AI Product Engineer

E-Merge It Recruitment; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 700,000 - 850,000; Full time

Job summary

E-Merge IT Recruitment is seeking an AI Product Engineer to design, build, deploy, and continuously improve AI-powered products that deliver measurable business value. You'll work closely with business leaders, data scientists, software engineers, and executive stakeholders to develop scalable AI solutions aligned with business objectives.

This role reports directly to the AI Product Lead within the CIO team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, data science, business, or a related field (postgraduate qualification or AI/Product certifications advantageous).
• 3–4 years' experience in software engineering, machine learning, or data science, including 2–3 years delivering AI solutions in production.
• Experience in financial services, insurance, or another regulated environment is advantageous.
• Strong Python and SQL skills, with exposure to JavaScript/TypeScript, Golang, or Rust being beneficial.
• Experience with LLMs, RAG architectures, vector databases, embeddings, prompt engineering, transformer models, fine-tuning, and model optimization.
• Proficiency with FastAPI, PyTorch, Hugging Face, Llama.cpp/Ollama, Pandas, NumPy, SQL Server, Linux (Bash), and Windows (PowerShell).
• Experience working in Agile environments and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver AI products with measurable business value.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications and automation solutions.
• Collaborate with business, technology, and data teams to translate business requirements into AI products.
• Build scalable APIs and AI services using modern frameworks.
• Develop and optimize LLM-based solutions, including RAG architectures, prompt engineering, and model evaluation.
• Ensure AI solutions are secure, reliable, and production-ready.
• Continuously improve AI products through monitoring, testing, and user feedback.

Skills

Python

SQL

AI

Agile

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science / engineering / data science / related field

Tools

FastAPI

PyTorch

Hugging Face

Llama.cpp / Ollama

Pandas

NumPy

SQL Server

Linux (Bash)

PowerShell

Job description

We're looking for an AI Product Engineer to design, build, deploy, and continuously improve AI-powered products that deliver measurable business value. You'll work closely with business leaders, data scientists, software engineers, and executive stakeholders to develop scalable AI solutions that align with business objectives. This role reports directly to the AI Product Lead within the CIO team.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications and automation solutions.


• Collaborate with business, technology, and data teams to translate business requirements into AI products.


• Build scalable APIs and AI services using modern frameworks.


• Develop and optimize LLM-based solutions, including RAG architectures, prompt engineering, and model evaluation.


• Ensure AI solutions are secure, reliable, and production-ready.


• Continuously improve AI products through monitoring, testing, and user feedback.

Qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, data science, business, or a related field (postgraduate qualification or AI/Product certifications advantageous).


• 3–4 years' experience in software engineering, machine learning, or data science, including 2–3 years delivering AI solutions in production.


• Experience in financial services, insurance, or another regulated environment is advantageous.


• Strong Python and SQL skills, with exposure to JavaScript/TypeScript, Golang, or Rust being beneficial.


• Experience with LLMs, RAG architectures, vector databases, embeddings, prompt engineering, transformer models, fine-tuning, and model optimization.


• Proficiency with FastAPI, PyTorch, Hugging Face, Llama.cpp/Ollama, Pandas, NumPy, SQL Server, Linux (Bash), and Windows (PowerShell).


• Experience working in Agile environments and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver AI products with measurable business value.

The reference number for this position is NG61494 which is a p ermanent, Hybrid role in Johannesburg offering a salary of up to R850k per annum negotiable based on experience.