Job
M-Pesa Africa: Senior Solutions Architect (Digital Platforms)
- Organization: Safaricom Kenya
- Location: Nairobi, Kenya
- Category: Full-time
About this opportunity
We are looking for a highly skilled and qualified M-Pesa Africa: Senior Solutions Architect (Digital Platforms) to join Safaricom Kenya in Nairobi.
Key Responsibilities
Super App & Digital Platform Architecture Own the end-to-end architecture of the M-PESA Super App, including its mini-app platform, SDK, and marketplace ecosystem, across all six markets. Own the design, versioning, and lifecycle governance of M-PESA's SDKs (mini-app SDK, payment SDKs, and partner/developer-facing SDKs), ensuring consistency, backward compatibility, and developer experience across platforms. Define and govern the technical standards for mini-app onboarding, integration, security review, and lifecycle management. Architect the Super App's core and service layer to support scalable, secure, and performant digital experience delivery. Drive the transition to modern digital platform architectures: composable UI patterns, micro-frontends, headless/BFF (backend-for-frontend) design, and cloud-native deployment aligned to M-PESA's infrastructure strategy.
Own the end-to-end architecture of the M-PESA Super App, including its mini-app platform, SDK, and marketplace ecosystem, across all six markets.
Own the design, versioning, and lifecycle governance of M-PESA's SDKs (mini-app SDK, payment SDKs, and partner/developer-facing SDKs), ensuring consistency, backward compatibility, and developer experience across platforms.
Define and govern the technical standards for mini-app onboarding, integration, security review, and lifecycle management.
Architect the Super App's core and service layer to support scalable, secure, and performant digital experience delivery.
Drive the transition to modern digital platform architectures: composable UI patterns, micro-frontends, headless/BFF (backend-for-frontend) design, and cloud-native deployment aligned to M-PESA's infrastructure strategy.
Digital Platform Governance & Standards Establish and champion architecture governance frameworks, design review standards, and reference architectures for digital and mobile platforms across all six markets. Define UX-to-architecture standards, mini-app certification criteria, and release governance, ensuring traceability from partner/developer submission through to production release. Partner with Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Market teams to ensure digital platform architectures meet local regulatory obligations, data protection, and app store/marketplace requirements.
Establish and champion architecture governance frameworks, design review standards, and reference architectures for digital and mobile platforms across all six markets.
Define UX-to-architecture standards, mini-app certification criteria, and release governance, ensuring traceability from partner/developer submission through to production release.
Partner with Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Market teams to ensure digital platform architectures meet local regulatory obligations, data protection, and app store/marketplace requirements.
Digital Payment Channels Own the architecture of M-PESA's digital payment channels, including QR payments, hosted payment pages, and NFC/Tap-to-Pay, ensuring consistent design standards across the Super App and other consumer touchpoints. Define channel-level security, tokenisation, and merchant integration standards for QR, hosted payment page, and NFC acceptance flows. Architect the technical roadmap for emerging and converging payment channels, ensuring interoperability with core wallet, switching, and settlement systems.
Own the architecture of M-PESA's digital payment channels, including QR payments, hosted payment pages, and NFC/Tap-to-Pay, ensuring consistent design standards across the Super App and other consumer touchpoints.
Define channel-level security, tokenisation, and merchant integration standards for QR, hosted payment page, and NFC acceptance flows.
Architect the technical roadmap for emerging and converging payment channels, ensuring interoperability with core wallet, switching, and settlement systems.
Integration & Ecosystem Architecture Architect integration patterns between the Super App, core M-PESA systems, third-party mini-app developers, and partner platforms. Collaborate with API gateway and platform engineering teams to define event-driven, API-first exchange patterns aligned with the integration layer strategy. Design and govern the mini-app SDK, developer portal, and sandbox/testing environments to support a scalable third-party developer ecosystem. Own the SDK release process: versioning strategy, deprecation policy, and documentation standards; for internal engineering teams and external partner/merchant developers.
Architect integration patterns between the Super App, core M-PESA systems, third-party mini-app developers, and partner platforms.
Collaborate with API gateway and platform engineering teams to define event-driven, API-first exchange patterns aligned with the integration layer strategy.
Design and govern the mini-app SDK, developer portal, and sandbox/testing environments to support a scalable third-party developer ecosystem.
