At Vula, we’re tackling one of Africa’s most pressing challenges: closing the $400B SME funding gap. We build modern financial and data infrastructure that powers smarter funding decisions for SMEs, Funders, Grantmakers, and Ecosystem Supporters. Our stack is AI-heavy, data-intensive, and designed for real impact.
We’re a fast-growing startup with a team that thrives on solving hard problems. As we grow, we’re looking for an Engineering Lead who can help our exceptional engineers deliver their best work—at speed, at scale, and with joy.
The Role
You’ll be the technical and process leader for a team of ~10 talented engineers, helping shape how we build, ship, and scale Vula’s core products. This role is ideal for someone who’s passionate about high-performance teams, clean and efficient systems, and setting the technical pace.
You’ll be responsible for:
Team Leadership: Guiding a team of engineers to ship high-quality software quickly and consistently.
Process Ownership: Establishing lightweight but effective workflows for planning, coordination, code quality, releases, and reviews.
Technical Guidance: Setting technical direction and leading architectural discussions across our stack.
System Optimization: Continuously improving our systems for performance, reliability, scalability, and simplicity.
Hands-on Contribution: Writing high-quality TypeScript and contributing to our full-stack codebase when needed.
AI and Data Collaboration: Working closely with our AI and data teams to ensure robust integration of AI capabilities into the platform.
Team Growth: Mentoring engineers and helping us hire great people as we scale.
Our Stack
Language: TypeScript (mostly) and Python
Backend: Node.js, Prisma ORM, PostgreSQL
Frontend: React (with TypeScript)
AI / Data: Heavy integration with LLMs and custom data pipelines
Infra: Modern CI/CD and DevOps tools (we’ll share more during interviews)
You’re likely a great fit if you:
Have deep experience in full-stack engineering, especially with Node.js, TypeScript, Python, and PostgreSQL.
Have led engineering teams of 5+ people before or played a senior role in teams with high velocity and high standards.
Have strong instincts for balancing speed and quality, and you know how to set up processes that don’t get in the way.
Have worked remotely and managed distributed teams.
Are excited by systems thinking, and constantly seek to make things work better—technically and operationally.
Have a passion for working with mission-driven teams solving real-world challenges with technology.
Have experience building team culture.
Are based in Africa and excited about building world-class software from the continent, for the continent.
Why Vula?
Be part of a mission that matters: fixing the broken funding system for African SMEs.
Join a high-caliber, tight-knit team that values autonomy, ownership, and craftsmanship.
Work with some of the most exciting technologies in software, data, and AI.
Fully remote, African-founded, and laser-focused on meaningful, long-term impact.