M-PESA, Africa’s largest mobile money service, is seeking an experienced and visionary Senior Infrastructure Architect to join our dynamic team. As a critical member of the M-PESA Africa Architecture Team, this role will spearhead the transformation and standardization of our hybrid infrastructure across cloud and on-premise environments.
With M-PESA facilitating over $1.2 billion in daily transactions, the importance of resilient, scalable, and secure infrastructure cannot be overstated. This role is foundational to our mission to become the number one FinTech provider in Africa. You will be at the forefront of shaping next-generation infrastructure strategies that support high-volume, real-time financial transactions while championing best-in-class DevOps practices under the SAFe Agile Framework.
About Us
We are the leading telecommunications provider in East Africa. Since our inception in 1997 as a Telkom Kenya subsidiary, we have grown to support over 42 million customers, directly and indirectly generating more than one million jobs. Our total economic value contribution was estimated at KES 362 Billion ($3.2 billion) in the year ending March 2021.
We are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), with annual revenues close to KES 298 Billion ($2.5 billion) as of March 2022. Our innovation-driven culture led to the launch of M-PESA in 2007, which has since become a global benchmark for mobile financial services. Under the guidance of Vodafone Group PLC and visionary leaders like our first CEO Michael Joseph, we have consistently pushed boundaries to deliver impactful digital solutions.
Position Overview: Senior Infrastructure Architect
Job Location
Nairobi, Kenya (with opportunities for regional collaboration across Africa)
Job Schedule
Full-Time
Application Deadline
23/06/2025 at 09:00
Job ID
743
Posting Date
16/06/2025 at 08:45
Degree Level
Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent work experience)
Key Responsibilities
Infrastructure Architecture & Planning
As the Senior Infrastructure Architect, you will:
- Define and uphold the target infrastructure architecture for data centers, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), and edge computing environments.
- Lead initiatives for infrastructure modernization involving:
- Virtualization technologies
- Hyperconverged infrastructure
- Containerization
- Software-defined networking
- Design and standardize infrastructure patterns for compute, storage, backup, and disaster recovery (DR).
- Align all infrastructure strategies with overarching enterprise architectural principles and service-level agreements (SLAs).
- Drive optimization for performance, scalability, and availability in line with business and customer needs.
Cloud and Hybrid Enablement
In this area, you will:
- Define and lead the hybrid/multi-cloud strategy incorporating public cloud (AWS, Azure) and private cloud environments (e.g., VMware, OpenStack).
- Build and manage infrastructure-as-code pipelines using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, and Puppet.
- Architect scalable and secure cloud landing zones, VPCs, and interconnect networks for smooth cloud integration.
- Implement observability solutions, cost controls, and elasticity mechanisms for cloud-native and hybrid workloads.
Security, Resilience & Compliance
Key responsibilities include:
- Embedding security-by-design in all architectural frameworks through:
- Microsegmentation
- Advanced encryption
- Identity federation
- Zero-trust network access (ZTNA)
- Design high-availability and DR infrastructures with geographic redundancy and robust failover capabilities.
- Ensure alignment with regulatory and compliance standards including:
- PCI-DSS
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- Regional and local data protection mandates
- Provide support for infrastructure risk evaluations and readiness for penetration testing.
Governance & Collaboration
You will actively:
- Participate in cross-functional Architecture Review Boards and contribute to decision-making on infrastructure alignment and roadmap compliance.
- Collaborate with DevOps engineers, Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), cybersecurity teams, and IT operations to ensure infrastructure reliability, security, and automation.
- Serve as a liaison to cloud service providers, OEMs, and third-party vendors, overseeing infrastructure solution assessments and commercial engagements.
- Develop and maintain high-quality documentation, blueprints, infrastructure playbooks, and architectural artifacts.
Technical Experience & Qualifications
Essential Experience
The ideal candidate will bring:
- A minimum of 8 years of hands-on experience in infrastructure or cloud architecture within enterprise-level environments.
- Proven experience in:
- Data center design and operations
- Cloud and hybrid architecture
- Virtualization and containerization
- Disaster recovery and high availability
- Infrastructure automation and observability
Technical Proficiency in the Following Areas
- Compute, Storage, and Networking: Advanced understanding of designing scalable compute clusters, storage tiering strategies, and resilient networking topologies.
- Hybrid Cloud Strategy: Skilled in orchestrating hybrid environments using AWS, Azure, and private cloud solutions.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Experience deploying repeatable infrastructure using Terraform, Ansible, or similar technologies.
- CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Deep understanding of DevOps practices and toolsets, including GitOps and Continuous Integration pipelines.
- Kubernetes & Service Mesh: Capable of designing production-grade Kubernetes clusters with service mesh and sidecar injection patterns for security.
- Security & Compliance Architecture:
- Application of Zero Trust principles
- Identity federation with protocols like OAuth2, OpenID, and SAML
- Implementing enterprise-level encryption standards and compliance frameworks
Desirable Skills
- Daily management and scaling of Kubernetes clusters.
- Integration with observability platforms such as Datadog, Splunk, or Prometheus.
- Experience working with Edge Computing and CDN integrations for latency optimization.
- Relevant certifications in AWS, Azure, or hybrid cloud ecosystems.
- Familiarity with continuous delivery and modern release pipelines.
- Technical due diligence and vendor evaluation experience.
- Passion for new technologies in mobile finance, including innovations in decentralized finance (DeFi), open banking, or blockchain.
- Ability to translate business and security requirements into scalable infrastructure designs.
Educational and Professional Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Network Engineering, or a closely related discipline. Equivalent industry experience is also considered.
- Over 8 years of progressive experience in infrastructure and cloud architecture roles.
- Industry background in Financial Services or FinTech is a strong advantage.
- Experience with both Agile (SAFe) and Waterfall methodologies for project delivery and architecture enablement.
What We Offer
- A chance to work on mission-critical infrastructure for Africa’s leading mobile financial platform.
- A dynamic, cross-functional environment with a strong DevOps culture.
- Exposure to cutting-edge technologies and hybrid infrastructure patterns.
- A leadership role in shaping the digital future of financial inclusion in Africa.
Join Us
If you’re passionate about transforming how millions of people access and use financial services across Africa, and you have the infrastructure skills to make this vision real, we would love to hear from you.