Own the SDK release process: versioning strategy, deprecation policy, and documentation standards; for internal engineering teams and external partner/merchant developers.
Performance, Security & Resilience Enablement Design digital platform architectures that ensure app performance, offline resilience, and graceful degradation across varied network conditions and device profiles. Define security architecture for the Super App and mini-app ecosystem, including sandboxing, permission models, and secure inter-mini-app communication. Partner with the Risk and Security teams to embed fraud prevention and abuse detection into the mini-app onboarding and runtime experience.
Design digital platform architectures that ensure app performance, offline resilience, and graceful degradation across varied network conditions and device profiles.
Define security architecture for the Super App and mini-app ecosystem, including sandboxing, permission models, and secure inter-mini-app communication.
Partner with the Risk and Security teams to embed fraud prevention and abuse detection into the mini-app onboarding and runtime experience.
Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement Serve as the senior digital platforms architecture voice in Architecture Review Boards, design forums, and group-level governance bodies. Mentor and coach mid-level and junior architects across markets, building digital platform architecture capability within the team. Produce executive-ready architecture artefacts, including C4/Mermaid diagrams, ADRs, and digital platform strategy presentations for CTO/CIO audiences. Lead vendor evaluations for mini-app platforms, mobile development frameworks, and digital experience technologies.
Serve as the senior digital platforms architecture voice in Architecture Review Boards, design forums, and group-level governance bodies.
Mentor and coach mid-level and junior architects across markets, building digital platform architecture capability within the team.
Produce executive-ready architecture artefacts, including C4/Mermaid diagrams, ADRs, and digital platform strategy presentations for CTO/CIO audiences.
Lead vendor evaluations for mini-app platforms, mobile development frameworks, and digital experience technologies.
Qualifications
Skills & Competencies
Key Technical Competencies Strong understanding of Super App and mini-app architecture patterns, including hybrid/WebView runtimes, mini-app SDKs, and marketplace/platform governance models. Extensive experience with mobile and web application architecture, including native, hybrid, and cross-platform frameworks, and cloud platforms on AWS and/or Azure. Working knowledge of native iOS and Android platform constraints (app lifecycle, distribution/app store requirements, platform-specific security models), sufficient to guide architectural decisions across both ecosystems.
Key Responsibilities
Super App & Digital Platform Architecture Own the end-to-end architecture of the M-PESA Super App, including its mini-app platform, SDK, and marketplace ecosystem, across all six markets. Own the design, versioning, and lifecycle governance of M-PESA's SDKs (mini-app SDK, payment SDKs, and partner/developer-facing SDKs), ensuring consistency, backward compatibility, and developer experience across platforms. Define and govern the technical standards for mini-app onboarding, integration, security review, and lifecycle management. Architect the Super App's core and service layer to support scalable, secure, and performant digital experience delivery. Drive the transition to modern digital platform architectures: composable UI patterns, micro-frontends, headless/BFF (backend-for-frontend) design, and cloud-native deployment aligned to M-PESA's infrastructure strategy.
Own the end-to-end architecture of the M-PESA Super App, including its mini-app platform, SDK, and marketplace ecosystem, across all six markets.
Own the design, versioning, and lifecycle governance of M-PESA's SDKs (mini-app SDK, payment SDKs, and partner/developer-facing SDKs), ensuring consistency, backward compatibility, and developer experience across platforms.
Define and govern the technical standards for mini-app onboarding, integration, security review, and lifecycle management.
Architect the Super App's core and service layer to support scalable, secure, and performant digital experience delivery.
Drive the transition to modern digital platform architectures: composable UI patterns, micro-frontends, headless/BFF (backend-for-frontend) design, and cloud-native deployment aligned to M-PESA's infrastructure strategy.
Digital Platform Governance & Standards Establish and champion architecture governance frameworks, design review standards, and reference architectures for digital and mobile platforms across all six markets. Define UX-to-architecture standards, mini-app certification criteria, and release governance, ensuring traceability from partner/developer submission through to production release. Partner with Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Market teams to ensure digital platform architectures meet local regulatory obligations, data protection, and app store/marketplace requirements.
Establish and champion architecture governance frameworks, design review standards, and reference architectures for digital and mobile platforms across all six markets.
