Engineering
Director
·
Cape Town
Head of Engineering
Must-haves
The non-negotiables
1.
10+ years engineering experience including 3+ years leading 20+ engineer teamsP5
because: Will own three squads day one
2.
Has shipped a production system handling >10k qpsP4
because: Our infra is at that scale
3.
Comfortable with both managing and writing code in code reviewP4
because: Player-coach model, not pure manager
Nice-to-haves
1.
Fintech or regulated industry background
2.
Has hired in the SA tech market before
CV blindspots
Probe these in the recruiter's call, not from the CV
1.
Can they coach individual engineers, not just manage them?
Why: Two of our seniors will report directly and they need growth. Probe: Ask for a specific story of helping a struggling senior turn it around.
2.
How do they handle conflict between product and engineering?
Why: We have weekly tension with the product org. Probe: Ask about a real example where they pushed back on product, and what happened.
Calibration exemplars
People who'd crush this role
1.
Charlotte (ex-CTO at Yoco) · external
Right scale, right industry, but unaffordable. Good calibration anchor.
2.
Themba (our current Staff Eng) · internal
If he wanted to manage, he would, but he doesn't. Shows the technical bar.
Aria's context
CONFIDENCE
0.62 · Could be higher. Two open questions to clarify.
OPEN QUESTIONS
What does Sandile actually want this person to do in their first 90 days?
Is the comp band high enough for a real director-level hire in SA in 2026?
Role facts
SK
Post-intake
3 days ago
Spoke to Aria for intake. The thing I forgot to say: must be comfortable with the fact that two of my seniors (Themba and Lerato) declined this role themselves but they need someone they respect. Anyone we hire has to win those two over in the first month or it falls apart.
SK
Pre-intake
5 days ago
After thinking on this, I think the level matters less than two things: have they built a team in a high-growth SA tech environment, and are they willing to write code when needed. I do not want a "manager-of-managers" type. I had three of those at PrevCo and we shipped nothing.
JM
General
2 weeks ago
Replacement for outgoing engineering director. Three squads, ~24 engineers, mix of platform and product. Sandile is the CTO and will be this person's manager.
Drop files here or click to upload
PDFs, Word docs, Excel, audio (Aria will transcribe), or markdown. Max 50MB.
Intake call with Sandile · 2026-05-08.m4a
Sandile's first-90-days expectations.docx
Aria's JD generator
Pulls the role's structured fields, all hiring manager notes, and any attached intake transcripts. Always drafts. You approve before it goes external.
✦
No JD drafts yet
Click "Generate new draft" to have Aria write the first version. She'll pull in the intake transcript, hiring manager notes, and the structured fields you've captured.
Version history
Every Aria draft is kept for reproducibility
No versions yet. The first generation creates v1.
Applied3
Naledi Mokoena
Anele Dlamini
Reza Patel
Reviewing5
Thabo Nkosi
Advance
Mpho Sithole
Park
Interview3
Khanyi Mahlangu
Sipho Nkomo
Offer1
Lerato Mahlangu
Offer drafted, awaiting sign-off