Python Developer -Mid/Snr

Our Travelstart team is looking for an experienced Python Developer to join our Technology team and help build, improve and support the systems that power Travelstart’s products, platforms and operational services.

This is a hands-on engineering role with a strong focus on backend development, APIs, integrations and automation.

You’ll work as part of a cross-functional technology team, collaborating with Engineering, Product, Data and Operations to turn business and product requirements into reliable, scalable software.

We’re open to appointing at either mid or senior level, depending on your experience and technical capability.

For a strong mid-level developer, this is an opportunity to broaden your technical ownership and work across increasingly complex systems.

For a senior developer, we’re looking for someone comfortable operating independently, influencing technical design and helping raise engineering standards across the team.

Location: Cape Town, South Africa (Our office is located in Gardens)

What you’ll do

In this role, you’ll:

• Design, develop and maintain backend applications and services using Python.
• Build and support APIs and integrations across internal and third-party systems.
• Develop software that is scalable, maintainable, secure and suited to a high-volume transactional environment.
• Translate product and business requirements into practical technical solutions.
• Improve existing systems through refactoring, automation and the reduction of technical debt.
• Participate in technical design and solution discussions.
• Write automated tests and participate in peer code reviews.
• Work within our established source-control, CI/CD and deployment processes.
• Troubleshoot production issues and contribute to incident investigation and root-cause analysis.
• Improve system performance, reliability, monitoring and observability.
• Work within an Agile delivery environment and contribute to continuous team and process improvement.
• Work with third-party technology providers, platforms and suppliers.
• Share knowledge and contribute to the broader capability of the Engineering team.

At senior level, you’ll also be expected to contribute meaningfully to architecture and solution-design decisions, identify technical risks and improvement opportunities, and provide guidance and mentoring to less experienced developers.

What we’re looking for

You’ll ideally bring:

• Strong professional experience developing software using Python.
• Experience building backend applications, APIs and integration services.
• Experience with Python frameworks such as FastAPI, Django, Flask or similar.
• A solid understanding of REST APIs and service-based architectures.
• Good SQL and relational database experience.
• Experience with Git and modern source-control practices.
• Experience with automated testing.
• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience working in containerised environments such as Docker.
• Experience working with cloud-based applications or deployment environments.
• A good understanding of application performance, scalability and security.
• Experience developing and supporting production software.
• Experience working in an Agile or iterative development environment.

A relevant tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or a related discipline is advantageous, but practical experience and demonstrated capability matter more to us than a specific qualification.

We would typically expect around 4+ years of professional software-development experience, although we place greater value on the complexity of the work you’ve done, the ownership you’ve taken and the quality of your technical judgement than on an exact number of years.

Nice to have

Experience with any of the following would be advantageous:

• PostgreSQL, MySQL or similar relational databases.
• Redis, RabbitMQ, Kafka or similar caching, messaging or event-driven technologies.
• Distributed systems or microservice architectures.
• High-volume transactional platforms.
• Travel, e-commerce or fintech environments.
• AI tools and AI-enabled development workflows.

What matters to us

Beyond the technical skills, we’re looking for someone who:

• Takes ownership and follows problems through to resolution.
• Thinks beyond the immediate coding task and considers the wider system impact.
• Approaches complex problems logically and pragmatically.
• Makes sensible technical trade-offs rather than over-engineering solutions.
• Cares about reliable, maintainable software.
• Communicates technical issues clearly with both technical and non-technical colleagues.
• Raises risks, dependencies and concerns early.
• Is comfortable learning new technologies and adapting as our technology environment evolves.
• Contributes positively to the team and shares knowledge with others.

Mid or Senior?

We’re intentionally keeping the role open across both levels.

As a Mid-Level Python Developer, you’ll generally be comfortable working independently on well-defined features and services, taking ownership of applications or components and contributing effectively to technical discussions and code reviews.

As a Senior Python Developer, we’ll expect greater autonomy across complex or ambiguous requirements, ownership of significant services or systems, contribution to architecture and solution design, and the ability to guide and support other developers.

For us, seniority is about more than years of experience. It’s about the complexity of problems you can solve, the level of ownership you can take and the quality of your technical judgement.

Why Travelstart?

You’ll be working in a technology environment that supports a large, established travel business with multiple products, customer segments, platforms and integrations.

That means real technical complexity, plenty of problems worth solving, and meaningful opportunities to improve systems, automate processes and influence how our technology evolves.

If you enjoy building practical solutions, taking ownership of what you put into production and working in an environment where technology is continuously evolving, we’d like to hear from you.