Job Overview
Takealot.com, South Africa’s leading online retailer, is seeking a highly skilled Senior Software Engineer (Frontend JavaScript, Customer-Facing) to join its growing technology team. This opportunity is ideal for ambitious, innovative, and driven professionals who thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and value integrity and excellence.
The role offers exposure to large-scale platforms, supporting over 4 million online shoppers on Takealot.com and an additional 2.7 million users on Mr D. Engineers will collaborate with top talent in the industry, gaining hands-on experience alongside recognised technology leaders while rapidly advancing their technical skills.
As part of the Takealot Group, the role provides strong career growth potential, with clear opportunities for progression across Takealot.com and Mr D, supported by a culture that prioritises internal promotion and long-term development.
This position reports directly to the Engineering Manager.
Core Responsibilities
- Contribute to the design, development, and continuous improvement of new product features
- Identify, diagnose, and resolve software bugs, defects, and system crashes
- Collaborate in ideation sessions to generate innovative concepts and technical solutions
- Work closely with team members on system design, code reviews, and accurate task estimation
- Develop advanced front-end JavaScript solutions with a strong emphasis on performance, scalability, maintainability, and testability
- Build reusable modules and components and integrate them into cohesive, high-performing applications
- Collaborate cross-functionally with designers, QA analysts, and back-end engineers to ensure seamless API integration and high-quality user experiences
Skills & Requirements
- A Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma in Information Systems, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Engineering, along with a minimum of eight years’ experience as a Front-End Developer delivering advanced JavaScript solutions
- Candidates without a relevant degree or diploma must demonstrate equivalent practical experience, with at least ten years’ experience developing advanced JavaScript in a front-end role
- Exceptional proficiency in writing plain JavaScript from first principles
- Strong understanding of JavaScript inheritance patterns and advanced language concepts
- Proven experience building high-performance front-end applications using React.js
- Advanced expertise in HTML5 and CSS3, with the ability to translate high-fidelity UI and UX designs into fast, efficient, and scalable front-end code
- Strong experience with CSS pre-processors, including Less, Sass, and SCSS
- Demonstrated ability to develop responsive, mobile-first HTML layouts
- Solid understanding of asynchronous programming and request handling
- Experience delivering cross-browser and cross-device compatible solutions, including mobile environments
- Good working knowledge of object-oriented programming principles
- A genuine passion for front-end development, with a curiosity to experiment and explore new technologies
- Ability to assess, adopt, and upskill in new libraries, frameworks, and concepts that add value to the team
- Hands-on experience using source control tools such as Git
- Experience integrating front-end applications with RESTful APIs using industry best practices and established libraries
- Experience writing and maintaining front-end unit tests
- Previous experience working within agile development teams
- Demonstrated personal attributes including accountability, creativity, flexibility, and a strong solutions-driven mindset
- High attention to detail and pride in delivering high-quality work
Additional Desirable Skills
- Experience working with Docker and containerised environments
- Exposure to Kubernetes
- Experience with Next.js is highly advantageous
- Any level of full-stack development experience is considered a plus
- Familiarity with unit testing frameworks and UI automation scripting, including Robot Framework
- Experience developing eCommerce platforms within a retail environment
- Working knowledge of modern development and collaboration tools such as Git, Jira, Confluence, and Notion
Life at Takealot Group
- Market-related total remuneration package with flexibility to tailor benefits to individual needs
- Open, collaborative work culture with minimal hierarchy and no siloed teams
- Hybrid working model offering a balance between remote work and in-office collaboration
- Structured mentorship programmes focused on learning from experienced industry professionals
- Access to the Naspers Tech Community and global tech leaders for knowledge sharing and growth
- Free access to online learning platforms, including MyAcademy, Udacity, Coursera, and more
- Regular social events and team-building activities to encourage connection and collaboration
- Staff discounts across millions of products spanning multiple departments
- Dedicated birthday leave to celebrate employees on their special day
- Choice of modern work equipment and the latest technology to suit individual preferences
- Confidential wellness support, including counselling, legal advice, and financial guidance
- Free on-site parking for added convenience