AI Operations Lead — Hybrid, MLOps & Production Excellence

Placements24; Stellenbosch; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive salary and bonuses

Health and retirement benefits

Professional development opportunities

Relocation assistance to Western Cape

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking an experienced AI Operations Manager to oversee deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of AI systems in a hybrid environment in Paarl, Western Cape. Lead a team through production lifecycle and CI/CD for AI models.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in IT operations or MLOps, strong leadership, and cloud experience across AWS/Azure/GCP. You will collaborate with data scientists and engineers to ensure reliable AI infrastructure and incident response.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in IT operations, system administration, or MLOps.
• Proven experience in managing and deploying AI/ML models in production.
• Strong understanding of MLOps principles, tools (e.g., Kubeflow, MLflow), and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their related services for AI/ML deployment.
• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack).
• Excellent problem-solving, organizational, and leadership skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration.
• Experience working in a hybrid work environment is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the deployment, configuration, and management of AI/ML models into production environments.
• Develop and implement robust MLOps practices and CI/CD pipelines for AI systems.
• Monitor the performance, health, and security of AI infrastructure and models, ensuring high availability.
• Establish and manage incident response procedures for AI-related issues.
• Collaborate with data scientists and engineers to troubleshoot and resolve production issues.
• Manage resource allocation and optimization for AI compute and storage needs.
• Develop and maintain documentation for AI operational processes and procedures.
• Lead and mentor the AI operations team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Stay updated on emerging MLOps tools and best practices.
• Ensure compliance with relevant data governance and security policies.

Skills

AI/ML

MLOps

CI/CD

Kubeflow

MLflow

Cloud platforms

Python

Bash

PowerShell

Docker

Kubernetes

Prometheus

Grafana

ELK

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Information Technology

Tools

Kubeflow

MLflow

Docker

Kubernetes

Prometheus

Grafana

ELK

Job description

Placements24 is seeking an experienced AI Operations Manager to oversee deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of AI systems in a hybrid environment in Paarl, Western Cape. Lead a team through production lifecycle and CI/CD for AI models.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in IT operations or MLOps, strong leadership, and cloud experience across AWS/Azure/GCP. You will collaborate with data scientists and engineers to ensure reliable AI infrastructure and incident response.