Experienced Software Engineer

Application Deadline: 23 April 2026

Department: Engineering

Location: Cape Town, SA

Compensation: R700,000 - R860,000 / year

Description

The Problem

Zappi is the original disruptor of Market Research, transforming it from a slow, consulting-driven service industry to a rapid-turnaround, tech-enabled insights platform. The advent of AI presents another opportunity for us to re-imagine the industry and we’re committed to leading that change.

Fortune 500 companies like Diageo and PepsiCo use Zappi to test products, ads, packaging, and brand ideas before spending millions on production. We're building the platform that powers consumer insights at scale - nearly $100M revenue and growing fast.

What You'd Actually Be Doing

We’re hiring an experienced Elixir engineer to join our Dashboarding and longitudinal analytics team. Our mission is to enable customers to uncover insights and identify meaningful patterns across the full breadth of their data—augmented by our rapidly expanding proprietary data asset. You’ll work on systems that turn large-scale datasets into precise, actionable signals.

You'll have autonomy to solve problems your way, but you're not alone. You're embedded in small cross-functional teams that ship continuously and learn fast.

Our engineering teams own problems end-to-end. You'll work with PMs, designers, researchers, and data scientists to shape the work, not just execute it. You'll be part of figuring out what to build and how to build it.

The work involves navigating ambiguity - we're disrupting an industry, which means building things that don't have established patterns yet. If that ambiguity energizes you more than it frustrates you, you'll thrive here.

What We're Looking For

* Strong technical fundamentals over complete stack experience.We care about the quality of your engineering - how you solve problems, design systems, and write maintainable code. Our stack is Ruby/Rails, Elixir, Python, React, Kubernetes/AWS, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. If you haven't used these exact technologies, that's fine. Your ability to learn and adapt matters more.

* Bias toward action. We practice trunk-based development. We ship small changes continuously. If you prefer long-lived branches and big releases, you may find this uncomfortable.

* Effective use of AI tools. We believe AI is fundamental to where engineering is heading. You should be able to demonstrate how you use tools like Claude Code, Codex, or similar assistants to improve your productivity and output.

* Comfort with uncertainty. Teams shape their own work. You'll be part of defining scope, making trade-offs, and determining what's actually worth building.

* Collaboration across the business. You'll work with product managers, designers, data scientists, researchers, commercial teams, and customers directly. Engineering isn't isolated here - you'll need to understand different perspectives, translate between technical and business contexts, and build relationships across functions.

* 3+ years, able to own features end-to-end, contribute to technical decisions

What You'd Have Access To:

Tools that don't fight you:

* Claude Max licenses and other AI coding assistants to augment your workflow

* Modern CI/CD - merge to main and deploy happens automatically, quickly

* Infrastructure designed for fast feedback loops

Scale and complexity:

* Systems processing almost 2 million survey responses per month

* Cross-domain exposure - work with different teams, data scientists, researchers, product teams

* Modern platform - Kubernetes, modern observability (Grafana, OpenTelemetry), cloud-native architecture

A team that invests in growth:

* Regular internal opportunities to upskill in different areas

* Quarterly engineering-wide learning days focused on growth as a function together

* Small, high-trust teams with autonomy

* Learning budget and dedicated time

* Direct access to domain experts across research, data science, and product

Benefits

* Generous time off policy – we want well rested and motivated teams so encourage people to take plenty of time off. We don’t cap your allowance!

* Three company-paid mental health day of rest every year (these are pre-scheduled, so the entire company can take the same days off regularly to reset)

* Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration without interrupting others

* Private medical healthcare cover

* Medical Aid

* Group risk, life & disability contributions

* Wellbeing benefits such as free yoga and access to trained therapists / counsellors

* Paid 24h secure parking in Cape Town

* Free coffee, lunches and in-office snacks

* Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks

Why join us?

We’ve been recognized as one of the hottest martech companies in 2022 by Business Insider and named Best Place to Work by Quirk’s Media for our engaging and inclusive workplace culture. We’re committed to both people and the planet.

Our belief in inclusion means we’re building an organisation of diverse individuals and helping brands eliminate cultural presumptions in their research. Read our Diversity Manifesto here.

We are a values and behaviours driven business and believe that Trust, Truth, Ownership, Ambition and Humility describe Zappi employees on our best day. This is how we strive to show up for our customers, for each other and for our communities.

Earning B Corp certification assures us we’re on the right track and have structures in place to become the business we want to be.

Our commitment to minimise our impact on the environment means being honest with ourselves and transparent with you—about everything from carbon emissions to tree-planting initiatives. We achieved our goal of becoming Net Zero in 2021!

Zappi Company Culture Highlights

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Women 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Work-Life Balance 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Compensation 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO for Women 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company for Diversity 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Culture 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEO 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Happiness 2022

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Leadership Teams 2023

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best CEOs for Diversity 2023

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Engineering Teams 2023

* Winner of Comparably's Award for Best Company Outlook 2023

* Winner of Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in the UK 2022 & 2023

* Recognised by Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators 2023

* Winner of Best Marketing Insights Platform in the MarTech Breakthrough Awards 2023 & 2024

Equal Opportunity

Zappi is an equal opportunity employer; our diversity is a major strength. We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce fosters innovation, creativity, and success. Our hiring decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, and abilities, ensuring fairness and equity throughout our recruitment process. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. Join our team and contribute to an inclusive environment where everyone's unique perspectives and talents are valued and respected.