Job Description
We are seeking an M-Pesa Digital Channel Developer (Android) to join our team and develop innovative Android apps, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional user experiences.
Responsibilities
At Safaricom Ethiopia, we are a purpose
‑
led technology company dedicated to transforming lives through digital connectivity and inclusive financial services. In less than five years, we have grown to serve 15 million customers, with our network now reaching 62% of Ethiopia’s population — a testament to our bold vision and trusted partnerships.
Guided by our core values of customer obsession, innovation, integrity, and collaboration, we are building a workplace that is dynamic, inclusive, and empowering. We believe our greatest strength lies in our people. That is why, for three consecutive years, we have proudly earned the Top Employer Award — recognition of our unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive, innovative, and inclusive environment.
Join Safaricom Ethiopia and be part of a team that is shaping the digital future of Ethiopia. Here, your work has meaning, your voice matters, and your growth is our priority. Together, we are transforming lives for a digital future.
Role purpose:
We are looking for a skilled
M-Pesa Digital Channel Developer (
Android)
to join our mobile development team. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining advanced Android applications using Kotlin, integrating with RESTful APIs, and collaborating with designers, product managers, and backend engineers to deliver high-quality user experience and ensuring best practices in software development.
If you’re interested in working in the field of web and mobile application development and moving forward in your career, then this job is for you. We expect you to be a tech-savvy professional, who is curious about new digital technologies and aspires to combine usability with visual design. You will be reporting to the digital channels technical lead within M-Pesa Technology function
Ultimately, you should be able to create a functional and attractive digital environment for our company, ensuring great user experience.
Key accountabilities and decision ownership
:
Build reusable code and libraries for future use
Ensure the technical feasibility of user stories and UI/UX mock-up designs
Strong understanding of Android SDK, UI components, and lifecycle management.
Design and build scalable, reliable, and maintainable Android applications in Kotlin
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and ship new features
Consume RESTful APIs and handle local data persistence (e.g., Room, DataStore)
Implement MVVM or other modern Android architectural patterns
Write clean, modular, and testable code following best practices
Participate in technical and non-technical discussions with cross-functional team members to identify, plan and implement solutions
Perform unit testing of various modules/units of application
Ensure compliance with CICD pipeline for development and deployment activities
Perform periodic code refactoring and code optimization to ensure application efficiency based on user feedback
Ensure secure authentication, authorization, and data protection measures.
Follow Agile/Scrum methodologies and participate in sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives.
Implement TDD (Test-driven development) to ensure that, all acceptance criteria for user stories are successfully implemented and tested
Provide App support for both existing and newly deployed applications
Remain up to date with the terminology, concepts and best practices for coding mobile apps
Communicate with users to understand their needs and experiences
Core competencies, knowledge, and experience:
Business Competencies:
Must be able to work without supervision & meet tight deadlines/schedules.
A strong desire to learn and figure out how to create market leading user-friendly
web and
mobile applications
Creativity and Innovation
Excellent Problem solving skills
Business Know how
Experience of working in Fintech organization
Attention to detail
Working with Change
Excellent communication skills
Quick to adopt and willingness to work/deliver in a short period
Project and Programme Management
Knowledge of Scrum/Kanban Agile methodologies
Functional Competencies:
Bachelor of Science Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Software Development or related subject.
Experience in Continuous integration and deployment methodologies using automated tools such as Jenkins.
Basic understanding of cloud computing is a plus
An understanding of security principles with regard to web, mobile applications, backend and tech platforms
Key performance indicator:
Delivery of all assigned tasks as per defined quality and committed timelines.
Skillset modernization – continuously upskill according to M-Pesa Technology yearly skillset modernization program
Qualifications
Must have technical / professional qualifications:
Strong experience in
Kotlin, and JavaScript with frameworks like Flutter.
Develop and maintain
Android applications
using
Kotlin and/or Java, Flutter is a plus
,
Work with
MVVM/MVP architecture
and Jetpack components.
Experience with
Jetpack Compose, LiveData, ViewModel, Navigation and Room Database
.
Familiarity with
Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Analytics, Crashlytics, etc.)
.
Experience working with APIs, Retrofit, and JSON parsing
Exposure to
Kotlin
Multiplatform (KMM)
Familiarity with
dependency injection
tools (e.g., Hilt, Dagger)
Working knowledge of unit testing frameworks
(JUnit)
Understanding of web security principles
(OAuth, JWT, encryption).
Knowledge of
Google Play Console, app submission, and release process
.
Prepare apps for the
App Store submission process, including provisioning profiles and certificates.
Monitor and resolve app crashes, performance issues, and user feedback.
Optimize app performance and ensure smooth user experience.
Strong problem-solving and debugging skills.
Experience working with
RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and microservices architecture
.
Experience in
cloud computing (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
and DevOps tools.
Strong knowledge of
Git, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines
.
Desired
A very good understanding about mobile applications programming languages such as
Kotlin, SQLite, XML
together with their mainstream IDEs such
Android Studio, IntelliJ.
Certification in cloud native technologies such as
Kubernetes
.