Sofware Engineer
- Location
- Rwanda
- Type of Employment
- Contract
- Time Commitment
- Full time
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Job Title: Software Engineer
Employer: Village Enterprise
Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Reports to: Senior Director of Systems Architecture
Matrix Report: Rwanda Country Director
Project Name: Scaling Sustainable Poverty Graduation in Rwanda
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About Village Enterprise
Village Enterprise’s mission is to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship, innovation, and collective action. With a bold vision of lifting 20 million people out of extreme poverty by 2030, we are scaling our impact not only through direct implementation but increasingly through partnerships with governments, multilaterals, and NGOs.
Our FY25–27 strategy positions Village Enterprise as a leader in embedding graduation programs into national systems, driving climate resilience and gender equity, and pioneering innovative financing like results-based funding. In Rwanda, where digital transformation is a national priority, we are committed to developing technology that remains accessible, practical, and impactful.
1. Purpose of the Position
The Software Engineer will be primarily embedded within the Government of Rwanda to support the design, development, enhancement, and operationalization of the national Poverty Graduation Management Information System (MIS), working closely with the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Village Enterprise, and other stakeholders.
The Software Engineer will support post-development system refinement, UAT issue resolution, pilot support, and rollout readiness, while ensuring the PGMIS backend remains secure, scalable, interoperable, and reliable. To ensure a smooth transition from the developers, address potential challenges, and maintain system functionality, the role will support ongoing system management, issue resolution, and continuous system improvement.
In addition, the role will provide time-bound technical assistance (TA) to other countries in the region where Poverty Graduation MIS systems are at ideation, development, testing, or early implementation stages.
The role combines hands-on technical leadership, system architecture and integration expertise, and capacity strengthening for government counterparts and regional partners.
Responsibilities
2. Key Duties and Responsibilities.
A. Post-Development Support
- Support the post development by diagnosing, fixing, and validating defects and performance issues.
- Collaborate with MINALOC team and users to address functional gaps identified during testing and pilots.
- Ensure system readiness for rollout through stability testing and performance optimization.
B. System Maintenance and Enhancement
- Maintain and enhance Java‑based backend services to support evolving operational needs.
- Refine workflows, business logic, and data processing based on pilot learnings and user feedback.
C. Interoperability and Integration
- Develop and maintain RESTful APIs to support integration with other government systems.
- Identify and resolve interoperability challenges related to data formats, standards, and system dependencies.
D. Data, Security, and Compliance
- Ensure data integrity, access control, and compliance with national data protection and cybersecurity standards.
- Support audits, security reviews, and remediation of identified risks.
E. Quality Assurance and Reliability
- Write and maintain unit, integration, and regression tests.
- Monitor system performance, logs, and errors, especially during pilots and rollout.
- Ensure rapid response to production issues and incidents.
F. Deployment and Knowledge Transfer
- Write and maintain unit, integration, and regression tests.
- Monitor system performance, logs, and errors, especially during pilots and rollout.
- Ensure rapid response to production issues and incidents.
G. Regional Technical Assistance (TA)
- Provide targeted technical assistance to other countries in the region implementing or planning Poverty Graduation MIS systems.
- Support countries at different stages, including: Conceptualization and system ideation, Functional and technical requirements development, System architecture and technology stack selection, MIS development and customization, Integration with national registries or social protection systems
- Contribute to the development of reusable technical assets, design patterns, and best practices applicable across country contexts.
- Participate in short‑term country missions (as required) to support system design reviews, implementation troubleshooting, or capacity building
Requirements
3. Qualifications and Experience
- Master’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field
- Minimum 3 years of professional experience in the development of social protection systems or similar large-scale IT systems. Strong expertise in APIs and web services is also highly desirable.
4. Preferred Technical Skills
- Microservices architecture
- Docker and Kubernetes
- Cloud platforms or government data centers
- Frontend collaboration (Angular, React)
- Reporting and analytics tools
5. Required Competencies
- Strong analytical and debugging skills
- Attention to detail and code quality
- Ability to work in regulated environments
- Team collaboration and communication
- Commitment to system sustainability and reliability
6. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Code quality and maintainability
- Service Response Time (<24 hours)
- System performance and uptime
- Timely resolution of defects (<24 hours)
- Compliance with security standards
- Completeness of technical documentation
- Alignment with Data Protection as per Rwanda standard
Village Enterprise is committed to safeguarding and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We do not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process or for applying to this position.
Application Deadline: 10th June 2026
Benefits
- Insurance
- A rare opportunity to make a meaningful impact on communities.
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