Platform Engineering Lead

ABOUT ALU

At the African Leadership University (ALU), we are more than an academic institution, we are a launchpad for Africa’s next generation of leaders. Our mission is bold: to develop ethical, entrepreneurial changemakers who will shape Africa’s future. Through an innovative curriculum, hands-on learning, and a vibrant pan-African community, we equip our students to tackle complex challenges, connect the dots across diverse perspectives, and create solutions that drive lasting impact. We don’t just teach; we nurture adaptable, globally minded problem-solvers ready to thrive in ambiguity, build from scratch, and lead Africa into a prosperous 21st century.

African Leadership University is incorporated in Rwanda as The African Leadership University (ALU) and in Mauritius as the African Leadership College of Higher Education (ALCHE). Each entity is separately accredited to offer qualifications by the Council of Higher Education in Rwanda and the Higher Education Commission in Mauritius. The ALU School of Business (ALUSB) is the engine of education in business, leadership, and entrepreneurship for both campuses. 

We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.

HOW WE WORK

The ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.

The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a Senior Platform Engineer to lead the design, optimisation and governance of ALU’s digital infrastructure. This is a hands-on technical leadership role; you will play a central role in shaping the architecture, development practices and delivery models. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a builder environment, sets high technical standards and wants to leave a lasting mark on how a mission-driven institution runs its technology.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the software architecture and software development across ALU’s platforms (Salesforce, AWS, Oracle NetSuite and others).
• Remains an active technical contributor through hands-on coding, architecture design and perform code reviews to ensure technical excellence and scalability..
• Design scalable, modular system architectures, including microservices-based approaches where appropriate.
• Establish and manage stable environments for development, QA and production; ensuring reliable deployment pipelines and traceability.
• Optimize and secure API and cloud infrastructure, implementing robust monitoring, observability, and documentation standards.
• Reduce technical debt by establishing consistent build pipelines, version control practices and enforcing unit & regression testing before production releases.
• Collaborate across vendors and internal teams to standardize code quality, enforce DevOps practices (CI/CD, automated testing, environment parity), and align technical workflows.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to product teams; setting the bar for quality and security.
• Ensure technology choices balance scale, flexibility and cost-efficiency.

Ensure the safety and well-being of all young persons and vulnerable adults with whom we deal,  by adhering to ALU’s comprehensive safeguarding policy, maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to any violations of safeguarding standards.

REQUIREMENTS

• 9+ years of experience in platform engineering, DevOps or full-stack software development
• Salesforce and AWS certifications preferred (or equivalent demonstrated expertise)
• Proven experience as the technical lead or principal engineer in environments where you set standards and guided teams
• Hands-on experience in API design, CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure management, with version control and collaboration using Git and Jira.
• Strong experience with AWS, Oracle NetSuite, or similar enterprise platforms
• Proficient in setting up and managing secure, scalable development environments and automation pipelines
• Strong grasp of software architecture, including monolith-to-microservice transitions
• Experience working with external vendors and ensuring delivery quality across multiple partners
• Full-stack development experience a plus