System Developer – Healthcare Information Systems

Tenwek Hospital, a leading faith-based referral hospital in Bomet County, Kenya, is seeking an experienced and driven System Developer to spearhead the design, development, and maintenance of its Healthcare Management Information Systems (HMIS) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) platforms. This is a high-impact role at the intersection of technology and healthcare, where your work will directly influence patient care quality, clinical efficiency, and compliance with national health data standards.

The successful candidate will serve as the technical authority for all enterprise health applications, ensuring systems are secure, scalable, and interoperable across clinical, administrative, and reporting functions. You will collaborate closely with clinical staff, IT teams, and Ministry of Health stakeholders to deliver digital health solutions that meet the evolving demands of a busy referral hospital environment.

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of hospital enterprise applications including HMIS and EMR modules covering patient management, billing, pharmacy, and laboratory functions.
• Translate clinical and administrative requirements into robust, scalable, and secure technical solutions aligned with hospital workflows.
• Build and maintain secure RESTful APIs to enable seamless integration between health systems.
• Implement interoperability standards including HL7 and FHIR to support data exchange across platforms.
• Integrate EMR/HMIS with Laboratory Information Systems (LIS), Radiology/PACS, ERP systems, and insurance platforms.
• Support data reporting and exchange with Ministry of Health systems and national health registries.
• Enforce role-based access controls (RBAC) and implement secure coding standards across all applications.
• Ensure compliance with the Kenya Data Protection Act and Ministry of Health data governance guidelines.
• Conduct regular vulnerability assessments and implement remediation strategies.
• Design and manage CI/CD pipelines and containerize applications using Docker for consistent deployment across environments.
• Manage development, staging, and production environments to ensure system uptime, availability, and disaster recovery readiness.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex system integration issues in a timely and effective manner.
• Mentor junior IT staff and contribute to capacity building within the technology team.

• Must demonstrate at least 4 years of hands-on software development experience, delivering production-grade applications end-to-end.
• Must be able to design and implement RESTful APIs and integrate third-party health systems using HL7/FHIR standards.
• Must have worked with relational and/or non-relational databases and be able to write optimised queries for clinical data environments.
• Must demonstrate experience managing CI/CD pipelines and deploying containerised applications using Docker or equivalent tools.
• Must show proven ability to enforce data security protocols, implement RBAC, and conduct vulnerability assessments.
• Must be able to translate non-technical clinical or administrative requirements into functional software specifications and solutions.
• Experience with HMIS or EMR systems (such as OpenMRS, KenyaEMR, or similar) is a strong advantage.
• Familiarity with Kenya's health data regulatory landscape, including the Data Protection Act and MoH digital health standards, is highly desirable.
• A Master's degree in a relevant field is an added advantage.

Tenwek Hospital offers a competitive remuneration package commensurate with experience and qualifications. The estimated monthly salary range for this role is KES 150,000 – KES 250,000, reflective of mid-to-senior level healthcare IT expertise in Kenya. The hospital is a mission-driven institution and may offer additional non-monetary benefits aligned with its faith-based values.

Ideal candidate: You are a software developer with at least 4 years of experience who is passionate about leveraging technology to improve healthcare outcomes. You have worked on complex system integration projects, understand health data standards, and can independently lead technical initiatives from architecture through to deployment. You thrive in a structured but dynamic environment and are comfortable engaging with clinical staff to gather requirements and translate them into working software.

Do NOT apply if: You have fewer than 3 years of professional software development experience, have never worked on enterprise application integration, or are uncomfortable with healthcare data security and compliance requirements. This role requires independent technical leadership — it is not a junior or entry-level position.

• Prepare an updated CV highlighting your software development experience, specific systems you have built or maintained, and any healthcare IT projects you have contributed to.
• Write a brief cover letter (no more than one page) outlining why you are the right fit for this role and your experience with HMIS/EMR or similar systems.
• Submit your application through the Tenwek Hospital official careers portal or the job platform where this posting is listed.
• Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for a technical assessment followed by a panel interview.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear back within 3 weeks of the closing date, consider your application unsuccessful.