My Journey Through Start-ups, Engineering, and Leadership at Scale
From building products in scrappy start-ups to leading global engineering teams, my journey has been about turning ideas into outcomes - and people into leaders. Each chapter has sharpened how I think about innovation, empathy, and execution. I’ve led through growth, change, and reinvention - always driven by the belief that great teams build great products, and that technology serves its highest purpose when it amplifies human potential.
Leader
12+ Years Guiding Teams
Builder
Turns Ideas into Reality
Founder
Built Products, Teams & Culture
Driven
Energised by Purpose & Impact
Product Focused
Vision to Delivery — building what matters and delivering with precision.
Empathetic
Leading with heart, listening deeply, and enabling others to thrive.
Loyalty
Commitment that endures - to people, purpose, and progress.
Growth
Turning contributors into leaders through mentorship, trust, and stretch.
"Leadership is reflected not just in what you build, but in the people who'd choose to build with you again."
Aug 2025
AM
Allan Misquith
Head of Architecture & Engineering
Senior to Jason (not direct manager)
Visionary, empathetic and authentic leader who unites imagination, executional excellence and people-first ethos.
"One of the most visionary, empathetic and authentic leaders I’ve worked with."
"Brings clarity of vision and a user-centred mindset to every challenge."
Mar 2023
LP
Lucia Pagano
Principal Product Designer
Worked on same team
Passionate collaborator who pushes boundaries and keeps users at the centre of every decision.
"Super passionate about his work and loves to push boundaries."
"Not afraid of tough conversations to achieve what's best for our users."
"Always has a user-centric mindset."
Mar 2023
JT
Joel Turner
Customer Success Manager at Searchland
Worked on different teams
Clear, concise communicator and decisive technical leader.
"Always clear, concise and informative with his requirements."
"An all-round pleasure to work with."
Mar 2023
SS
Saidur Sikder
AI Product Leader
Cross-team collaboration on data/personalisation
Collaborative and technically strong engineering leader focused on business value.
"World-class Engineering Manager/Director."
"Impressed by his technical expertise, leadership skills, and focus on delivering business value."
"Proactive attitude made him an excellent partner."
Jan 2023
MC
Michael Chan
iOS Engineer
Direct report
Hands-on leader who drives initiatives and builds unity within teams.
"Always pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved."
"Leads by example and brings the team closer together."
Jul 2022
PV
Pradeep Vankamamidi
Product Manager
Worked on same team
Energetic, positive, and process-driven collaborator who uplifts others.
"Full of energy, excitement and ideas."
"Has high patience in listening and uplifting others’ ideas."
"A great team player and very dependable."
Jun 2022
NM
Nik Makan
Engineering Manager
Direct report
People-centric leader who invests deeply in personal growth and team development.
"Always keeping a keen eye on team members' job satisfaction."
"Encouraged us to pursue new challenges and grow our skillsets."
"Quick to adapt to new requirements and ease the team into them."
Feb 2022
JS
Jannis Strehl
Senior Frontend Engineer at OLX
Direct report
Creative product thinker and caring people manager who shields teams to let them thrive.
"The perfect mix of creative product mind, tech-savvy and caring people manager."
"Understands how important it is to shield developers from distractions."
"Jason, you are an absolute legend."
Jan 2022
SB
Stephen Ballot
Chief Product and Technology Officer
Senior to Jason (not direct manager)
Brings vision and energy, translating vague concepts into reality.
"Knows how to bring vague concepts to life."
"His teams always execute better than their peers."
Oct 2020
PR
Pato Rocca
VP of Engineering
Direct manager at OLX
Servant leader with empathy, communication skills, and strong technical execution.
"Extremely supportive and empathetic to all stakeholders."
"Servant leader with strong communication skills."
"Balances quality, delivery time, and business impact perfectly."
Jan 2020
SB
Sarah Brittan
Engineering Manager at Peach Payments
Direct report at OLX
Empowering leader who builds family-like teams and drives positive growth.
"Great problem solver and big-picture visionary."
"Leads by empowering his team — never micro-manages."
"Passionate about work, team, and family — pushes boundaries in all the right ways."
Jan 2017
HM
Herman Maritz
Creator of EskomSePush
Direct manager
Big-hearted, dependable teammate whose character lifts everyone around him.
"A big guy with an even bigger heart."
"His character and experience made our team successful."
OneFootball is a Berlin‑based platform redefining football/soccer fandom worldwide - powering 14 million monthly active users across iOS, Android and web, complemented by a booming 7.8 million followers on TikTok and 10 million on Instagram - delivering live scores, breaking news, in‑depth stats and premium video content to over 100 international leagues in 7 core languages. With advanced technology and exclusive content, it connects fans, clubs, and leagues across digital platforms.
Report directly into the CEO.
Overseeing 7 direct reports (5 Engineering Managers, 1 Principal Engineer, 1 Contract ML Expert)
Director of Media Platform (FAN XP) & OTT & Video.
Leadership, Strategy, Product.
