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    Engineers who ship.

    Backend, frontend, mobile, data, platform, and engineering leadership.

    IN SHORT

    CareerBuddy recruits software engineers across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Egypt, and delivers three vetted candidates within four business days of a signed brief. A mid-level software engineer costs $18,000–$30,000 a year and a senior software engineer $28,000–$45,000, depending on market. We can also employ them for you through our employer of record, so you need no local entity.

    AT A GLANCE

    Engineering hiring, in six answers.

    Who is this for?
    Companies hiring for engineering roles such as Backend engineer, Frontend engineer, Full-stack engineer, in Africa or globally.
    What problem are you solving?
    Engineering talent is in demand, and generalist recruiters can't tell a strong candidate from a strong CV.
    What does CareerBuddy activate?
    Talent search from a search partner who specialises in engineering: contingent, retained or executive.
    What outcome can you expect?
    A vetted shortlist of interested candidates 4 days after the brief.
    Why CareerBuddy?
    4,200+ placements, and 88.3% of placements still in role after 12 months.
    What should you do next?
    Share the role on a 20-minute brief call.Get your shortlist in 4 days →

    How we search for engineering.

    Specialist partners who know the market, the salaries, and the people.

    4 days
    brief to shortlist
    01
    Technical screening
    Live technical interviews run with senior engineers.
    02
    Stack match
    Candidates matched to your languages, frameworks, and scale.
    03
    Team fit
    Structured interviews on ownership and collaboration.
    CONTINGENTMid-level & volumePay only when you hire.Quoted per search
    RETAINEDSenior & criticalExclusive, dedicated search.Quoted per search
    EXECUTIVELeadershipConfidential leadership search.Quoted per search

    Questions about hiring engineering.

    Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, Accra and Cairo are the primary engineering hubs on the continent, and we source nationally from each. We recruit backend, frontend, full-stack, mobile, DevOps and QA engineers across the five African markets we cover.

    Every candidate is screened by a human recruiter against the criteria in your brief before they reach your shortlist: a CV and portfolio screen against role-specific criteria, a structured competency interview, a technical or domain assessment set by sector specialists, and reference and credential checks. If a hire leaves within 90 days, we replace them free.

    Mid-level software engineers benchmark around $18,000–$30,000 in annual gross base salary; senior software engineers around $28,000–$45,000. South Africa anchors the top of the range; Egypt the bottom. Employer statutory costs on top vary by market — pension in Nigeria is 10%, in Kenya 12%, in South Africa 8%, in Ghana 13% and in Egypt 11%. CareerBuddy's employer-of-record fee sits between $379 and $549 per employee per month depending on country.

    Yes. You can employ software engineers in any of the five African markets we cover without registering a local entity. CareerBuddy acts as the legal employer through our own registered entities — compliant local contracts, monthly payroll and statutory filings, pension and benefits, onboarding and offboarding — while you direct the work and pay a single monthly invoice.

    Hiring for engineering? Shortlist in 4 days.

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