Define UX-to-architecture standards, mini-app certification criteria, and release governance, ensuring traceability from partner/developer submission through to production release.
Partner with Compliance, Legal, Risk, and Market teams to ensure digital platform architectures meet local regulatory obligations, data protection, and app store/marketplace requirements.
Digital Payment Channels Own the architecture of M-PESA's digital payment channels, including QR payments, hosted payment pages, and NFC/Tap-to-Pay, ensuring consistent design standards across the Super App and other consumer touchpoints. Define channel-level security, tokenisation, and merchant integration standards for QR, hosted payment page, and NFC acceptance flows. Architect the technical roadmap for emerging and converging payment channels, ensuring interoperability with core wallet, switching, and settlement systems.
Own the architecture of M-PESA's digital payment channels, including QR payments, hosted payment pages, and NFC/Tap-to-Pay, ensuring consistent design standards across the Super App and other consumer touchpoints.
Define channel-level security, tokenisation, and merchant integration standards for QR, hosted payment page, and NFC acceptance flows.
Architect the technical roadmap for emerging and converging payment channels, ensuring interoperability with core wallet, switching, and settlement systems.
Integration & Ecosystem Architecture Architect integration patterns between the Super App, core M-PESA systems, third-party mini-app developers, and partner platforms. Collaborate with API gateway and platform engineering teams to define event-driven, API-first exchange patterns aligned with the integration layer strategy. Design and govern the mini-app SDK, developer portal, and sandbox/testing environments to support a scalable third-party developer ecosystem. Own the SDK release process: versioning strategy, deprecation policy, and documentation standards; for internal engineering teams and external partner/merchant developers.
Architect integration patterns between the Super App, core M-PESA systems, third-party mini-app developers, and partner platforms.
Collaborate with API gateway and platform engineering teams to define event-driven, API-first exchange patterns aligned with the integration layer strategy.
Design and govern the mini-app SDK, developer portal, and sandbox/testing environments to support a scalable third-party developer ecosystem.
Own the SDK release process: versioning strategy, deprecation policy, and documentation standards; for internal engineering teams and external partner/merchant developers.
Performance, Security & Resilience Enablement Design digital platform architectures that ensure app performance, offline resilience, and graceful degradation across varied network conditions and device profiles. Define security architecture for the Super App and mini-app ecosystem, including sandboxing, permission models, and secure inter-mini-app communication. Partner with the Risk and Security teams to embed fraud prevention and abuse detection into the mini-app onboarding and runtime experience.
Design digital platform architectures that ensure app performance, offline resilience, and graceful degradation across varied network conditions and device profiles.
Define security architecture for the Super App and mini-app ecosystem, including sandboxing, permission models, and secure inter-mini-app communication.
Partner with the Risk and Security teams to embed fraud prevention and abuse detection into the mini-app onboarding and runtime experience.
Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement Serve as the senior digital platforms architecture voice in Architecture Review Boards, design forums, and group-level governance bodies. Mentor and coach mid-level and junior architects across markets, building digital platform architecture capability within the team. Produce executive-ready architecture artefacts, including C4/Mermaid diagrams, ADRs, and digital platform strategy presentations for CTO/CIO audiences. Lead vendor evaluations for mini-app platforms, mobile development frameworks, and digital experience technologies.
Serve as the senior digital platforms architecture voice in Architecture Review Boards, design forums, and group-level governance bodies.
Mentor and coach mid-level and junior architects across markets, building digital platform architecture capability within the team.
Produce executive-ready architecture artefacts, including C4/Mermaid diagrams, ADRs, and digital platform strategy presentations for CTO/CIO audiences.
Lead vendor evaluations for mini-app platforms, mobile development frameworks, and digital experience technologies.
Qualifications
Skills & Competencies
Key Technical Competencies Strong understanding of Super App and mini-app architecture patterns, including hybrid/WebView runtimes, mini-app SDKs, and marketplace/platform governance models. Extensive experience with mobile and web application architecture, including native, hybrid, and cross-platform frameworks, and cloud platforms on AWS and/or Azure. Working knowledge of native iOS and Android platform constraints (app lifecycle, distribution/app store requirements, platform-specific security models), sufficient to guide architectural decisions across both ecosystems.
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