Lead Application Engineer

The Nairobi Hospital is a healthcare institution founded in 1944, providing medical services in Nairobi, Kenya.

The overall purpose of this role is first to champion continuous optimization of the hospital operations and ensure innovation and renewal of core processes and continuous availability of hospital systems, networks, databases, and data security systems to guarantee reliability and optimum support of hospital operations in line with the strategic objectives. Second to this is playing a critical role in driving the successful implementation of the new HMIS (Hospital Management Information System) by focusing on the system design architecture, integration management, quality assurance, performance testing and ensuring successful seamless Go-live while delivering enhanced product features that improve patient care, operational efficiency and data security.

1. Lead product development, building and delivering enhanced product features to integrate with HMIS to deliver innovative solutions that enhance patient care, operational efficiency,and data security.
2. Design a work breakdown structure, backlog grooming, assign development tasks to developers and enforce clear Definition of Done standards.
3. Oversee and ensure comprehensive quality assurance across the HMIS and related applications, including performance testing, usability testing, regression testing, automated testing, unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing before feature release.
4. Ensure all pre-release functional, performance, security, and data validation testing is thoroughly documented
5. Lead system design architecture, integration management, API validation, and data integrity checks (including SQL-based validation and reporting accuracy) across hospital systems.
6. Design, implement, and maintain scalable automation frameworks and CI/CD pipelines to support continuous quality validation and reliable software delivery.
7. Oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of the hospital’s IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, networks, databases, and data security systems to guarantee reliability and optimum support of operations
8. In conjunction with the Director ICT & Transformation Services prepare ICT annual budget, monitor its implementation upon approval to ensure cost containment and value for money
9. Ensure full implementation of all hospital-approved quality management systems, including ISO standards, Environmental Management System (EMS), and Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S), to guarantee ICT division compliance
10. Mentor and coach development and QA engineers, establish automation and testing standards, and foster a culture of quality and continuous improvement.
11. Collaborate closely with clinical, operational, product, and engineering stakeholders to investigate issues, perform root-cause analysis, and ensure high-quality, reliable system releases.
12. Any other responsibilities that may be assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

1. Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electric or Electrical Engineering, Information Systems or any other related engineering field with a strong mathematical and physics background from a recognized institution with not less than 12 years hands on experience. Masters would be an added advantage.
2. Professional ICT qualifications and certifications from recognized institutions.
3. Minimum of 10 years’ Information Technology experience including computer operations management, multiple roles in systems implementation, architecture, security/compliance, business-wide strategic planning responsibility with 5 years at management level.
4. Proven ability to improve software quality, reduce regression cycles, validate complex business workflows, and collaborate with cross-functional engineering, product, and business teams in agile environments
5. Strong practical experience in test automation frameworks (e.g., Playwright, Cypress, Selenium, Robot Framework), API testing, SQL data validation, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Azure DevOps), and quality assurance practices is highly desirable.
6. Experience with Enterprise Information Systems in high velocity industries like Fintech, Health tech etc data security, database management, and large-scale system implementations is a significant advantage.
7. Distinguished professional history demonstrating deep understanding of information technology, application development, and quality engineering.
8. Proven ability to lead, influence, and drive change initiatives in support of business strategies; strong leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills.
9. Knowledge of Enterprise/Hospital Information Systems and HMIS implementation.
10. Strong understanding of data systems, database management, data security, and compliance responsibilities.
11. Expertise in system architecture, integration, automated testing, performance testing, and release readiness.
12. Strategic thinking, strong business acumen, and budget preparation skills.
13. Excellent collaboration, communication, and stakeholder management abilities in complex healthcare environments