Senior Software Engineer · Elixir / Phoenix · Distributed & Fintech Systems 📍 Lusaka, Zambia
Building reliable, high-throughput backend systems and the developer tools that make them easier to ship.
Senior Software Engineer with 6+ years of professional experience designing and delivering mission-critical financial systems. I work primarily in the Elixir/Phoenix ecosystem, with full-stack range across JavaScript, React and relational databases. My focus is on well-factored APIs, measurable performance work, and libraries that other engineers can pick up and use without reading the source.
I also publish and maintain open-source packages on Hex.pm — mobile-money integrations, LiveView UI components and data tooling — and mentor junior engineers on code quality, review practice and delivery.
August 2020 – Present · Lusaka, Zambia
Lead development on mission-critical financial systems; own API design, code review and CI/CD practice, and mentor junior engineers.
- Designed and shipped RESTful APIs with 10+ endpoints, improving mobile-app query flexibility by 40%
- Authored an Elixir dependency for MNO integration, cutting integration code complexity by 30% and increasing delivery speed by 20%
- Optimised database access paths for a 50% improvement in application response time
- Mentored 3 junior developers now shipping independently
- Established code review standards and CI/CD pipelines across team projects
Elixir Phoenix JavaScript SQL REST APIs Docker
September 2019 – July 2020
Delivered full-stack web and mobile solutions end to end: requirements, schema design, build, handover docs and ongoing support.
- Built a secure e-banking mobile application with biometric authentication (Java, XML, PHP)
- Designed a normalised SQL schema of 20+ tables for an admin portal
- 100% on-time delivery across all client engagements
PHP JavaScript Java MySQL HTML5 CSS3
Published Elixir packages, used in production and available on Hex.pm.
| Project | What it does | Stack | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine UI | 15+ interactive UI components for Phoenix — animated text, cards, form elements, loading buttons, tooltips, badges | Elixir · Phoenix · TailwindCSS · AlpineJS | Repo · Hex |
| ex_mtn_momo | MTN Mobile Money API client — collections, disbursements and remittances with robust error handling | Elixir · Payments | Repo |
| ex_mpesa | Vodacom M-Pesa OpenAPI client — session management, C2B/B2C/B2B, transaction status, direct debit | Elixir · Payments | Repo · Hex |
| ex_live_table | Interactive LiveView data table — sorting, pagination, search and custom formatting with minimal config | Elixir · Phoenix LiveView | Repo |
| number_f | Numeric formatting and conversion utilities — number-to-words, currency formatting, math helpers | Elixir | Repo · Hex |
| USSD Emulator | React app that simulates USSD session flows against a backend API — test without a handset | React · Vite | Repo · Live |
Languages — Elixir · JavaScript (ES6+) · SQL · Java · PHP · HTML5/CSS3
Backend & Frameworks — Phoenix · Phoenix LiveView · Node.js · RESTful API design
Frontend — React · TailwindCSS · Bootstrap · Vite
Data — PostgreSQL · MySQL · MS SQL Server · Oracle
Practice — Docker · Git · CI/CD · code review · system documentation · technical mentoring
- Secondary Teachers Diploma, Computer Science — Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce, 2017–2019
- CCNA Routing and Switching: Introduction to Networks — Cisco Networking Academy, November 2019
- IT Essentials — Cisco Networking Academy, August 2019
Open to senior engineering roles, consulting on Elixir/Phoenix systems, and collaboration on open source.
- Email — njovujames@gmail.com
- LinkedIn — james-njovu
- Portfolio — jamesnjovu.github.io/jamesnjovu
- Packages — hex.pm/users/jamesnjovu