Team role
Senior Full-Stack Engineer, Platform (Cape Town)
Own the platform our team builds on with Claude, and make it something other organisations can buy.
- Pay
- R75,000 to R90,000 a month (cost to company, before tax), depending on experience
- Type
- Full-time, on a contractor agreement
- Location
- Cape Town hybrid (Riverlands office)
- Start
- As soon as possible
You build with Claude Code every day and you've seen how fast it lets people ship. You're also the one who asks who can see the data, and what we'd show an auditor.
You'd be our first full-time engineer, owning the platform the rest of us build on, from Cape Town. You'd report to Jen, who leads our curriculum and our learning academy and was a data engineer before that.
What you'd do
We build our own software for almost everything we do, from the academy our learners use to our compliance, hiring and sales tools. Most of it is built with Claude by people who aren't engineers by background. That's how we move fast. It only works if someone makes it safe, and that's the job.
You'd own the foundation everything runs on, which means how people sign in and what they can see, the audit trail, testing, deployment, monitoring and backups, and the checks that catch a problem before it reaches a learner's record. Then you'd make it easy for the rest of us to build features on top of it securely, using the same AI tools you use.
The foundation comes first. After that, some of what we've built is good enough that other organisations want it, and you'd turn our academy and our compliance platform into products we can sell, running them for many customers at once and passing the security reviews those customers will ask for. You'd also build more of the systems we run our apprenticeships on, like tracking learners' progress and reviews.
Your week
- Building and running the shared foundation our apps sit on.
- Moving our existing apps onto it, starting with the ones that hold the most sensitive data.
- Reviewing what the team builds with Claude, and turning what you find into checks and Claude Code skills so the same mistake doesn't come back.
- Pairing with colleagues who are building their own tools and showing them how to do it safely.
- Getting the academy and our compliance platform ready for other organisations to buy, with each customer's data kept separate and answers ready for their security questions.
- Keeping our engineering ready for Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001, and leading the fix when something goes wrong.
We work in Next.js, TypeScript and Postgres on Google Cloud, with Claude at the centre of how we build. Cape Town is one or two hours ahead of the UK, so you'd overlap with the team for most of the day. We're a startup, so there'll be other things to pick up as we grow, and we'd expect you to help where it's needed.
Why you'd want it
You'd set how we do engineering here and build the platform our products run on. Lots of companies are about to have people who aren't engineers shipping software with AI, and you'd be working out how to make that secure and auditable while it's still new.
We're a startup at an inflection point, and 2027 is when we scale. The platform is a big part of how we get there, and if you see a better way to build it, we'll actually do it.
Who you are
You're a full-stack engineer who has built and run production web apps for several years, ideally in TypeScript. You've owned auth, permissions, audit logs, CI and deployment, backups and incidents, and you care about getting them right. Claude Code or a tool like it is how you work now, and you could show us something you've built with it and the guardrails you put round it. You like startups, and you're comfortable in a fast-moving environment where you work out the problem as well as the answer. You can explain a security risk to someone who isn't an engineer without making them feel stupid, and you'd enjoy helping them build.
It helps a lot if you've built software that other businesses buy, with many customers on one platform, or if you've worked towards ISO 27001, SOC 2 or Cyber Essentials. UK GDPR or POPIA, Google Cloud, or software for education help too.
You'll need to write clearly, because the answers to customers' security questionnaires and the team's guidance on building safely would be yours to write. The office is in Riverlands and you'd be in it some days, so you need to be in or near Cape Town. If that's you, we want to hear from you.
About iO-Sphere
We train people in data and AI by having them do the work. Over 1,000 people have trained with us, and companies including PwC, BAE Systems, Dunelm, Motorway and CBRE send their teams to us. We're one of the UK's fastest-growing data and AI training companies, and a small, tight-knit team that takes ownership, sets a high bar and has a lot of fun.
What the role must achieve
- 1Every app we build runs on one shared foundation, with Microsoft sign-in, roles and permissions, an audit log, automated tests, monitoring, backups and a deployment pipeline, and our existing apps have moved onto it.
