AI Operations & Strategy Engineer

DataFin Recruitment; Cape Town; Remote; ZAR 700 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading marketing technology agency in Century City seeks an AI Operations & Strategy Engineer to optimize AI strategy and implement responsible usage across the company. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years' experience in AI/ML roles, strong English proficiency, and be authorized to work in South Africa. This position offers the chance to work remotely and be part of a senior engineering team driving AI-powered product development.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience as a Business Intelligence Analyst, AI Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, or similar LLM‑focused role.
• Strong English language proficiency.
• Authorised to work in South Africa (permanent resident status).
• Must be able to work remotely (South Africa‑based).
• Strong problem‑solving skills and proactive mindset.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain a centralised prompt repository.
• Monitor token usage and cloud AI costs; optimise for ROI.
• Implement evaluation metrics to ensure accuracy and fairness.
• Train and support teams on usage of integrated AI tools.
• Research and recommend new models and features.
• Produce high‑quality documentation covering AI frameworks.
• Participate in engineering discussions and support effective AI deployment.

Skills

Prompt Engineering

Machine Learning

OpenAI API

Anthropic Claude API

Gemini Developer API

RAG Engineering

Human–AI Collaboration

Tools

Python

Amazon SageMaker

Google Vertex AI

MLOps and cloud AI services

Git and version control

Job description

ENVIRONMENT

An award-winning marketing technology agency based in Century City is seeking a highly skilled, strategically minded AI Operations & Strategy Engineer to join its senior engineering team, reporting directly to the CTO and Technical Lead. In this pivotal role, you will serve as the custodian of the company’s AI and LLM strategy—driving organisation‑wide adoption, optimising infrastructure and costs, ensuring ethical and reliable outputs, and shaping the roadmap for future AI‑powered products. You’ll thrive in a fast‑paced Agile environment with one‑week sprints and bi‑weekly retrospectives, where your expertise in AI systems, automation, and applied machine learning will directly influence business KPIs and OKRs. This is a role for someone who can bridge strategy and execution and elevate how the organisation thinks about and leverages AI at scale.

DUTIES

• AI Governance & Prompt Management – Design and maintain a centralised prompt repository; manage version control; refine prompts for performance, brand alignment, and consistency.
• AI Cost Management (AI FinOps) – Monitor token usage, model selection, and cloud AI costs; optimise for ROI across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS, and other providers.
• Evaluation Frameworks & Assurance – Implement and enforce evaluation metrics (incl. RAG‑specific metrics, HITL validation) to ensure accuracy, fairness, and reliability of AI outputs.
• Internal AI Enablement & Support – Train, guide, and support teams on responsible usage of integrated AI tools; act as internal AI champion.
• AI Strategic Roadmap Contribution – Research, prototype, and recommend new models, features, and integrations; contribute to technical specifications and strategic product evolution.
• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing – Produce high‑quality documentation covering AI frameworks, prompt guidelines, best practices, and governance processes.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration – Participate in standups, sprint ceremonies, and engineering discussions; provide expertise for ethical and effective AI deployment.

REQUIREMENTS

Experience & Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience as a Business Intelligence Analyst, AI Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, or similar LLM‑focused role.
• Strong English language proficiency.
• Authorised to work in South Africa (permanent resident status).
• Must be able to work remotely (South Africa‑based).

Must‑Have Skills

• Prompt Engineering
• Machine Learning
• OpenAI API
• Anthropic Claude API
• Gemini Developer API
• RAG Engineering
• Human–AI Collaboration

Nice‑to‑Have Skills

• Python
• Amazon SageMaker
• Google Vertex AI
• MLOps and cloud AI services
• Bias Detection & Mitigation
• Git and version control
• Knowledge of ethical AI frameworks

Additional Requirements

• Strong problem‑solving skills and proactive mindset.
• Ability to work within a senior engineering team and contribute to high‑impact AI operations.
• Excellent documentation, communication, and cross‑functional support capabilities.

ATTRIBUTES

• Strategic thinker with a strong ability to align AI initiatives with business objectives.
• Highly analytical with attention to accuracy, fairness, and ethical AI outputs.
• Strong ownership mindset with an ability to independently drive initiatives.
• Collaborative, supportive, and able to mentor others on AI adoption.
• Adaptable and continuously learning in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.
• Detail‑oriented, organised, and committed to high‑quality governance and documentation.