AI Engineer

TaskVerse; South Africa; Remote; AUD 58,000 - 107,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote SA role

Direct access to CTO and leadership

Challenging production scope and paid/

Job summary

Learning Online Pty is seeking a hands-on AI Engineer who will build, test, deploy and support production AI applications and integrations used in live business processes. This is a fully remote role open to applicants based in South Africa, with working hours aligned to Australian time zones.

You will collaborate with technical and non-technical colleagues, work across Google Cloud, Salesforce, and other tools, and own end-to-end lifecycle features from design to monitoring in a growing

Qualifications

• Hands-on Python development in production systems.
• Experience building and deploying AI-powered features.
• Ability to explain model limitations and failure modes.

Responsibilities

• Build and operate production LLM applications and RAG workflows.
• Develop evaluation and observability practices (datasets, automated evals, tracing).
• Create reliable integrations across Salesforce, LMS, and finance platforms using APIs and webhooks.
• Help establish Google Cloud AI stack with BigQuery, Cloud Run, vector search, and APIs.
• Implement responsible AI safeguards (least-privilege, prompt-injection defences, data privacy).
• Monitor production services, troubleshoot issues, and maintain runbooks.
• Own automations and internal features, launch internal knowledge assistant in Slack, contribute to BigQuery/agent roadmap.

Skills

Python

Git

SQL

LLM API

REST APIs

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Software Eng/AI or Data

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

Job description

Most AI roles produce a proof of concept that never makes it beyond a slide deck. This role is different: you will build and operate production AI systems that support real business processes and users.

Learning Online Pty operates online education brands across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. With more than 100 staff and a growing South African team, the company delivers education across areas including beauty, photography, animal care and tattooing. Its AI function has already launched LLM-powered document automation, AI-assisted grading and chatbots connected to Salesforce, n8n and PostgreSQL. The next stage is planned and funded: a Google Cloud data platform on BigQuery and a multi-agent orchestration layer to support tutoring, student services and analytics across the portfolio.

This fully remote opportunity is open to applicants based in South Africa. The role works closely with the Australian team, so the working hours involve an early start in South Africa. Please consider this schedule carefully before applying.

Learning Online Pty is an international online education company with a portfolio of specialist learning brands serving students across four markets. The business combines digital learning with practical technology to improve student support, education delivery and internal operations. Its South African team works alongside colleagues in Australia as an integrated part of the company.

We are seeking a hands-on AI Engineer who is first and foremost a software engineer. You will build, test, deploy and support AI applications and integrations used in production. This is not a research-only or data science role: you will write typed, tested Python, work through code review and CI/CD, monitor live systems and investigate issues when they arise.

You will collaborate with technical and non-technical colleagues and work across Google Cloud, Salesforce, Vonage, Customer.io and WordPress. Existing workflows use n8n and custom applications, with AI agents and development tools becoming an increasingly important part of the technology landscape. The position is offered across a broad experience and compensation range, with scope and ownership shaped by your demonstrated capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Build and operate production LLM applications, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), governed knowledge bases, tool calling, structured outputs and multi-agent workflows.
• Develop evaluation and observability practices, including golden datasets, automated evaluations, tracing, and cost and latency monitoring.
• Create reliable integrations and semantic data layers across Salesforce, the learning management system and finance platforms using APIs, webhooks and event-driven automation.
• Help establish the Google Cloud AI stack using BigQuery, Python services on Cloud Run, vector search and Claude, OpenAI and Gemini APIs.
• Implement responsible AI safeguards, including least-privilege access, prompt-injection defences and privacy-conscious data handling.
• Monitor production services, troubleshoot failures and maintain useful, accurate runbooks.
• During the first six months, take ownership of existing automations, deliver scoped internal features, launch an internal knowledge assistant in Slack and establish foundations for the BigQuery and agent roadmap.

Qualifications

• Strong Python skills, experience using Git and sufficient SQL knowledge to validate results.
• Practical experience building with REST APIs, JSON and webhooks.
• At least one hands-on project using an LLM API, with the ability to explain its limitations and failure modes. Personal and hackathon projects are welcome.
• A degree in computer science, software engineering, AI or data, or equivalent practical experience.
• For senior-level consideration: five or more years in software engineering, including at least two years operating LLM or agentic systems used by real users.
• For senior-level consideration: practical RAG experience, cloud engineering with Docker and CI/CD, and the ability to guide technical standards or mentor others.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to clarify business needs and translate them into useful systems.

Experience with Salesforce, Google Cloud, FastAPI, LangGraph, CrewAI, Model Context Protocol, education technology or international remote teams is beneficial. AWS or Azure experience is also welcome. We value self-direction, commercial judgement, adaptability and a genuine interest in measurable impact.

Benefits

Monthly compensation ranges from R60,000 to R110,000, paid in South African rand. The final offer will reflect your experience and ability to take ownership, from a supported growth path for an early-career engineer to architecture and mentoring responsibility for a senior engineer. Engagement is as an independent contractor through Remote, the company’s global contracting platform.

• Fully remote work from anywhere in South Africa.
• Direct access to the CTO and leadership team.
• Meaningful production scope, funded projects and opportunities to shape the AI function.
• Support for relevant tools, courses and conferences.
• Exposure to international operations across four markets.

Applicants need a private, quiet workspace, uncapped fibre internet with mobile data backup, reliable backup power for load shedding and a computer suitable for professional software development. Working hours are aligned with Australian business hours.

Equal Opportunity

Learning Online Pty welcomes applications from qualified candidates with different backgrounds and career paths. We assess applicants on their relevant skills, experience and ability to contribute, and encourage candidates who meet the role’s requirements to apply.