Senior AI Engineer

Location: Cape Town

Keywords: AI Jobs, Senior ML Engineer Jobs, Generative AI Jobs, Data Jobs, MLOps Jobs

Perks: Hybrid working, global remit, modern tech stack, actual ownership

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Who you’ll be joining

Imagine a global consumer brand with big ambitions and a huge digital footprint – think thousands of daily interactions, loads of behavioural data, and teams across multiple continents all hungry for smarter, faster, AI‑powered ways of working.

They’re not dipping a toe into AI. They’re scaling it – responsibly, safely, and with real momentum. Which is why they need a Senior AI Engineer who can own delivery, navigate ambiguity, and raise the bar for everyone around them.

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What You’ll Be Doing

This is the senior-level version of an AI Engineer: same end‑to‑end ownership, but with more leadership, more influence, and bigger, messier, more rewarding problems.

You’ll:

• Take full technical ownership of AI systems – from prototype to production reliability.
• Make architectural calls that balance speed, stability, and long-term maintainability.
• Convert loosely defined business questions into clear AI solutions with measurable impact.
• Build everything from classical ML models to LLM-powered services (RAG, fine-tuning, adapters, you name it).
• Deeply integrate your models into apps, CRM platforms, workflows, digital journeys, and internal tools.
• Lead experiments, run A/B tests, validate hypotheses, and guide stakeholders through trade‑offs.
• Set up monitoring, drift checks, retraining flows, observability, and proper MLOps hygiene.
• Work hands-on with data, modelling, pipelines, APIs, orchestration – the full engineering spectrum.
• Mentor juniors, shape engineering standards, and help create reusable blueprints for future AI builds.
• Act as a champion for safe, transparent, responsible AI use.

If you like being the person who steps into complexity, simplifies it, owns it, and ships something solid – good news: you’ve found your people.

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Who You Are

You don’t need to match every bullet, but you’re likely to thrive if you’re someone who:

• Has roughly 8+ years working in ML, data science, or software engineering with real AI ownership.
• Has shipped multiple AI/ML systems into production – not just POCs.
• Has led at least one meaningful end‑to‑end AI initiative (technical direction + stakeholder alignment).
• Is comfortable with Python + SQL and enjoys writing clean, production-level code.
• Knows ML frameworks (scikit‑learn, XGBoost, PyTorch, TensorFlow, LightGBM etc.).
• Has experience with LLMs and generative AI (APIs, RAG, evaluation, tuning).
• Understands data engineering basics and can work with pipelines, warehouses, and orchestration tools.
• Is familiar with the cloud (Azure, AWS, or GCP all welcome).
• Navigates ambiguity well – shaping scope instead of waiting for it.
• Communicates clearly, especially with non‑technical stakeholders.
• Loves mentoring, pair programming, reviewing code, and raising team standards.
• Understands privacy, safety, and the need for responsible AI.
• Values outcomes over grand ideas.

You don’t need to be a researcher. You don’t need a PhD. You need to be someone who ships.

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Why This Role Matters

This team isn’t building novelty demos. They’re deploying AI into live products across multiple regions. Your work will touch real customers, improve real operations, and directly influence commercial performance.

You’ll get to:

• Lead high-impact AI projects from idea to production.
• Own the technical design and operational reality of what you ship.
• Build reusable components that become the backbone of future AI work.
• Work with friendly, curious, low‑ego teammates.
• Play a key role in shaping the AI roadmap across a global market footprint.

And yes – you’ll still get space to experiment, learn, and stay ahead of where the field is going.

Salt is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.