

Engineering Approach

• High‑quality output
• Observability and monitoring
• Automated testing in all environments, including production
• Infrastructure as code and DevOps practices
• Knowledge sharing and collaborative problem‑solving

What You Need

You should be comfortable working as part of a team which owns the entire software stack, supporting infrastructure, and throughout the software lifecycle under a DevOps culture.

Embrace continuous delivery, testing, and observability as first‑order concerns.

Required Experience

• Strong grasp of C# .NET development
• Experience with Event‑Driven Systems
• Microservices architecture experience
• Testing and deployment expertise
• DevOps culture mindset
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively in distributed teams
• Continuous learning mindset and openness to feedback

Location & Benefits

• Fully remote role within UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
• Work with diverse teams distributed across UK, Europe, and Africa
• Personalised training budget to support your development
• Home office setup budget
• Internal Engineering Bootcamp: immersive onboarding
• Professional development programs and coaching partnerships
• Family‑friendly policies and flexible working arrangements
• Well‑being support and career growth opportunities

Our Mission

We create financial inclusion for the traditionally excluded through a fair, flexible, customer‑centric financing model, striving to drive greater inclusion of women, youth, and low‑income communities.

Our Impact

• Connected: 2.5 million first‑time mobile internet users connected
• Prosperous: 70% of customers use M‑KOPA products for income generation, with 35,000 livelihoods created for agents
• Green: 2.1 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided through clean energy products and e‑mobility, with over 127,000 circular economy products provided

Why M‑KOPA

At M‑KOPA, we empower people through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on‑the‑job training.

We support individual journeys with family‑friendly policies, prioritize well‑being, and embrace flexibility.

Ready to build C# .NET solutions that create real‑world financial inclusion?

Join us in shaping the future of M‑KOPA as we grow together.

Explore more at m-kopa.com .

Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one of Africa's fastest growing companies (2022‑2025) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024.

We have served over 6 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa.

M‑KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff.

Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M‑KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of forced or child labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice.

M‑KOPA shall ensure that its employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships.

M‑KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre‑employment or post‑employment requirement.

This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.

Required Skill Profession

Networks & Systems