AI Lead SDLC - TC

DVT; Centurion; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development

Diverse client exposure

Modern engineering practices

Job summary

DVT in South Africa seeks an experienced AI Enablement Lead to drive AI adoption across the Software Development Life Cycle, blending hands-on AI engineering with leadership and delivery optimisation. You will design and deploy AI-powered solutions, establish AI standards, and mentor AI Specialists while partnering with engineering teams to improve efficiency, quality and business outcomes.

Reporting to the Head of Development & Engineering, you will influence toolchains, CI/CD processes and

Qualifications

• Minimum 6 years in software engineering.
• Minimum 2 years of practical AI implementation.
• Proven delivery of production-ready AI tools, agents, integrations or automations.
• Experience leading technical initiatives or coaching engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, test and deploy AI-powered solutions.
• Develop reusable AI capabilities including LLM integrations and tool-enabled agents.
• Integrate AI solutions into DevOps workflows and engineering systems.
• Identify and implement AI-assisted workflows across SDLC stages.
• Drive adoption of approved AI tools and practices through coaching, workshops and hands-on implementation.
• Lead and mentor AI Specialists and coordinate delivery priorities for the AI Enablement team.
• Develop AI engineering standards, governance frameworks and responsible AI practices.
• Measure adoption, quality, efficiency and cost outcomes to demonstrate business value.

Skills

Software engineering

AI engineering

Leadership

LLM integration

CI/CD tooling

REST APIs

Cloud & DevOps

Secure development

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Proven practical experience

Tools

Azure DevOps

GitHub Copilot

Claude Code

Codex

Job description

About DVT

DVT is a leading South African technology consulting and software engineering company that helps organisations deliver innovative technology solutions. We partner with clients across multiple industries, providing exposure to complex projects, modern engineering practices and emerging technologies.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced AI Enablement Lead to drive practical AI adoption across the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This role combines hands‑on AI engineering with leadership, coaching and delivery optimisation to improve engineering efficiency, quality and business outcomes.

Reporting to the Head of Development & Engineering, you will lead the implementation of AI-enabled solutions, establish AI engineering standards, optimise SDLC processes and build sustainable AI capability across engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, integrate, test and deploy AI-powered solutions, agents and automations that improve engineering delivery.

• Develop reusable AI capabilities including LLM integrations, retrieval workflows, context pipelines, tool-enabled agents and automated quality checks.

• Integrate AI solutions into development environments, Azure DevOps workflows and engineering systems.

• Identify and implement AI-assisted workflows across requirements, architecture, development, testing, CI/CD, documentation and production support.

• Drive adoption of approved AI tools and practices through coaching, workshops, demonstrations and hands‑on implementation.

• Lead and mentor AI Specialists and coordinate delivery priorities for the AI Enablement team.

• Develop AI engineering standards, governance frameworks and responsible AI practices.

• Measure adoption, quality, efficiency and cost outcomes to demonstrate business value and optimise usage.

Minimum Requirements

• Relevant degree or diploma in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or related field, or equivalent proven practical experience.

• Minimum 6 years' hands‑on software engineering experience.

• Minimum 2 years' practical applied AI implementation experience.

• Proven delivery of production-ready AI tools, agents, integrations or automations used by engineering teams.

• Hands‑on experience with:

  • LLM APIs, prompt/context engineering and tool‑calling workflows.

  • Agent development and AI‑enabled automation.

  • Software engineering, API integration and production‑grade development practices.

  • REST APIs, authentication, logging, debugging, version control and maintainable code.

  • SDLC tooling, source control, CI/CD and test automation.

  • Azure DevOps repositories, work items, pipelines and documentation integration, or equivalent platforms.

  • Secure development, data protection, access controls and responsible AI implementation.

• Experience leading technical initiatives or coaching engineering teams.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), embeddings and enterprise knowledge integration.

• C#/.NET development experience.

• Experience using AI‑assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Codex or similar platforms.

• Relevant certifications in applied AI, LLM engineering, software development, secure development or AI-enabled delivery.

What DVT Offers

• Continuous learning and professional development opportunities.

• Exposure to diverse client environments and industries.

• Career growth within a leading technology consultancy.

• Access to modern engineering practices and emerging technologies.

• Collaboration with highly skilled software engineering and consulting professionals.

Who we are: