Graduate Software Engineer

LekkeSlaap is South Africa’s leading accommodation booking app known for its user-friendliness, exceptional customer experience, and extensive local accommodation options. Owned by Tripco, a travel technology company based in the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. LekkeSlaap is committed to innovation, best-in-class customer service, and setting new standards in travel technology.

As a Full Stack Software Engineer at Tripco, you’ll be a part of a close-knit Product & Engineering team, building and optimising the technology that powers our platforms. You’ll work across the full technology stack, delivering high-quality, scalable, and maintainable solutions, enhancing the travel booking experience for millions of users. From backend architecture to front-end performance, you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring ideas to life while ensuring our systems are secure, efficient, and future-ready.

Our Stack

You’ll work with a diverse and modern technology ecosystem, including:

• Core Stack: Backend - PHP (Laravel), Frontend - Twig/HTML/CSS/JavaScript (React), MySQL (MariaDB), Redis, and Nginx.
• Additional Languages: Python, C++, and Rust for performance-critical and specialised microservices
• Infrastructure: Containerised apps using HashiCorp’s Nomad, Consul, Vault, and Terraform on a self-managed multi-server environment.
• CI/CD: Docker and GitHub Actions for automated builds, testing, and deployments.

• Additional Projects: Opportunities to contribute to AI, Machine Learning, and Data Analytics initiatives for automation projects and business insights.

Responsibilities

• Application Development: Design, build, test, and deploy scalable and maintainable web applications across the full stack.
• Performance & Security: Optimise system performance and implement secure coding practices that meet industry standards and protect customer data.
• Code Quality: Participate in peer code reviews, maintaining high standards for maintainability, readability, and test coverage.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with product managers, designers, and other developers to translate business needs into technical solutions.
• Problem Resolution: Diagnose and resolve software bugs, bottlenecks, and performance issues quickly and effectively.
• Documentation: Maintain accurate technical documentation to ensure knowledge sharing and support smooth onboarding for new developers.
• Continuous Improvement: Research and adopt new tools, frameworks, and practices that enhance development efficiency and product quality.
• Platform Independence: Develop solutions with a platform-agnostic mindset to support long-term scalability and flexibility.
• Product feature ownership: Take full ownership of features, and collaborate across departments to ensure successful integration.

Behavioural competencies

• Collaboration: Thrives in a team environment, working efficiently across multiple disciplines and fostering a culture of shared goals.
• Problem-solving mindset: Uses analytical skills to break down complex challenges into practical, effective solutions.
• Adaptability: Open and eager to learn new technologies and embrace new challenges as the tech landscape evolves.
• Urgency & ownership: Manages workload effectively, makes confident decisions, and takes full ownership of deliverables.
• Continuous learning: Proactively keeps skills and knowledge current to remain ahead of industry trends.
• Attention to quality: Committed to delivering high-quality, secure, and maintainable code.

Functional competencies

• Proven experience as a Full Stack Software Engineer or similar role, ideally within a web-based, high-traffic, user-facing product environment
• OR a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Proficiency in our stack, or similar technologies, as outlined above.
• Familiarity with software design principles, coding best practices, and scalable architecture.
• Experience with version control systems, particularly Git.

Bonus if you have

• Hands-on experience with containerisation (Docker) and orchestration tools (eg. Nomad/Kubernetes). 
• Exposure to continuous integration and deployment pipelines (eg. Github Actions).
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS and infrastructure-as-code (eg. Terraform).
• Comfortable with the terminal and Linux.
• Understanding of the web infrastructure—DNS, HTTP, SSL, loadbalancing, etc.
• Good eye for UI/UX design and experience with relevant tools (eg. Figma).

• Hybrid work model & flexible start times
• Free lunch when in the office
• Modern offices based at the V&A Waterfront
• Showers on site
• Travel vouchers and discounts
• Discovery medical aid contributions & Vitality Health membership
• Retirement annuity contributions
• High-end laptops and workstation setup for both in-office and home
• Team budget for learning, online courses, and developer conferences
• Generous leave package
• Half-day off every month
• Digital nomad month (work from anywhere)
• Regular team events and more!