Backend Engineer at Turnkey Africa Limited in Lagos, Lagos

Backend Engineer

Location: Lagos, Lagos

JOB DESCRIPTION

Entry Level Backend Engineer

Caava Group · Group Technology · Evolve Platform

Reports To

Technical Lead of the assigned Evolve team

Works With

Backend and Frontend Engineers, QA Engineers and Product

Scope

Assigned Evolve backend features, bug fixes, testing and release support

Tech Stack

Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, SQL and Git

Growth Path

Associate Software Engineer, based on performance and business need

Role Purpose

Evolve is Caava Group’s insurance management platform, built on Spring Boot services with Angular and Next.js frontends, and used by AIICO for its insurance operations. Working with experienced engineers, you will implement clearly scoped backend changes, test and debug services, and build practical knowledge of insurance workflows and dependable engineering practice.

This entry-level role suits candidates with internship, academic or personal project experience. Technical decisions, code reviews and production changes are supported by experienced team members. Growing towards full-stack work is encouraged.

Career Path

Progression to Associate Software Engineer depends on consistent delivery against these measures, growing independence on larger tasks, code and test quality, and business need.

Core Accountabilities

Build and maintain Evolve services

• Build assigned features and bug fixes in Java and Spring Boot to agreed designs, coding standards and acceptance criteria.
• Develop and update REST APIs and SQL queries. Learn the platform’s data structures and check validation, error handling and data consistency with guidance.
• Agree API contracts with frontend engineers and keep OpenAPI documentation accurate for the endpoints you change.

Test changes and work through code review

• Write and maintain unit and integration tests for your changes, covering normal, boundary and failure cases. Work with QA to reproduce defects and verify fixes.
• Submit small, reviewable changes through Git branches and pull requests. Explain your approach, apply feedback and keep technical documentation up to date.

Investigate issues and communicate clearly

• Investigate issues using approved tools, logs and test environments. Record evidence and escalate unfamiliar, high-risk or production-impacting problems promptly.
• Clarify requirements with engineers, Product and QA before implementation. Estimate tasks with support, share progress and raise blockers or risks early.

Apply secure practices and support releases

• Follow secure coding and data-handling practices. Protect credentials and customer information, and use approved test data and access permissions.
• Support release preparation and deployment checks under guidance, and learn how changes affect Evolve’s users and insurance processes.

Key Performance Indicators

KPI

Measure

Target

Sprint delivery

Original sprint items Done by sprint end ÷ items committed at sprint start × 100.

≥85% each sprint.

Test completeness

Agreed unit and integration cases executed for each change.

All agreed cases run; failures resolved or accepted by the Technical Lead before merge.

Release quality

Own released changes linked to a production defect or rollback ÷ own released changes × 100.

Proposed: ≤10% over a rolling 4 weeks; 0 critical defects.

Code review

Peer PRs reviewed and time to first response on assigned reviews.

3–5 reviews per sprint; <6 working hours.

Docs and handover

Changes affecting APIs, setup or support behaviour with notes updated before handover ÷ such changes × 100.

100%.

Review weekly with your lead: sprint measures are scored per sprint and release quality over a rolling 4 weeks. Snapshot scope at sprint planning and record changes separately. Report N/A where no work is eligible. Proposed targets are confirmed after the first quarter of data.

Experience and Working Style

• A degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or a related field, or equivalent practical training supported by relevant projects.
• Foundational Java skills and familiarity with Spring Boot through coursework, an internship or a working project.
• Understanding of object-oriented programming, basic data structures, algorithms and debugging techniques.
• Basic knowledge of REST APIs, HTTP and JSON, relational databases and SQL, and version control with Git.
• Ability to write basic automated tests, explain your code and use documentation to solve problems.

Working Style

• Clear written and verbal communication, attention to detail and a collaborative approach.
• Acts on feedback, follows through on assigned work and asks for help early when blocked.

Nice to Have

• Exposure to Hibernate or JPA, or other Spring components.
• Basic frontend exposure with TypeScript, Angular or Next.js.
• Familiarity with Postman, OpenAPI documentation or CI/CD workflows, and an interest in insurance systems.