Junior Software Engineer

Acuity Consultants; Wes-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Acuity Consultants in South Africa seeks a Junior Software Engineer (AI Enabled) to modernise digital payment platforms with AI-enabled development tools and LLMs, collaborating with experienced engineers.

The role offers hybrid work (2 days from home, 3 days in office) in major cities, with exposure to cloud environments, CI/CD pipelines, containers, databases, and Git to build reliable, scalable software.

Qualifications

• Up to 2 years of software development experience.
• An IT Diploma or Degree, or equivalent practical experience, such as a recognised coding bootcamp.
• Regular experience using AI coding tools, with the ability to understand, validate, and explain the code they generate.
• A good understanding of databases, SQL, Git, and how web applications work.
• Exposure to building applications or features using large language models (LLMs), through personal, university, or professional projects, would be advantageous.
• A curious, pragmatic approach to AI, with a strong willingness to learn and develop as a software engineer.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to building and maintaining software powering digital payment platforms.
• Help modernise existing systems and migrate functionality to modern services.
• Develop features using AI-enabled development tools and AI coding techniques.
• Participate in code reviews, testing, documentation, and deployment.
• Work with databases, version control, CI/CD pipelines, containers and cloud environments.

Skills

AI-enabled development

LLMs

Cloud environments

CI/CD pipelines

Containers

Version control

Databases/SQL

Education

IT Diploma or Degree

Coding bootcamp

Tools

AI coding tools

Git

CI/CD

Containers

Cloud platforms

Databases

Job description

An excellent opportunity for a Junior Software Engineer to join a leading FinTech company modernising its digital payment platforms through AI-enabled software development. You'll work alongside experienced engineers, contribute to the replatforming of existing systems, and gain practical experience building software with AI from day one.

This is an opportunity to develop your software engineering skills while working with large language models (LLMs), modern cloud environments, and AI coding tools on systems that power digital payments.

Based in Cape Town / Johannesburg, this is a hybrid opportunity (2 days work from home, 3 days in office)

THE COMPANY

A leading FinTech company redefining digital payments in South Africa and beyond. The business develops payment solutions that make transactions more accessible, secure, and convenient for businesses and consumers.

With a focus on innovation and modernising its technology platforms, the engineering team is replatforming existing systems and incorporating AI into its software development processes. You'll join a team where you can learn from experienced engineers, contribute to meaningful technical projects, and build your skills in an environment that is actively adopting new ways of developing software.

THE ROLE

As a Junior Software Engineer (AI Enabled), you'll contribute to building and maintaining the software that powers the company's digital payment platforms. Working alongside senior engineers, you'll help modernise existing systems, migrate functionality to modern services, and develop new features using AI-enabled development tools.

You'll use AI coding tools as part of your day-to-day development work, learning how to use them effectively while ensuring that the code you deliver is reliable, secure, and maintainable. You'll also gain exposure to building AI-powered features using large language models, including techniques such as embeddings, context management, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

Your role will cover the software development lifecycle, from writing and testing code through to code reviews, troubleshooting, documentation, and deployment. You'll work with databases, version control, CI/CD pipelines, containers, and cloud environments, developing a solid engineering foundation while contributing to the evolution of modern payment technology.

This is a hands-on software engineering opportunity for someone early in their career who is curious about AI and wants to learn how to build software with it. The focus is on AI-enabled engineering, rather than developing autonomous AI agents.

THE REQUIREMENTS

Up to 2 years of software development experience, including internships or graduate programmes.

An IT Diploma or Degree, or equivalent practical experience, such as a recognised coding bootcamp.

Regular experience using AI coding tools, with the ability to understand, validate, and explain the code they generate.

A good understanding of databases, SQL, Git, and how web applications work.

Exposure to building applications or features using large language models (LLMs), through personal, university, or professional projects, would be advantageous.

A curious, pragmatic approach to AI, with a strong willingness to learn and develop as a software engineer.