Senior AI Engineer (Python, LangChain) - Pretoria - up to R1mil per annum

E-Merge; Pretoria; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,100,000; Full time

Job summary

E-Merge is seeking a Senior AI Engineer in a hybrid Pretoria role to lead the development of advanced AI systems, including autonomous agents and RAG-based frameworks. You will guide architecture from design through production, collaborating with frontend teams and ensuring robust scalability.

The ideal candidate has 6+ years in software engineering, proven leadership, and hands-on experience with Python, AI model systems, and cloud-native platforms on AWS or Azure.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related IT field.
• 6+ years of general software engineering experience.
• Proven experience with LLM-based applications or AI agents.
• Demonstrated technical leadership in delivering complex projects.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and deploy production-grade AI systems including autonomous agents and RAG-based solutions.
• Design and optimize vector search architectures for enterprise-scale datasets.
• Lead decisions around LLM usage, fine-tuning vs RAG trade-offs, context window management, and cost optimization.
• Develop and maintain high-performance backend services using Python and FastAPI/Flask.
• Operate cloud-native AI platforms on AWS or Azure with containerized workloads.

Skills

AI agents

LLM apps

Technical leadership

Python

Backend services

Education

BS in Computer Science

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

FastAPI/Flask

PostgreSQL

Job description

We are looking for a Senior AI Engineer with 6+ years of software engineering experience to take a leading role in delivering advanced AI solutions. This hybrid position blends deep software engineering expertise with specialised knowledge of AI systems and software architecture.

You will be responsible for designing and building autonomous agents, sophisticated reasoning pipelines, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions using LangChain and modern large-language-model frameworks. The role requires hands-on technical leadership, from solution design through to production deployment.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and deploy production-grade AI systems, including autonomous agents, multi-agent workflows, and RAG-based solutions using LangChain and modern LLM frameworks.
• Design and optimize vector search architectures, implementing efficient indexing, retrieval, and relevance strategies across enterprise-scale datasets.
• Lead decisions around LLM usage, including fine-tuning versus RAG trade-offs, context window management, and inference cost, latency, and performance optimization.
• Develop and maintain high-performance backend services and APIs using Python and FastAPI/Flask, applying asynchronous patterns and scalable system design principles.
• Architect and operate cloud-native AI platforms on AWS or Azure, leveraging managed AI services, containerized workloads, and serverless components.
• Implement and manage containerization and orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes/ECS, supported by Infrastructure as Code practices.
• Design robust data architectures, including PostgreSQL schema design, query optimization, and integration with NoSQL systems where appropriate.
• Apply advanced software engineering best practices, including microservices and event-driven architectures, SOLID principles, and system design patterns.
• Collaborate with frontend teams to guide the integration of AI capabilities into modern web applications.
• Establish and enforce engineering quality standards, including testing strategies, code reviews, CI/CD pipelines, and operational reliability.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship, contributing to architectural decisions, delivery excellence, and continuous improvement across engineering teams.

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related IT field
• 6+ years of general software engineering experience
• Proven experience or portfolio demonstrating LLM-based applications or AI agents
• Demonstrated technical leadership in delivering complex software projects.

The Reference Number for this position is NG60986 which is a Permanent Hybrid position based in Pretoria offering a cost to company of up to R1mil CTC negotiable on experience and ability.