Leading experimentation with Generative AI (Article translations, Content creation)
Reporting directly into CTO
Lead the FAN-XP and OTT Business Units (formerly Engagement Tribe), overseeing five squads focused on matches, source (ingestion), live video, video, and personalisation.
Initially and temporarily served in a dual role as Director of Product for the Engagement Tribe.
Spearheaded the development of an MVP content personalisation algorithm, revolutionising written and video content delivery.
Championed AI workflows, driving experimentation with OpenAPI for content tagging and language re-writes, leading to more scalable and adaptive systems.
Navigated challenging transitions, maintaining a resilient team culture through multiple rounds of layoffs while keeping focus on innovation.
Managed engineering operations for the News Experience (XP) Squad, restructuring the architecture to make news features more scalable and sustainable.
Led the Personalisation and Relevance Project using Algolia ElasticSearch, significantly enhancing personalised experiences for users.
Delivered an inspiring talk during an all-hands event on bravery and boundary-pushing, driving a culture of innovation and growth.
OLX Group is a global online classifieds platform and part of Prosus/Naspers, one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating in over 30 countries, OLX connects more than 300 million users every month across markets in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The company facilitates local trade in key verticals including autos, real estate, jobs, and consumer goods, processing billions of user interactions and listings annually. With a focus on scalable infrastructure, trust, and localisation, OLX uses data and technology to simplify buying and selling for everyday users - while supporting economic activity in both developed and emerging markets.
Engineering Manager overseeing the Advertising Squad's relocation from Cape Town to Berlin within the Monetisation division - offered relocation to Berlin, Germany and provided the autonomy to select individuals to emigrate.
Increased global market coverage and generating a 15% revenue uplift through the agnostic internal advertising solution BAXTER.
Pioneered the SDK/Library project to manage advertising across web & mobile platforms, enabling seamless ad integrations, while removing the technical cost and challenges for each team to 'learn' how to do Advertising Engineering. A true Plug & Play Service Vision.
Played a pivotal role in supporting the Pay&Ship initiative, which was a strategic pivot driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Led the South African Technical Hub, contributing to OLX's Global Core Product, enhancing its reach and functionality.
Spearheaded the serverless Bulk Uploader project, optimizing data management and boosting platform usage across OLX's vast markets.
Played a key role in migrating OLX's African sites and structuring data platforms for vertical-specific operations, driving improvements in content efficiency.
Recognised with the OLX ZA Leadership Award for exemplary leadership and impact.
Worked as a Software Engineer for the Sub-Saharan Africa Team, contributing to platforms across countries like South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Unlocked the potential of SOLR for improved search relevance, enhancing user experience and content discoverability. This tecnical evolution in Search optimisation (using data to create relevant synonyms/stopwords etc.) was borrowed and adapted globally, being reconised by the Parent Company (Naspers/Prosus).
Participated in key projects for platform maintenance, API development, and MySQL database administration.
PayAccSys is a leading South African payment solutions provider, specializing in EFT services and debit order collections, processing over ZAR 4 billion in collections and serving businesses nationwide with efficient, scalable solutions.
Head Hunted from StartUp ventures to take role of initial Founder Engineer and build a team from the ground up
Led a team responsible for managing millions of Rands(ZAR) in transactions, ensuring secure and scalable operations.
Transitioned the platform from a custom PHP framework to Laravel, modernizing infrastructure for greater agility.
Successfully migrated key systems to AWS, ensuring smooth operational continuity while leveraging cloud infrastructure.
Provided technical dilligence to the purchase of PayAccSys for the Payments component of the business to compliment the Debit
Managed the technical relationship with the Sponsor Banks and intergrations between FNB Bank and later migration to ABSA Bank
Three e-commerce platforms were launched to connect users with tailored products and services. These ventures were bootstrapped with a strong focus on SEO to maximize visibility and engagement. Designed as digital marketplaces, they efficiently facilitated online shopping experiences, meeting the growing demand for convenient, technology-driven solutions., while meeting the growing demand for convenient, technology-driven solutions.
Co-founded and BootStrapped Kariba Technology, wearing multiple hats from development to marketing to being the delivery driver on occassion, I lived and breathed the Start-Up.
Achieved highly ranked search engine rankings through a successful SEO strategy, driving significant visibility for product offerings.
Managed multi-platform sales efforts through the following brands, scaling operations for revenue growth:
DigitalCameraSALE
First startup platform created under Kariba Technology - specialising initially on selling Camera products before diversifying to mostly (but not limited exclusively to) digital goods.
iNEEDthat!
Second startup platform under Kariba Technology. Initial idea was to make use of subdomains and resell the space as a shop front within the domain which could handle the logistics of stock and couriers. Essentially opening up portals for any product using the marketplace of iNEEDthat! By providing a customer Facing application to add stock and mange products and pricing in a bespoke White labeled portion.
ComputerITsupport
Third startup platform under Kariba Technology.
Using the luxury of the traffic generated by the above platforms, I was able to build a means in which to connect IT Support Engineers with leads and business traffic using a preferred partner network for commission.
OneFootball [3.5 years]
