Software Engineer

Location: Cape Town #LI-Hybrid

Our tech stack: https://stackshare.io/companies/sedna 

 

About Sedna:

Sedna is at the forefront of transforming global trade, helping organisations navigate the complexities of international commerce with greater efficiency and transparency. Dataloy Systems, now part of Sedna, plays a key role in this mission by providing Voyage Management System and other maritime software used by companies around the world. Sedna + Dataloy deliver integrated solutions that modernise the operational, financial, and communication workflows that power global shipping.

As we continue to evolve our platforms and expand our impact across the maritime industry, we are looking for exceptional talent to help shape the next generation of these products. Joining us means contributing to technology that supports some of the most complex logistics operations in the world and helps make global trade more efficient, sustainable, and connected.

You can learn more about Sedna at https://sedna.com/ and about Dataloy’s maritime solutions at https://dataloy-systems.com/ 

 

About the role

This role focuses on contributing to the design, development, and evolution of the Voyage Management System (VMS), the platform used by global maritime customers to plan and operate voyages. The work supports shipping companies as they make operational, financial, and regulatory decisions using Dataloy’s software.

The team is growing as we onboard major enterprise customers, complex invoicing logic is being migrated from PL/SQL to our Jakarta EE platform, and the engineering organisation is taking steps toward a more modular, scalable architecture. An engineer joining now will play a meaningful part in these initiatives.

Since VMS sits at the heart of the company, improvements in stability, accuracy, and architectural readiness directly affect customer satisfaction and long-term growth. This role contributes both to delivering new product functionality and to shaping the future technical foundation of the platform.

 

Your responsibilities:

Engineering and feature development

Work includes contributing to both backend and frontend areas of the VMS using Java, SQL, Jakarta EE, React, and TypeScript. Day-to-day activities involve understanding requirements, shaping technical approaches, writing code, and contributing to automated tests. Development work usually includes a mix of new features, improvements, and maintenance depending on customer and product needs.

System architecture and modernisation

The role includes participating in ongoing efforts to refine and modernise the platform. This involves contributing to technical upgrade work, improving system structure, and supporting longer-term architectural direction as the product grows. Opportunities exist to participate in design discussions and help shape solutions that improve system performance, reliability, and extensibility.

Quality, testing, and delivery practices

The team maintains a focus on software quality. This includes contributing to unit tests, API tests, and automated testing tools in use across the product. Code changes are reviewed by peers to ensure quality and consistency. GitLab CI/CD pipelines support the build, test, and deployment process, offering a predictable and well-supported delivery workflow.

Collaboration with product and customer-facing teams

The role involves close collaboration with product managers through refinement, planning, and solution discussions. Engineers also interact with support and, at times, customer teams to understand real-world use cases and ensure the product meets operational needs. For larger projects, there may be opportunities to join customer conversations and help validate technical approaches.

Continuous improvement and documentation

Documentation is treated as part of the development process, including API references, design decisions, and user-facing material. The team allocates time to improving internal practices, addressing technical debt, and contributing to a clear and maintainable codebase.

 

What we're looking for:

Essential experience

Candidates typically bring two to five years of professional engineering experience. Experience working on production systems where quality and reliability are important. Familiarity with Java or a similar backend language, React or another modern frontend framework, and SQL is beneficial.

Critical skills

A strong grasp of building and maintaining features within a larger system is helpful. Confidence with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and code review workflows is expected. Clear thinking, good problem-solving ability, and the capacity to work with domain-heavy logic contribute to success in the role. Experience with enterprise or workflow-driven applications is an advantage.

Traits and mindset

Curiosity and a willingness to learn the maritime domain are appreciated. A collaborative working style, comfort sharing ideas in cross-functional settings, and the ability to work independently when needed all support strong performance. Adaptability is important as the product and architecture continue to evolve.

Core competencies

Systems thinking, ownership of outcomes, strong communication skills, and effective collaboration are central to this role. A motivation to create value for customers and contribute to a stable, evolving platform is essential.

 

What you can expect:

• Endless opportunities - no days are the same in Dataloy
• An exciting and challenging career in an industry that is constantly changing
• An independent job with freedom and responsibility
• A work environment where there is room to try new ideas
• Colleagues who will take good care of you and make sure that you quickly become part of the team
• Flexible workdays, work from our city-centre office but also days from home office
• Onboarding program with buddy arrangement
• Social activities - Walks to Fløyen, parties, game evenings, baking with families +
• Relevant workshops, courses and certifications
• Five weeks vacation, solid pension agreement, life and health insurances, mobile, internet

 

Our Values:

Finally, culture is important to us, so we also look for candidates who share our values:

Stay Ahead, Stay Agile

• We don’t just adapt-we anticipate change and act with confidence.
• Curiosity, data, and customer insights help us stay ahead of the curve.
• We embrace challenges as opportunities and remain resilient under pressure.
• By staying open to new ideas and ways of working, we lead the future.

Execute With Focus

• We turn strategy into action, delivering measurable results that matter.
• Every initiative counts-discipline and ownership drive business impact.
• We make smart decisions with speed, balancing pace and precision.
• Clear priorities keep us focused on what moves the needle.

Work Together, Win Together

• Collaboration is our superpower-we succeed as one team, internally and with customers.
• We co-create solutions, seek feedback, and build the future of the OS together.
• Strong relationships are built on trust, respect, and shared goals. 
• By aligning across teams and with customers, we unlock greater impact.