At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to design impactful backend systems for financial inclusion.
- Company: Join M-KOPA, a top FinTech innovator transforming lives across Africa.
- Benefits: Enjoy remote work, professional development, and family-friendly policies.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with real ownership and growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Shape the future of finance while empowering millions with credit access.
- Qualifications: Experience in C#/.NET and Azure, plus a passion for mentoring.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 € per year.
Join our growing FinTech Engineering team! We're recruiting a Backend Engineering Team Lead to spearhead the delivery of our new loan origination architecture, compliance systems, and pricing platform - infrastructure that will power M-KOPA's next phase of expansion across Africa.
The Impact
Your architecture will directly shape how millions of people access credit for the first time. We've already served over 7 million customers and unlocked more than $2 billion in credit since we began. Every system you design, every engineer you develop, and every decision you make contributes to a platform that's quite literally transforming financial inclusion across an entire continent.
The Opportunity
- Mission-driven engineering: Your daily work enables affordable smartphones, digital loans, and financial services for Africa's Every Day Earners - people for whom traditional finance simply doesn't work.
- Global recognition: Join a FinTech company named by TIME 100 as one of the world's most influential and by the Financial Times as Africa's fastest-growing company for five consecutive years (2022–2026).
- Scale that matters: You'll be architecting systems that process over 2 million payments daily across five markets - and building for the next 10 million customers.
- Environmental impact: We're carbon-negative, having avoided 2.155 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions across our product portfolio.
What You'll Do
At M-KOPA, you'll lead a team of backend engineers through both greenfield and legacy projects, owning the full software lifecycle from design ideation through to production and eventual decommissioning. Our engineering teams work under a true DevOps culture - with infrastructure as code, observability, automated testing, and continuous delivery treated as first-order concerns, not afterthoughts. You’ll set architectural direction, partner closely with your Product Manager counterpart on roadmap planning and prioritisation, and serve as a servant leader who grows the people around you while shipping high-quality, impactful software.
Technical Environment
- Languages & frameworks: C#/.NET
- Cloud: Azure
- Architecture: Event-driven systems and microservice development (Service Bus)
- Engineering culture: DevOps, infrastructure as code, observability and monitoring, automated testing across all environments including production, continuous delivery
Our Engineering Approach
- Full ownership: Teams own their solutions end-to-end - from inception through production support to decommissioning.
- Servant leadership: We lead by coaching and enabling, not directing.
- Quality by default: Observability, monitoring, and automated testing are built in from day one.
- Continuous improvement: We foster a culture of innovation within a supportive, dynamic team environment.
- Product partnership: Engineering and Product work as genuine counterparts - planning together, prioritising together, delivering together.
What You Need
We're looking for an experienced low-ego backend engineering leader who brings both technical depth and a genuine passion for growing people.
Required Experience
- Strong hands-on background in C#/.NET backend development
- Proven experience with Azure cloud services
- Solid understanding of event-driven architecture and microservice development (Service Bus, RabbitMQ, Kafka etc)
- Experience leading or mentoring engineers in a collaborative team environment
- Ability to set technical direction and provide architectural guidance
- Comfortable working with Product to shape roadmaps and drive delivery
The Team
You’ll lead a team of three engineers - two senior engineers with longer tenure and one mid-level engineer who joined more recently. The team is just under a year old, with a dedicated Product Manager as your counterpart. It's a tight-knit, focused group with real ownership over a significant part of the M-KOPA platform.
Location & Benefits
- Fully remote role within UTC -1 to UTC +3 time zones
- Work with diverse teams across the UK, Europe, and Africa
- Professional development programmes and coaching partnerships
- Family‑friendly policies and flexible working arrangements
- Well‑being support and genuine career growth opportunities
Our Mission
We create financial inclusion for the traditionally excluded through a fair, flexible, customer‑centric financing model. We strive to drive greater inclusion of women, youth, and low‑income communities.
Our Impact
- Connected: 2.5 million first‑time smartphone users connected to the mobile internet
- Prosperous: 70% of customers use M-KOPA products for income generation, with 35,000 livelihoods created for agents
- Green: 2.155 million tonnes of CO₂ avoided through clean energy and circular economy products, with over 127,700 circular economy products provided
Ready to build the systems that create real‑world financial inclusion while leading a talented team of engineers? Apply Now!
Why M-KOPA?
At M-KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on‑the‑job training. We support individual journeys with family‑friendly policies, prioritize well‑being, and embrace flexibility. Join us in shaping the future of M-KOPA as we grow together.
Recognized four times by the Financial Times as Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024, we've served over 7 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa.
Important Notice
M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships. M-KOPA does not collect or charge any money as a pre‑employment or post‑employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process. Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date. If your application is successful M-KOPA undertakes pre‑employment background checks as part of its recruitment process, these include criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates and employer references.
Backend Engineering Team Lead in Bristol employer: M Kopa
M-KOPA is an exceptional employer that champions financial inclusion across Africa, offering a fully remote role for the Backend Engineering Team Lead. With a strong focus on professional development, family-friendly policies, and a supportive work culture, employees are empowered to grow their careers while making a meaningful impact. Join a mission-driven team that values innovation and collaboration, all while working in a dynamic environment that prioritises well-being and flexibility.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Backend Engineering Team Lead in Bristol
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the FinTech space, especially those at M-KOPA. A friendly chat can open doors and give you insights that a job description just can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you've got a portfolio or GitHub with projects that highlight your C#/.NET expertise, share it. Real-world examples of your work can make you stand out.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the interview by understanding M-KOPA's mission and values. Be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their goals of financial inclusion and innovation.
✨Tip Number 4
Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you're genuinely interested in joining the team.
We think you need these skills to ace Backend Engineering Team Lead in Bristol
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for financial inclusion and technology shine through. We want to see how your values align with our mission at M-KOPA!
Tailor Your Experience:Make sure to highlight your experience with C#/.NET and Azure in a way that connects directly to the role. We’re looking for specific examples of how you’ve led teams and shaped projects in your past roles.
Be Authentic:We appreciate low-ego leaders who are genuine. Don’t be afraid to share your journey, including challenges you've faced and how you've grown from them. It helps us get to know the real you!
Apply Through Our Website:For the best chance of success, make sure to apply directly through our website. It’s the easiest way for us to keep track of your application and ensure it gets the attention it deserves!
How to prepare for a job interview at M Kopa
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you’re well-versed in C#/.NET and Azure cloud services. Brush up on event-driven architecture and microservices, as these are crucial for the role. Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience and how you've applied these technologies in past projects.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
As a Backend Engineering Team Lead, your ability to mentor and grow your team is key. Prepare examples of how you've successfully led teams in the past, focusing on servant leadership and collaboration. Highlight specific instances where you’ve helped engineers develop their skills.
✨Align with the Company’s Mission
Familiarise yourself with M-KOPA's mission of financial inclusion and their impact across Africa. Be prepared to discuss how your values align with theirs and how you can contribute to their goals, especially in creating affordable financial solutions for underserved communities.
✨Prepare for Technical Discussions
Expect to dive deep into technical discussions during your interview. Prepare to explain your architectural decisions and how you approach system design. Think about how you would tackle challenges related to scalability and performance, especially given the scale of processing over 2 million payments daily.
