Do you want to champion the digital safety and resilience of changemakers across the African continent?
Code for Africa (CfA) is recruiting a bilingual full-time Digital Security Engineer to lead technical incident response and security assessments at TrustLab, our nonprofit digital security lab working to safeguard frontline human rights defenders (HRDs), journalists and civil society organisations across Africa and the majority world.
Candidates should possess a strong background in endpoint security and incident response, with demonstrable experience in providing support, conducting security assessments, investigating breaches, and implementing hardening measures across various devices and operating systems. Ideally, you have a deep understanding of the threat landscape in Africa and experience working with non-profit organisations or in the development sector.
This is both an engineering and a duty-of-care role. The people who contact TrustLab may be non-technical, under significant stress, or facing threats that extend well beyond their devices. We practise consent-first, victim-centred and trauma-informed incident response: we explain what we propose to examine, respect the limits of the client’s consent, minimise what we collect, and communicate the confidence and limitations of our findings honestly.
Candidates must be fluent in English and French, and candidates who are fluent in an additional international language, such as Arabic or Portuguese, will have an advantage.
Required: minimum requirements include:
- Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, and similar technology degrees, or equivalent technology experience,
- Demonstrable experience supporting high-risk users like journalists and activists.
- 3+ years experience in security engineering, or a similar role, with a strong focus on incident response and endpoint and application security,
- Experience with endpoint security tools and techniques, such as Mobile Device Management and anti-malware,
- Hands-on experience investigating and responding to security incidents, including triage, forensic analysis, evidence preservation, containment, recovery and post-incident review, using SIEM, EDR or comparable security tools where appropriate,
- Experience conducting risk-based security assessments using techniques such as secure configuration review, vulnerability assessment, threat modelling or authorised penetration testing, and translating findings into practical, prioritised remediation,
- Experience with identity and access management such as MFA, SSO, least-privilege provisioning and deprovisioning,
- Experience with scripting languages for security automation (Python and shell scripting).
- Deep practical knowledge of macOS and iOS, including secure configuration, endpoint management, incident investigation and relevant security tooling, together with demonstrated ability to assess and support mixed-device environments,
- Passion for using technology to empower and protect civil society organisations,
- Strong organisational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities and tasks, and deliver results within deadlines,
- Excellent technical documentation and presentation skills, and
- Proven ability to work and communicate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Preferred: candidates who can demonstrate the following will have an advantage:
- Master’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Security, or similar technology postgraduate degrees,
- Expertise in one or more of the following domains is highly desirable: Penetration Testing, Cloud Security, and Cryptography,
- Familiarity with security risks involving generative-AI or agentic systems, and with the responsible, privacy-preserving use of AI-assisted tools in security workflows,
- Working knowledge of Windows, Linux and Android, including their secure configuration, common security controls and relevant investigation tooling,
- Hold one or more relevant security certifications such as eJPT, Security+, GCIH, CySA+, OSCP,
- Extensive knowledge of digital security issues and threat vectors in the African context,
- Experience working with non-profit organisations or in the development sector is a plus, and
- Experience working in a fully remote environment.
Language and Location Requirements:
- Location: Remote. Candidates must be able to maintain at least four hours of overlap with the team’s core collaboration hours of 09:00–17:00 GMT+1.
- Timezone: GMT-1 to GMT+5
- Languages: English and French
- Nice to have: Arabic or Portuguese.
About the Role:
The successful candidate will join TrustLab, the CfA’s security team within the wider TechLab programme. TechLab is the innovative engine of CfA, driving the design, development, and maintenance of impactful, human-centred digital services and infrastructure.
As a Digital Security Engineer, you will play a critical role in safeguarding CSOs, CBOs, partners and other stakeholders across the African continent. You will conduct thorough security assessments, detect and investigate potential compromises, and implement security best practices for a range of devices and operating systems. Your expertise will empower our partners to operate securely and confidently in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
This role offers a unique opportunity to blend your technical skills with a deep social impact. You will not only work with cutting-edge technologies but also collaborate with passionate individuals dedicated to making a real difference in the world.
Some of the projects that you may work with us on include:
- TrustLab (Toolkit development and Digital Security Helpline)
- Our first-line security tools (Outline, FeedShield and Vaultwarden)
- Open source intel tools/teams (afriLEAKS, investigate.AFRICA)
- Our knowledge and community outreach initiatives (academyAFRICA, and WanaDATA)
Responsibilities: Your daily tasks will include:
- Conduct comprehensive security assessments of devices, including but not limited to mobile, and end-user computing devices,
- Monitor SIEM dashboards to triage alerts for signs of compromise (malware, rootkits, unauthorised access) and conduct forensic investigations,
- Securely extract relevant forensic data, and wipe/reset compromised devices,
- Develop relevant incident response plans, playbooks, and simulations,
- Design and maintain secure device configurations, hardening, and usage best practices,
- Test devices, apps and software for vulnerabilities before and after deployment, and coordinate patch management,
- Stay abreast of emerging security threats and vulnerabilities, and proactively implement countermeasures,
- Handle access management for security tools such as the VPN and Password Manager,
- Provide timely support to staff such as access, network, and device-related issues, and
- Collaborate with the security team and other stakeholders to strengthen the security and resilience of the organisation and the communities it serves.
What We Offer:
- A competitive salary, subject to experience, with opportunities for performance-based growth, both in terms of career path and public stature.
- Medical insurance cover, underwritten by a remote-first provider to ensure cover wherever you are
- A dynamic workplace, with a transnational team, occasional international travel, and generous vacation benefits.
- Ongoing opportunities to learn new cutting-edge skills and techniques/technologies to future-proof yourself in a rapidly evolving industry.
- A chance to shine on a global stage, writing for international audiences and interacting with colleagues around the world.
How to apply:
Please fill in this form by October 15 2026
About Us:
Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories, with over 100 staff in 21 countries, who build digital democracy solutions that are intended to give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and that strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability.
This includes building infrastructure such as the continent’s largest open data portal, open.AFRICA, and largest open source civic software portal, commons.AFRICA, as well as the largest repository of investigative document-based evidence, source.AFRICA, as well as incubating initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network that gives citizens their own ‘eyes in the sky’, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative in 12 African countries, and the sensors.AFRICA remote-sensing citizen science initiative to combat air/water pollution.
CfA also incubates the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), as an association of the continent’s best investigative newsrooms, ranging from large traditional mainstream media to smaller specialist units. ANCIR member newsrooms investigate crooked politicians, organised crime and big business. The iLAB is ANCIR’s in-house digital forensic unit, with teams in east, south and west Africa. ANCIR uses its resources to strengthen newsrooms’ own internal capacity, by providing access to the world’s best whistleblower encryption and investigative semantic analysis technologies, as well as skills development, and seed grants for cross-border collaboration.
At CfA, we don’t just accept differences – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. CfA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.