Software Engineer – Fintech Digital Channels Full Time NEW

We are seeking an M-Pesa Digital Channel Developer (Android) to join our team and develop innovative Android apps, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional user experiences.

At Safaricom Ethiopia, we are a purpose‑led technology company dedicated to transforming lives through digital connectivity and inclusive financial services. In less than five years, we have grown to serve 15 million customers, with our network now reaching 62% of Ethiopia’s population — a testament to our bold vision and trusted partnerships.

Guided by our core values of customer obsession, innovation, integrity, and collaboration, we are building a workplace that is dynamic, inclusive, and empowering. We believe our greatest strength lies in our people. That is why, for three consecutive years, we have proudly earned the Top Employer Award — recognition of our unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive, innovative, and inclusive environment.

Join Safaricom Ethiopia and be part of a team that is shaping the digital future of Ethiopia. Here, your work has meaning, your voice matters, and your growth is our priority. Together, we are transforming lives for a digital future.

Role purpose: 

We are looking for a skilled M-Pesa Digital Channel Developer (Android) to join our mobile development team. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining advanced Android applications using Kotlin, integrating with RESTful APIs, and collaborating with designers, product managers, and backend engineers to deliver high-quality user experience and ensuring best practices in software development.

If you’re interested in working in the field of web and mobile application development and moving forward in your career, then this job is for you. We expect you to be a tech-savvy professional, who is curious about new digital technologies and aspires to combine usability with visual design. You will be reporting to the digital channels technical lead within M-Pesa Technology function

Ultimately, you should be able to create a functional and attractive digital environment for our company, ensuring great user experience. 

Key accountabilities and decision ownership:

• Build reusable code and libraries for future use
• Ensure the technical feasibility of user stories and UI/UX mock-up designs
• Strong understanding of Android SDK, UI components, and lifecycle management.
•  Design and build scalable, reliable, and maintainable Android applications in Kotlin
•   Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new features
•   Consume RESTful APIs and handle local data persistence (e.g., Room, DataStore)
• Implement MVVM or other modern Android architectural patterns
• Write clean, modular, and testable code following best practices

• Participate in technical and non-technical discussions with cross-functional team members to identify, plan and implement solutions
• Perform unit testing of various modules/units of application
• Ensure compliance with CICD pipeline for development and deployment activities
• Perform periodic code refactoring and code optimization to ensure application efficiency based on user feedback
• Ensure secure authentication, authorization, and data protection measures.
• Follow Agile/Scrum methodologies and participate in sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives.
• Implement TDD (Test-driven development) to ensure that, all acceptance criteria for user stories are successfully implemented and tested
• Provide App support for both existing and newly deployed applications
• Remain up to date with the terminology, concepts and best practices for coding mobile apps
• Communicate with users to understand their needs and experiences

Core competencies, knowledge, and experience:

Business Competencies:

• Must be able to work without supervision & meet tight deadlines/schedules.
• A strong desire to learn and figure out how to create market leading user-friendly web and mobile applications

Creativity and Innovation

• Excellent Problem solving skills

Business Know how

• Experience of working in Fintech organization
• Attention to detail

Working with Change

• Excellent communication skills
• Quick to adopt and willingness to work/deliver in a short period

Project and Programme Management

• Knowledge of Scrum/Kanban Agile methodologies

Functional Competencies:

• Bachelor of Science Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Software Development or related subject.
• Experience in Continuous integration and deployment methodologies using automated tools such as Jenkins.
• Basic understanding of cloud computing is a plus
• An understanding of security principles with regard to web, mobile applications, backend and tech platforms

Key performance indicator:

1. Delivery of all assigned tasks as per defined quality and committed timelines.

Skillset modernization – continuously upskill according to M-Pesa Technology yearly skillset modernization program

Must have technical / professional qualifications: 

• Strong experience in Kotlin, and JavaScript with frameworks like Flutter.
• Develop and maintain Android applications using Kotlin and/or Java, Flutter is a plus,
• Work with MVVM/MVP architecture and Jetpack components.
  • Experience with Jetpack Compose, LiveData, ViewModel, Navigation and Room Database.
  • Familiarity with Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Analytics, Crashlytics, etc.).
  • Experience working with APIs, Retrofit, and JSON parsing
  • Exposure to Kotlin Multiplatform (KMM)
  • Familiarity with dependency injection tools (e.g., Hilt, Dagger)
  • Working knowledge of unit testing frameworks (JUnit)
  • Understanding of web security principles (OAuth, JWT, encryption).
  • Knowledge of Google Play Console, app submission, and release process.
  • Prepare apps for the App Store submission process, including provisioning profiles and certificates.
  • Monitor and resolve app crashes, performance issues, and user feedback.
  • Optimize app performance and ensure smooth user experience.
  • Strong problem-solving and debugging skills.
  • Experience working with RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and microservices architecture.
  • Experience in cloud computing (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and DevOps tools.
  • Strong knowledge of Git, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines.

Desired 

• A very good understanding about mobile applications programming languages such as Kotlin, SQLite, XML together with their mainstream IDEs such Android Studio, IntelliJ. 
• Certification in cloud native technologies such as Kubernetes.

How to Apply. If you feel that you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualification and experience, kindly proceed to create/ update your candidate profile on the recruitment portal and then Click on the apply button. Remember to attach your resume.