SENIOR AI ENGINEER

Media24; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Cutting-edge AI/ML infrastructure

Medical aid (benefits)

Professional development budget

Career growth opportunities

Collaborative culture

Job summary

Media24, a leading media and technology company in South Africa, seeks a Senior AI Engineer to scale AI across its digital platforms and news brands. You will design, implement, and deploy production-ready AI solutions that enhance personalization and newsroom productivity, collaborating with product, data science, and editorial teams to reach millions of users.

The role focuses on content recommendation, NLP-based classification, real-time processing, and editorial tool development, with a

Qualifications

• Honours or Master’s degree in CS, ML, Data Science, or related field.
• Minimum 5+ years software engineering with at least 3 years in AI/ML development.
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Proven experience building and deploying production ML systems at scale.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy scalable AI/ML systems and pipelines in cloud environments.
• Build production-grade ML models for content recommendations, personalization, and newsroom automation.
• Implement MLOps with versioning, testing, monitoring, and CI/CD.

Skills

Python

AI/ML development

NLP

ML algorithms

Education

Honours or Master’s degree in Computer Science, ML, Data Science

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

AWS SageMaker

Google AI Platform

Azure ML

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

SENIOR AI ENGINEER

Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg, South Africa

Media24 is South Africa’s leading media and technology company, reaching millions of people daily across our diverse portfolio of digital platforms, news brands, and content channels.We’reat the forefront of digital transformation in the media industry,leveragingcutting-edgeAI and machine learning technologies to personalize experiences and accelerate content creation across all our brands.

Main Purpose of the Role

We areseekingan innovative and experienced Senior AI Engineerto join our growing AI team and help scale artificial intelligence across Media24’s diverse portfolio of digital platforms and news brands. In this role, you will be instrumental in implementing production-ready AI solutions that enhance personalization, accelerate newsroom productivity, and improve user experiences across all our channels and brands.

As a Senior AI Engineer, you will work on challenging problems ranging from content recommendation systems and personalization engines to AI-powered newsroom tools and automated content workflows.You’llcollaborate with cross-functional teams including product managers, data scientists, engineers, and editorial teams to deliver AI solutions that directlyimpactmillions of users.

Key Responsibilities

AI Production & Scaling:

• Design, develop, and deploy scalable AI/ML systems and pipelines using cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure)

• Build andmaintainproduction-grade machine learning models for content recommendation, personalization, and newsroom automation

• ImplementMLOpspractices including model versioning, automated testing, monitoring, and continuous deployment

• OptimizeAI model performance, latency, and resourceutilizationfor high-traffic production environments

Personalization & Content Intelligence:

• Develop and enhance personalization algorithms that deliver relevant content experiences across web, mobile, and emerging platforms

• Build content classification, semantic analysis, and recommendation systems using NLP and deep learning techniques

• Implement real-time content processing pipelines for automated tagging, categorization, and content matching

• Create user profiling and behavioral analysis systems to improve content targeting and engagement

Newsroom AI & Editorial Tools:

• Collaborate with editorial teams to develop AI-powered tools that accelerate content creation and curation

• Build automated content workflows including article summarization, fact-checking assistance, and content optimization

• Implement AI solutions for news aggregation, content deduplication, and trend analysis

• Develop tools for automated social media content generation and distribution optimization

Technical Excellence & Innovation:

• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented Python code following software engineering best practices

• Design and implement APIs and microservices for AI model serving and integration

• Conduct experiments withcutting-edgeAI technologies including large language models (LLMs), transformer architectures, and generative AI

• Stay current with AI/ML research and evaluatenew technologiesfor potential implementation

Collaboration & Community Building:

• Work closely with product teams to translate business requirements into technical AI solutions

• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to knowledge sharing within the AI community at Media24

• Participate in code reviews, technical discussions, and architectural planning sessions

• Collaborate with data scientists to productionize research models and prototypes

Required Skills and Experience

Technical Qualifications:

• Honour’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or related technical field

• Minimum5+ years of software engineering experience with at least 3 years focused on AI/ML development

• Strongproficiencyin Python and experience with ML frameworks (TensorFlow,PyTorch, scikit-learn)

• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS SageMaker, Google AI Platform, Azure ML) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)

• Proven experience building and deploying production ML systems at scale

AI/ML Expertise:

• Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, deep learning architectures, and neural networks

• Strong experience with NLP, text processing, and content recommendation systems

• Knowledge ofMLOpspractices including model monitoring, versioning, and automated retraining

• Experience with vector databases, embedding-based search, and similarity matching algorithms

• Familiarity with transformer models, large language models, and modern NLP architecture

Software Engineering:

• Proficiencyin API development (REST,GraphQL) and microservices architecture

• Experience with version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing frameworks

• Strong understanding of database technologies (SQL, NoSQL) and data pipeline tools

• Knowledge of software engineering best practices including design patterns and code quality standards

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in media, publishing, or content-driven industries

• Knowledge of content management systems and editorial workflows

• Understanding of web analytics, user behavior analysis, and A/B testing methodologies

• Experience with real-time streaming data processing (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub)

• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana,DataDog)

Personal Characteristics

• Innovation-driven:Passionate about exploring new AI technologies and finding creative solutions to complex problems

• Collaborative mindset:Ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

• Results-oriented:Strong focus on delivering measurable business impact through AI implementations

• Continuous learner:Commitment to staying current with rapidly evolving AI/ML landscape and best practices

• Problem-solver:Analytical thinking and ability to break down complex challenges into manageable components

• Quality-focused:Attention to detail and commitment to building robust, scalable, and maintainable systems

What We Offer

• Competitive salarycommensuratewith experience and skills

• Comprehensive benefits package including medical aid(optional)and retirement contributions

• Access tocutting-edgeAI/ML infrastructure and tools

• Opportunity to work on high-impact projects reaching millions of users

• Professional development budget for conferences, courses, and certifications

• Collaborative and innovative-focused work environment

• Career growth opportunities within South Africa’s leading media technology company

Employment Equity Statement

Given the employment equity policy of Media24, preference will be given to suitable candidates from the designated groups.