Automation (AI) Technical Lead

The League of Companies Group; Centurion; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

The League of Companies Group is seeking an experienced Automation Technical Lead to support the AI/ML operational and platform engineering functions of a leading financial services organisation.

This contract role provides technical leadership across the AI/ML technology landscape, driving adoption of AI platforms, engineering best practices and innovative solutions while ensuring operational excellence, security and scalability.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in IT, software engineering, data science or related tech.
• 5+ years with AI/ML technologies, platforms and production solutions.
• 3+ years in technical leadership, architecture or senior engineering role.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical investigation, analysis and troubleshooting across AI/ML stacks.
• Lead AI Engineering, Data Engineering and Platform teams.
• Drive adoption of AI platforms, tooling and best practices.
• Offer architecture guidance for AI/ML solutions and deployments.
• Evaluate AI/ML tools, frameworks and cloud services.
• Establish monitoring, observability standards for AI/ML systems.
• Identify opportunities to optimise model performance and infrastructure.
• Partner with architects to translate business needs into AI/ML solutions.
• Support cloud-native, containerised environments including Kubernetes.
• Ensure security, governance and compliance across AI/ML solutions.
• Promote innovation through emerging AI/ML tech and best practices.

Skills

AI/ML leadership

Cloud platforms

Technical leadership

Architecture

Python/Java/SQL

Education

BSc in Computer Science or related

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

XGBoost

Azure AI

SageMaker

Vertex AI

Databricks

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD

Python

Java

SQL

MLOps

Job description

The League of Companies is seeking an experienced Automation Technical Lead to support the AI/ML operational and platform engineering functions of a leading financial services organisation.

This contract role will provide technical leadership across the AI/ML technology landscape, driving the adoption of AI platforms, engineering best practices and innovative solutions across business units while ensuring operational excellence, security and scalability.

Key responsibilities:

• Provide technical investigation, analysis and troubleshooting across AI/ML technology stacks, frameworks and infrastructure
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to AI Engineering, Data Engineering and Platform teams
• Drive the enablement and adoption of AI/ML platforms, tooling and engineering best practices across the organisation
• Provide architecture guidance and technical oversight for AI/ML solution design, implementation and optimisation
• Evaluate, select and integrate AI/ML tools, frameworks and cloud services
• Establish monitoring, logging and observability standards for AI/ML systems and models
• Identify opportunities to optimise model performance, platform capability and infrastructure efficiency
• Partner with architects and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into practical AI/ML solutions
• Support cloud-native and containerised environments, including Kubernetes and serverless platforms
• Ensure security, governance and compliance requirements are embedded across AI/ML solutions
• Promote innovation through the evaluation of emerging AI/ML technologies, frameworks and industry best practices

What we're looking for:

• 10+ years' experience in IT, software engineering, data science or related technology disciplines
• 5+ years' experience working with AI/ML technologies, platforms and production solutions
• 3+ years' experience in a technical leadership, architecture or senior engineering role
• Experience designing and implementing large-scale AI/ML solutions and platforms
• Strong experience with cloud platforms and cloud-native architectures
• Knowledge of AI/ML frameworks including TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn and XGBoost
• Experience with AI/ML platforms such as Azure AI, AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI and Databricks
• Knowledge of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), RAG, prompt engineering and LLMOps concepts
• Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines and containerised deployments
• Knowledge of MLOps practices, model lifecycle management and deployment tooling
• Experience with monitoring, logging and observability platforms
• Strong programming capability across Python, Java, Scala and SQL
• Understanding of data governance, security, compliance and responsible AI principles
• BSc degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience

Experience within financial services or other regulated environments, together with expertise in data engineering, ETL tooling, distributed computing, observability platforms and enterprise AI adoption, will be advantageous.

This opportunity is suited to someone who can bridge AI/ML engineering, platform operations and business value, deliver scalable, secure and production-ready AI capabilities while driving technology innovation across the organisation.