At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to design impactful software for financial inclusion across Africa.
- Company: Join M-KOPA, a recognised FinTech leader transforming lives through technology.
- 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 systems that empower millions with access to credit and financial services.
- Qualifications: Experience in C#/.NET and cloud technologies, plus leadership skills.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Join our growing FinTech Engineering team! We're recruiting a Software 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: We work in Azure, and welcome experience across AWS or GCP
- Architecture: Event-driven systems and microservice development - we use Azure Service Bus, and welcome experience with similar messaging technologies such as Kafka or RabbitMQ
- Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Docker
- Observability: Prometheus, Grafana
- Engineering culture: DevOps, infrastructure as code, 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 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, AWS, or GCP - we work in Azure but welcome experience across major cloud providers
- Solid understanding of event-driven architecture and microservice development - we use Azure Service Bus, and welcome experience with similar messaging technologies such as Kafka or RabbitMQ
- 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 close-knit, focused engineering team with real end-to-end ownership over a significant part of the M-KOPA platform - including loan origination, compliance systems, and a new pricing engine. You'll have a dedicated Product Manager as your counterpart and operate with genuine autonomy over technical direction.
Location & Benefits
- Fully remote role in UK and parts of Europe 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. Explore more at m-kopa.com.
Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one of 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/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.
Software Engineering Team Lead in London employer: M Kopa
M-KOPA is an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and innovative work culture, empowering employees to make a meaningful impact across Africa. With a focus on professional growth, team members benefit from continuous learning opportunities and the chance to lead cutting-edge projects in a fully remote environment. Join us to be part of a mission-driven company that values your contributions and supports your career development.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Software Engineering Team Lead in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the FinTech space, especially those who work at M-KOPA or similar companies. A friendly chat can lead to insider info about the role and even a referral!
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by diving deep into M-KOPA's mission and values. Show us how your experience aligns with our goals of financial inclusion and innovation. We love candidates who are genuinely passionate about making a difference!
✨Tip Number 3
Brush up on your technical skills! Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience with C#/.NET and cloud platforms like Azure. We want to see how you can contribute to our architecture and systems right from day one.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to showcase your leadership style! We’re looking for someone who can mentor and grow their team. Share examples of how you've supported your colleagues in previous roles and how you plan to do the same at M-KOPA.
We think you need these skills to ace Software Engineering Team Lead in London
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 hands-on experience with C#/.NET and cloud technologies like Azure. We’re looking for specific examples that demonstrate your technical depth and leadership skills.
Be Authentic:We appreciate low-ego leaders who are genuine about their experiences. Don’t be afraid to share your journey, including challenges you've faced and how you’ve grown from them.
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 get back to you quickly!
How to prepare for a job interview at M Kopa
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Make sure you’re well-versed in C#/.NET and the cloud platforms mentioned, especially Azure. Brush up on event-driven architecture and microservices, as these are crucial for the role. Being able to discuss your hands-on experience with these technologies will show that you're ready to hit the ground running.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
As a Software 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 or overcome challenges.
✨Understand the Company’s Mission
Familiarise yourself with M-KOPA's mission of financial inclusion and how their technology impacts communities. Be ready to discuss how your values align with theirs and how you can contribute to their goals. This shows genuine interest and commitment to their cause.
✨Prepare for Product Collaboration
Since you'll be working closely with a Product Manager, think about how you can effectively partner with them. Prepare to discuss your approach to roadmap planning and prioritisation, and how you can ensure that engineering and product teams work seamlessly together.
