Watu Credit Limited Head of Engineering - Digital Experience Jobs in Kenya
Watu Credit Limited Head of Engineering - Digital Experience Jobs in Kenya; This is a founding leadership hire for the Digital Experience Engineering function. You will be the first Head of Engineering, Digital Experience at Watu, responsible for building and leading the engineering organisation that owns everything the customer touches: payments, the Android app, conversational experience, and growth.
You will report directly to the CTO and be a peer to the Head of Engineering, Platform and the three Heads of Product. You will define how engineering works on the customer‑facing layer, setting technical standards, building the squad model, hiring Tech Leads, and creating the conditions for fast, high‑quality delivery.
This is a hands‑on leadership role. You are expected to be close to the code, the architecture, and the engineers, not behind a layer of process.
Your Squads
Squad 1 – Payments Engineering: Payment rails and integrations (MPESA, Airtel, etc.), reconciliation, post‑go‑live ops, Payment API.
Squad 2 – Messaging Experience Engineering: SMS, WhatsApp, FCM dispatch layer, conversational orchestration, loan notifications, payment via chat, customer communications.
Squad 3 – Android Experience Engineering: Watu Android app, BE API serving mobile, release process, QA strategy ownership, device experience features.
Squad 4 – Growth & Loyalty Engineering: Loyalty and rewards engine, points, tiers, redemption logic, growth feature backend (referrals, campaigns), integration with Android app and payments.
QA Chapter: Embedded in squads, reports to you, drives QA strategy and standards.
What You Will Own
Engineering Leadership
Set technical direction for customer experience engineering layer, architecture patterns, API design standards, code quality gates, and testing strategy.
Build and manage Tech Leads, hire and develop them, hold them to a high bar.
Lead QA Chapter model, ensuring consistent testing standards and automation coverage.
Own release management process for CXE, coordinate cross‑squad releases.
Delivery and Quality
Drive delivery across five squads using Scrum or Kanban.
Work with outsourcing partners, ensuring Tech Lead sign‑off on all shipped work.
Enforce engineering standards: GitHub for code, GitHub Actions for CI/CD, PR reviews, coverage gates, OpenAPI documentation, ADRs, runbooks.
Own Definition of Done for CXE function, with QA embedded in every squad.
People and Culture
Build CXE engineering culture: high ownership,
direct communication, AI‑native workflows.
Hire Tech Leads and engineers, define hiring bar, conduct final interviews.
Partner closely with Heads of Product, owning How and When.
Who You Are
Essential
7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years leading teams of 15+ people.
Track record of shipping customer‑facing products at scale (payments, mobile apps, messaging, growth engineering).
Strong technical depth in backend engineering (APIs, distributed systems) and mobile/frontend fluency.
Experience with vendor governance and external execution oversight.
Proven ability to build and develop engineering managers and Tech Leads.
Comfortable building for mobile‑first, low‑bandwidth, emerging market customers.
Fluent in modern engineering practices: trunk‑based development, CI/CD, infrastructure‑as‑code, security‑first API design, test automation.
Strongly Preferred
Experience in fintech (payments, lending, digital financial services in Africa or LATAM).
Hands‑on Android app development or governance.
Familiarity with conversational product engineering (WhatsApp Business API, SMS orchestration, chatbots).
Experience in squad‑based engineering models (Spotify model or similar).
Nairobi‑based or willing to relocate.
The Kind of Person We Are Looking For
Push back when product roadmap is unrealistic.
Protect engineering quality without being obstructionist.
Direct communicator, gives feedback clearly and early.
Thinks in systems, fixes processes not just incidents.
Excited about AI‑assisted engineering, models it for the team.
Strong opinions on good engineering practices, willing to defend them.
What We Offer
Senior role, direct CTO report, peer to Heads of Product.
Founding member of restructured engineering leadership team.
Authority to set technical direction for customer‑facing product surface.
Mission that matters: customers financing motorcycles and phones that change lives.
Competitive salary, benefits, and long‑term incentive participation.
How to apply
For more information and job application details, see; Watu Credit Limited Head of Engineering - Digital Experience Jobs in Kenya
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