- 2Colleagues who aren't engineers ship features with Claude safely, because the checks and reviews you put in place catch problems before they reach live data.
- 3Our academy and compliance platform can be sold to other organisations, with each customer's data kept separate and a security pack that stands up to a buyer's review.
- 4More of our apprenticeship delivery, like tracking learners' progress and reviews, runs on systems we built and own.
- 5Our engineering meets Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001, and when something goes wrong we find it fast and fix it properly.
What you'll need
We shortlist against these, scored the same way for everyone:
- Building and running production full-stack web apps over several years, ideally in TypeScript
- Owning security and reliability foundations, such as authentication, access control, audit logging, CI/CD, monitoring or incident response
- Building with AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor or Codex as your main way of working, with something you can show us
- Working in a startup or small team where you owned the outcome end to end
- The right to work in South Africa
- Lives in or near Cape Town and can come into the Riverlands office
Good to have, but not needed:
- Software sold to other businesses, with many customers on one platform
- Work towards ISO 27001, SOC 2 or Cyber Essentials
- UK GDPR or POPIA in practice, such as access controls, retention or data requests
- Google Cloud, Postgres, Next.js or Prisma
- Helping people who aren't engineers build software, through pairing, teaching or code review
- Software for education or another regulated sector
The details
- Type
Full-time, on a contractor agreement
You'd work 9:00 to 17:30 SAST and get 20 days' paid leave plus South African public holidays, the same as our employed staff. We don't have a South African company, so this isn't PAYE. Nothing is deducted and you pay your own tax as a provisional taxpayer.
- Location
Cape Town hybrid (Riverlands office)
Mainly remote, with office days in Riverlands for training and team working, so you need to live in or near Cape Town.
- Pay
R75,000 to R90,000 a month (cost to company, before tax), depending on experience
- Start
As soon as possible
- Eligibility
The right to work in South Africa (we can't offer visa sponsorship). Two references, one from your most recent employer. A SAPS police clearance certificate with digital fingerprints, apostilled, which we arrange and pay for. A criminal record doesn't automatically stop you being considered. Safeguarding and Prevent training, which we give you when you join.
What you get
- 20 days' holiday plus public holidays
- We close between Christmas and New Year
- Laptop provided
- Funded Level 3 Award in Education and Training for coaches who need it
- Flexible working hours
How we hire
We move quickly, and we reply to every application, whether or not we take you forward.
- 1
Screening call
About 30 minutes
With our Recruitment and People Ops Lead, on your background and motivation, including our safeguarding questions.
- 2
Behavioural interview
A conversation with the team you'd work with about how you've handled real situations at work.
- 3
Case study
Our work sample: a short case study drawn from real work, which you talk us through.
- 4
Final call
An interview with our Managing Director about why you want to join us, how you like to work, and whether we are the right fit for each other.
Safeguarding
iO-Sphere is committed to safeguarding and operates within regulated Further Education environments. This role requires an apostilled police clearance certificate, and safeguarding and Prevent training. All applicants must complete their application honestly and in full, and consent to the pre-employment checks required for the role. Failure to disclose relevant information, or providing false information, will result in the application being withdrawn or employment being terminated.
A criminal record does not automatically stop you from being considered. We assess each case individually.
Your safeguarding responsibilities in this role
iO-Sphere is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the learners and apprentices we train, and expects every member of staff to share that commitment. In this role you build and run systems that hold learners' personal data, including some sensitive data. You complete Safeguarding and Prevent training when you join. You only access learner data when the work needs it, you design our systems so others can only see what their role needs, and you report any data breach to our data protection lead straight away. Any safeguarding concern goes to our Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day.
Checks and conditions
Any offer depends on: two written references (one from your current or most recent employer, which will ask about your suitability to work with young people and adults at risk), a current police clearance certificate, confirmation of your qualifications, proof of your right to work, and completing Safeguarding, Prevent and Equality and Diversity training. Our interviews ask about safeguarding and any gaps in your employment history.
Equal opportunities
iO-Sphere is an equal-opportunities employer. We hire on merit and welcome applications from every background. If you need any adjustment to the process, just tell us.