Summary
Location
Johannesburg
Type
contract
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About this role
Role Overview
At Bluegrass Digital, a Microservices Solution Architect plays a critical role in designing and delivering scalable, resilient digital platforms using modern microservices architectures. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams to translate business strategy into robust technical solutions—while setting architectural standards and guiding teams through execution. This role is for someone who thinks in systems, not silos and can balance long-term architecture with real-world delivery.
What You’ll Be Responsible For
- Design, architect, and implement microservices-based solutions aligned with business objectives and enterprise standards
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, ensuring best practices are consistently applied
- Collaborate with product owners, business analysts, and delivery teams to shape solutions from concept to production
- Conduct architectural assessments, define target-state architectures, and contribute to digital transformation roadmaps
- Identify and proactively resolve architectural risks and bottlenecks, ensuring scalability, performance, and resilience
- Design for high throughput, performance, and scalability, with consideration for memory management and in-memory technologies
- Define and enforce security patterns across microservices, including authentication, authorization, and data protection
- Support delivery teams across the end-to-end product development lifecycle, particularly in complex enterprise environments
What You Bring
- 8–10+ years’ experience in software architecture and solution design
- Deep understanding of microservices principles, patterns, and best practices
- Strong hands-on experience with Java and Spring Boot (or equivalent modern frameworks)
- Proven experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
- Solid understanding of containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Strong background in API design and integration
- Experience across Agile delivery methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, XP, TDD, BDD)
- End-to-end exposure to product development lifecycles, ideally within large-scale or regulated environments
- Experience in Telecommunications and/or digital services is a strong advantage
- Ability to stay ahead of emerging technology and business trends and translate them into practical solutions
Other facts
About Bluegrass Digital
Founded over 27 years ago, Bluegrass Digital is an independent digital delivery partner that designs, builds, and runs complex digital platforms and products for ambitious organisations.
We specialise in long-term platform ownership and embedded delivery, helping clients scale with confidence through senior engineering, disciplined delivery, and human-led, AI-enabled workflows.
Our teams work across the full product lifecycle, from strategy and design through to build, optimisation, and ongoing support. We focus on creating platforms that are reliable, scalable, and designed to evolve, not one-off solutions.
We deliver digital platforms across web and mobile using modern front-end frameworks, API-first architectures, and cloud-native delivery. Our work spans enterprise CMS and DXP platforms, ecommerce, custom software, and mobile applications for both B2B and B2C organisations.
Bluegrass is an Umbraco Gold Partner and Optimizely Silver Partner, with deep experience delivering content-driven and experience-led platforms using Umbraco, Optimizely, and related ecosystems. We design platforms that integrate seamlessly with broader digital estates and support long-term growth.
Our delivery is underpinned by the Azure Cloud platform and modern DevOps practices, enabling secure, scalable, and well-governed solutions. We use AI to enhance delivery speed, quality, and consistency, while keeping accountability, judgement, and ownership firmly in human hands.
With offices in London, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, we support clients globally, from funded scale-ups to large enterprises. We are a BEE Level 2 rated company.
We are trusted to deliver and support digital platforms for organisations including Allan Gray, Coronation, Monster Energy, Kenya Airways, Dineplan, MultiChoice, Johnson & Johnson, and others.
What you'll do
- The Microservices Solution Architect is responsible for designing and implementing microservices-based solutions that align with business objectives. They will provide technical leadership, conduct architectural assessments, and ensure best practices are applied throughout the product development lifecycle.
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