Head of Platform & Architecture

Turnkey Africa is a leading Pan-African insurance technology and services provider. They develop, supply, and manage end-to-end insurance business software solutions and services for the insurance industry. Their flagship product, TurnQuest Insurance Suite, offers a comprehensive and integrated set of capabilities.

The Head of Platform & Architecture is responsible for leading the Architecture & Evolve Platform portfolio, which encompasses Architecture & API Standards, Evolve Studio, Shared Experience, and Quality Assurance. The primary objective is to equip product teams with clear technical guidance, reusable functionalities, and objective quality evidence to ensure reliable project delivery. This position involves collaborating with four squad leads and integrating requirements from Platform Operations (covering infrastructure, deployment, operational continuity, Cybersecurity, Trust & Governance) into designs, shared code, and testing processes. Potential career progression includes advancing to Group Chief Architect or broader CTO responsibilities, contingent on consistent delivery, leadership, and business needs.

1. Define and own target architecture, domain boundaries, API and data contracts, integration patterns, architecture decision records, and developer documentation.
2. Chair the Architecture Forum, resolving cross-team decisions by agreed dates, reviewing significant designs before build, and recording approved exceptions.
3. Define Legacy-to-Evolve transition designs with delivery Heads, assessing technology choices and maintaining the architecture roadmap.
4. Own Evolve Studio’s product and pricing configuration, workflow and underwriting controls, multitenancy, and multilingual capabilities.
5. Agree requirements with product Heads, delivering tested and documented capabilities, supporting adoption, and resolving Studio code defects.
6. Own shared frontend foundations, the design system, and reusable components that support consistent user journeys across products and channels.
7. Agree UX and accessibility standards with product teams, removing integration friction and reducing duplicate frontend builds.
8. Lead QA strategy, test automation, regression, and performance validation across the portfolio.
9. Publish test results and defects against agreed release criteria, flagging blocking risks before release and verifying fixes through retesting.
10. Lead the Architecture & API Standards, Evolve Studio, Shared Experience, and QA squad leads, developing skills, succession, and clear performance expectations.
11. Match commitments to available skills and an approved hiring plan, protecting support capacity and escalating unresourced work before committing.
12. Own the portfolio roadmap, quarterly outcomes, and budget, assessing build-versus-buy options and explaining costs, dependencies, and investment trade-offs to the CTO and ExCo.

1. Minimum of 5 years of experience in software engineering with proven senior architecture or platform leadership experience.
2. Strong skills in service architecture, API, data-contract, and integration across large-scale, regulated platforms.
3. Experience delivering reusable configuration platforms or shared frontend capabilities adopted by multiple teams.
4. Practical leadership experience in QA, test automation, regression, and performance validation, with the ability to provide clear release-quality evidence.
5. Cloud expertise, sound secure design judgment, and experience working collaboratively with Security and Platform Operations teams.
6. Experience leading teams of 5 or more across various disciplines, developing leads, managing investment trade-offs, and communicating clearly with executives.
7. Ability to combine strategic judgment with practical design depth, making timely decisions and maintaining standards under delivery pressure.
8. Capability to lead calmly, surface risks early, communicate plainly, and build teams that deliver without constant escalation.