Head of Technology

COMESA CLEARING HOUSE

VACANCIES

Background

The COMESA Clearing House (CCH) is an institution of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) mandated to contribute to the advancement of regional economic integration by facilitating efficient cross-border payments and settlement among Member States. Headquartered in Harare, Zimbabwe, CCH develops and operates regional payment infrastructure aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of cross-border transactions and supporting increased intra-regional trade.

CCH operates the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS), which facilitates cross-border settlement among participating countries, and is currently implementing the Digital Retail Payments Platform (DRPP), a regional initiative designed to enable fast, affordable, secure and interoperable cross-border retail payments. The DRPP is built on the Mojaloop open-source model, providing an interoperable foundation for connecting participating financial institutions and payment service providers across the region. As part of the DRPP infrastructure, CCH is also implementing a financial crime detection system based on Tazama to support transaction monitoring and strengthen the platform’s ability to identify and manage fraud and other financial crime risks.

Through this infrastructure, the DRPP is intended to strengthen the regional digital payments ecosystem, support more efficient and accessible digital financial services, and contribute to increased regional trade and economic integration.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced professionals from COMESA Member States for the following full-time, project-funded positions to support the implementation and operation of the DRPP.

JOB DESCRIPTION ONE (1): Head of Technology

Job Title: Head of Technology
Duty Station: Zimbabwe / Remote. May require travel within COMESA

JOB PURPOSE

Technical leader responsible for the reliability, information security assurance, and evolution of the DRPP platform. Owns the engineering team, technical architecture, infrastructure, and the information security assurance posture. Represents CCH’s technical interests externally with the Mojaloop community, infrastructure providers, and at board level.

MAIN DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Own the end-to-end technical reliability and availability of the DRPP platform.
• Lead, develop, and hire the technology team.
• Define and maintain technical architecture and engineering standards.
• Manage the AWS production environment and on-premises staging footprint.
• Own the information security assurance posture in conjunction with the Security Engineer.
• Embed shift-left observability and security practices across the engineering team.
• Manage the Mojaloop community relationship and upstream contributions on CCH’s behalf.
• Represent technical matters at board level and in regulatory interactions.
• Define the technical product roadmap in conjunction with the COO until the Product and Growth Manager is in place.

MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Relevant undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related discipline. A relevant postgraduate degree or executive leadership programme is an advantage. Equivalent professional experience at a senior level will be considered in lieu of formal qualifications.
• 7+ years of experience in technology roles.
• Production experience building or operating a payment switch, interbank infrastructure, or equivalent financial market infrastructure in an African or emerging market context.
• Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams of 5 to 15 people in a payment or financial infrastructure environment.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, AWS, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Terragrunt).
• Comfort operating in an open-source environment, including community engagement, upstream contribution, and fork management.
• Track record of making and owning architectural decisions under operational pressure.
• Ability to communicate technical risk and platform status clearly to a non-technical board and regulatory audience.
• Be a national of a COMESA Member State.

SCOPE OF AUTHORITY

• Authority over the technical architecture, infrastructure, and engineering team.
• Accountable for ensuring the reliability, security, and technical evolution of the DRPP platform.

COMPETENCIES

• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Deep understanding of payment systems, financial market infrastructure, and cloud-native technologies.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with proven ability to interact with C-level executives and regulators.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• High ethical standards and integrity.

LANGUAGES

Fluency in English and a working knowledge of French and/or Arabic will be an added advantage.

PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT

This is a grant-funded contractual position. The duration of the engagement is not fixed and will be subject to the continued availability of grant funding.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION

Applications, including a detailed Curriculum Vitae, should be emailed to the Executive Secretary of COMESA Clearing House, 4 Purbeck Close, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe. Email: info@comesach.org  no later than 21stSeptember 2026. Applications received after this date will not be considered.