Introduction to the VKB Group
The VKB Group is an agricultural company, providing support to farmers and producing straight-from-the-farm foods for consumers. Apart from the various consumer brands, the VKB Group is also represented by its regional brands: VKB, GWK, and NTK. Our roots are firmly planted in agriculture with farming at our core, continuously growing and evolving throughout the years. Starting with providing everything needed on the farm to produce food, we now also operate in all areas of the food supply chain: processing, logistics, and national and global market channels. This “house of brands” we’ve established with the support of our farmer shareholders is the foundation for building the agribusiness of the future.

About the Position
The Back End Developer will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining server-side applications, APIs, and databases that support front-end applications. Solutions will primarily be based on the .NET ecosystem. You will collaborate with business representatives, analysts, front-end developers, integration developers, and QA engineers to deliver functionally accurate, secure, scalable, and high-performance solutions.

About You
You are keen to join a dynamic Information & Technology (I&T) team and contribute to an agricultural business outside of the major city metropole areas. You are passionate about technology, enjoy problem-solving, and are driven to create high-quality software solutions.

You embody the values of VKB:

• Humble: You are open to learning from others and collaborating without ego.
• Hungry: You are ambitious, always seeking to grow, improve, and make an impact.
• Bold: You are confident in making decisions and bringing innovative ideas forward.
• Smart: You demonstrate emotional intelligence in your interactions and approach to challenges.
• Team Player: You work well in a collaborative environment, supporting colleagues and the organization’s goals.
  

You thrive on building robust back-end systems while collaborating with teams across the business. Your strong communication, analytical skills, and ability to balance technical expertise with business needs set you apart.

Skills and Qualifications Required:

• Matric
• IT Diploma or Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)
• 3+ years of experience in back-end development
• Proficiency in C# and strong knowledge of the .NET Core / .NET Framework
• Experience with Entity Framework / EF Core or similar ORM tools
• Strong understanding of SQL Server (queries, stored procedures, optimization)
• Familiarity with RESTful API design and integration
• Knowledge of asynchronous programming, multithreading, and concurrency in .NET
• Experience with DevOps, Git, or other version control systems
• Solid understanding of software design principles (SOLID, OOP, layered architecture)

Beneficial Skills (Nice to Have):

• Familiarity with RPA solutions like UiPath
• Experience with cloud platforms, especially Azure services
• Familiarity with microservices architecture and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Knowledge of messaging queues (Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, Kafka)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins)
• Exposure to unit testing frameworks (xUnit, NUnit, MSTest)
• Understanding of security best practices (OWASP, JWT, OAuth2)
• UI frameworks such as Angular

Languages:

• Read and write English and/or Afrikaans
• Other languages will be beneficial

Personal and Behavioural Attributes

• Respectful customer servicing
• Excellent communication and teamwork abilities
• Takes ownership of own accountabilities
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• Attention to detail and a passion for creating great user experiences
• Ability to find relevant facts to resolve service requests
• Manages own time, development, stress, and conflict
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment using Agile/Scrum methods

Duties and Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain server-side applications using C#, .NET Core / .NET Framework
• Build and consume RESTful APIs (and/or GraphQL, if relevant)
• Develop scalable, secure, and high-performance services
• Work with SQL Server (and other relational/non-relational databases) to design schemas, optimize queries, and manage data
• Implement authentication, authorization, and data security best practices
• Write unit tests, integration tests, and ensure code quality through reviews and documentation
• Collaborate with front-end developers to integrate APIs with client-facing applications
• Participate in the full software development lifecycle (design, coding, testing, deployment, monitoring)
• Monitor application performance and troubleshoot production issues
• Stay updated with best practices, emerging trends, and technologies in back-end development
• Ability to review business requirements and translate these into appropriate solution designs
• Take relevant business requirements and solution designs and develop code which enables these
• Ensure that the code developed is functionally and technically sound
• Make use of DevOps code repositories and deployment pipelines
• Engage with business stakeholders and demonstrate the solutions developed

Location:

• Preferred – On-site in Reitz, Free State
• Hybrid option depending on experience (SA residency required)