Scala Engineer Team Lead (Remote – Portugal, Kenya, or South Africa)

Organization: Tiko
Location: Remote (Portugal, Kenya, or South Africa)
Contract Type: Full-time
Salary Range:

• Portugal: €3,590 – €5,500 gross/month (x14)

• South Africa: R84,220 – R130,000 gross/month

• Kenya: Ksh427,096 – Ksh655,000 gross/month

About Tiko

Tiko is a nonprofit empowering adolescent girls and young women across Sub-Saharan Africa to combat early pregnancy, HIV, and gender-based violence. Using a unique girl-centric tech platform, Tiko connects girls with partners in health and well-being services across 7 countries.

With offices in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Portugal, and the Netherlands, Tiko’s team of 230+ works remotely or from vibrant offices in a young, global, and fast-paced environment.

The Role

Tiko is hiring a Scala Engineer Team Lead to guide a team of backend developers while remaining technically hands-on. You’ll shape product direction, build secure and scalable systems, and support your team’s growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Coordination: Plan and guide your team’s work, participate in cross-functional projects, and support agile practices.

• Software Development: Design, test, and maintain core platform features using Scala and best practices.

• Agile Participation: Join sprints, standups, and retrospectives to improve team workflow.

• Documentation & Security: Maintain clear documentation and prioritize secure development.

• Mentorship & Growth: Mentor engineers and support their development while continuously growing yourself.

Candidate Profile

Required Experience

• 8+ years in software development

• 3+ years in team management

• Expertise in Scala and functional programming (cats, cats-effect, etc.)

• Microservices architecture and AWS experience

• Excellent communication in English

• Residency in Portugal, Kenya, or South Africa

Desired Traits

• Passion for clean, scalable systems

• Ability to balance hands-on coding with leadership

• Strong organizational and mentoring skills

Recruitment Process

1. Intro call with recruiter

2. First interview with tech team

3. Technical challenge

4. Final interview with team

Benefits

• Competitive salary (based on location)

• Remote or hybrid work options

• €500 personal development budget

• Unlimited vacation policy

• Flexible and autonomous work culture