Junior Full Stack Engineer - AI

the-global-talent-co; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 300,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

The-global-talent-co is hiring a Junior Full Stack Engineer to contribute to a powerful AI-driven grant platform. You will work on backend and frontend across React, Node/Express, Postgres, and AWS, under close CTO guidance.

This role targets early-career engineers with 1–3 years of experience or strong project work, offering a steep learning curve and a clear path toward a senior engineering role.

Qualifications

• Solid fundamentals in TypeScript and/or JavaScript.
• Curiosity and willingness to work across the full stack.
• 1–3 years of professional software engineering experience or strong project work.

Responsibilities

• Ship features end-to-end from backend to the user interface.
• Work across the stack: React, Node/Express, Postgres, AWS.
• Start with close guidance and progressively take on ownership.
• Collaborate with the CTO and grant team to solve real user problems.
• Build software with a user-first mindset.
• AI Development: help build the platform's AI pipeline and tooling.
• Production & debugging: learn and improve production systems.
• Learning & Engineering Growth: mentoring and code reviews to grow toward seniority.

Skills

TypeScript

JavaScript

React

Node/Express

Postgres

AWS

Curiosity

Job description

The Role

You will join a company building the digital infrastructure for grant funding , helping organizations spend less time navigating funding logic, forms, and administration and more time on the projects and impact that matter.

The platform brings together research across 18,000+ funding programmes, AI-supported analysis and application drafting, expert review, and ongoing grant management . AI handles what can scale, while people bring experience and judgement where it matters.

As a Junior Full Stack Engineer , you will help build the product across the backend, frontend, and AI pipeline at the core of the platform. You will work directly with the CTO, who already has one successful exit, and learn first‑hand how modern software is built in a clean, fast, AI‑native environment.

This role is designed for someone early in their career who wants real responsibility and a steep learning curve. You will start with close guidance and progressively take on more independent ownership, with a clear path toward a senior engineering role.

Position: Junior Full Stack Engineer - AI

Seeking an early‑career Software Engineer with solid programming fundamentals, curiosity across the stack, and a strong desire to learn how production software is built.

The ideal candidate has 1-3 years of experience or is a recent graduate with strong projects , and is hungry to learn, ambitious, driven, curious, and highly coachable .

You should be excited to work closely with the CTO, ask questions, take initiative, and progressively take on more responsibility as you grow.

You don't need to know everything. What matters is having the mindset of: "I don't know this yet, but I want to figure it out."

We care more about what you've built and how you think than a perfect CV. Personal projects, university projects, internships, and side projects all count.

Responsibilities

Product Development & Full-Stack Engineering

Ship features end-to-end, from backend development through to the user interface.

Work across the stack, including React, Node/Express, Postgres, and AWS .

Start with close guidance and progressively take on greater independence and ownership.

Work closely with the CTO and grant team to build solutions based on real user problems rather than abstract tickets.

Build software with a user-first mindset , ensuring what you create works for real people.

AI Development

Help build the platform's AI pipeline from week one .

Work with prompt engineering, context management, and AI evaluations .

Gain hands‑on experience with AI development and learn how AI‑powered features are built and improved in production.

Use AI‑native development tools such as Claude Code or Cursor as part of your engineering workflow.

Production & Debugging

Traceandfixbugs intheproductionenvironment .

WorkwithtoolsincludingSentry, CloudWatch, and Postgres .

Learn how production systems work by investigating real issues and understanding their underlying causes.

Develop strong debugging and problem‑solving skills through hands‑on production experience.

Learning & Engineering Growth

Work closely with the CTO and receive direct technical mentoring .

Usecode reviews asa learning tool,incorporatingfeedbackandprogressivelycontributingfeedbacktoothers.

Take increasing ownership of features and technical problems as your experience grows.

Develop toward independent feature ownership , with a clear path toward a senior engineering role.

Contribute to improving the time from starting a project to a finished, submitted application through reliable features, automation, and product improvements.

Requirements

1-3 years of professional experience as a Software Engineer , or recent university graduation with strong technical projects.

What you have built matters more than simply the number of years of experience.

Solid fundamentals in TypeScript and/or JavaScript .

Curiosity and willingness to work across the full stack, including:

• React
• Node / Express
• Postgres
• AWS

Strong desire to learn how production software is built and operated.

High self-motivation and the ability to dig into problems rather than wait for instructions.

Comfortable receiving feedback and using it to improve your technical skills.

AI-native approach to software development , with familiarity using tools such as Claude Code or Cursor .

User‑first mindset ,with a focus on building software that works for real people.

Strong curiosity, ownership, and willingness to take on increasing responsibility.

Nice to Have

• First experience with AI tools or LLM APIs , including university or side projects.
• German language skills at B1 level or above. The product and customers are German-speaking, while the team works bilingually.
• A side project, open‑source contribution, or other work built independently .

Growth Path

This role is designed as a springboard for your engineering career .

You’ll start with significant mentoring and