Developer Experience Engineer (George Western Cape, On-site) (Western Cape)

Job description

Developer Experience Engineer

Softsure | George, Western Cape | In-Office

Make Developers Faster. Remove Friction. Build the Platform They Actually Want to Use.

How long does it take a developer in your world to ship their first feature?

If the answer is weeks, we have a problem.

At Softsure, we’re building a modern platform engineering capability to transform a 15-year-old system into an API-first, event-driven platform. Developer experience sits at the centre of that transformation.

This role is not about documentation.
It’s about engineering the environment where great software gets built faster.

What You’ll Do

You’ll design, build, and continuously improve the developer platform and experience across the organisation:

• Implement and maintain Backstage as our internal developer portal

• Build and maintain the service catalogue (visibility, ownership, discoverability)

• Create golden path templates so new services can be created in minutes, not days

• Design and maintain software templates that enforce standards without slowing teams down

• Build self-service capabilities (environment provisioning, secrets, config management)

• Implement TechDocs so documentation lives with code and stays relevant

• Create developer productivity dashboards and track meaningful metrics

• Gather feedback and turn developer pain points into real platform improvements

• Run enablement sessions and training to drive adoption

• Engineering Contribution (Non-Negotiable)

You are an engineer first:

• Contribute to software development and platform engineering tasks, including coding, debugging, and optimisation

• Build and maintain internal tools, scripts, and services that improve developer productivity

• Support the development of APIs, services, and automation tooling

• Collaborate on production-quality code, reviews, and engineering standards

• Assist in modernising legacy systems where developer experience intersects with core engineering

• Participate in code reviews, testing, and continuous improvement practices

What You Bring

• 3+ years software development experience

• Experience working on developer platforms, tooling, or internal engineering systems

• Exposure to Backstage or similar platforms (Port, Cortex, OpsLevel)

• Strong TypeScript and React skills

• Solid understanding of developer workflows and SDLC practices

• Ability to write clear, useful technical documentation

• Strong problem-solving mindset with a focus on removing friction at scale

Education

• Degree or Diploma in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related technical field

• Equivalent hands-on experience building developer tooling or platforms will be considered

Advantageous:

Certifications in cloud platforms, DevOps, or developer tooling (Azure preferred)

Nice to Have

• Experience building CLI tools or VS Code extensions

• Familiarity with the Backstage plugin ecosystem

• Experience measuring developer productivity (DORA metrics, developer insights)

• Training or facilitation experience

• Experience driving platform adoption across engineering teams

Why Join Softsure

• Build a developer platform from the ground up

• Direct impact on how every developer in the business delivers

• Work with modern tools (Backstage, GitHub Enterprise, Azure)

• Be part of a team that values engineering quality over noise

• Play a key role in transforming a legacy system into a modern platform