Senior Python Developer

The Focus Group; Sandton; On-site; ZAR 700 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services company is seeking a Senior Python Developer to play a crucial role in the AI Enablement function. You will build and maintain production-grade Python systems, manage ML pipelines, and contribute to both technical design and engineering standards. The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in Python development and familiarity with cloud platforms and ML engineering tooling. Join us to turn advanced AI into reliable business value and support junior developers in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience in Python development.
• Strong grounding in software engineering principles.
• Experience with ML engineering/MLOps tooling.

Responsibilities

• Build, optimize, and maintain high-performance Python systems.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards.
• Design and manage ELT/ETL pipelines.

Skills

Python development

Software engineering principles (SOLID, unit testing, CI/CD, Git)

ML engineering/MLOps tooling (MLflow, Kubeflow)

Cloud platform experience (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Designing and maintaining ELT/ETL pipelines

Tools

MLflow

Kubeflow

Spark

Ray

Vertex AI

BigQuery

Cloud Composer

Job description

Company Summary

A leading JSE-listed financial services company is expanding its Group Data Science Team, a world-class division that partners across digital, clinical, wellness, and behavioural domains. The team collaborates globally and leverages modern big-data platforms to build scalable, future-focused solutions that drive innovation across the organisation. The AI Enablement team is the engineering engine that transforms cutting-edge data science into tangible value for our members and business. We bridge experimental AI and robust, enterprise-scale production systems, enabling scalable, reliable, and efficient AI solutions.

Role Summary

The Senior Python Developer plays a critical role in the AI Enablement function, building and maintaining production-grade Python systems, managing ML pipelines, and ensuring enterprise-scale deployment of AI/ML models. You will contribute to technical standards, support team members, and help turn advanced AI into dependable business value.

Requirements

Essential

• 5+ years’ experience in Python development
• Strong grounding in software engineering principles (SOLID, unit testing, CI/CD, Git)
• Experience with ML engineering/MLOps tooling (MLflow, Kubeflow, etc.)
• Cloud platform experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Experience designing and maintaining ELT/ETL pipelines in distributed compute environments (Spark, Ray or similar)
• Ability to contribute to technical design, code reviews, and engineering best practices

Advantageous

• Experience with Vertex AI, BigQuery, Cloud Composer
• Exposure to large-scale data ecosystems and distributed systems
• Experience mentoring junior engineers or data scientists

Responsibilities

• Build, optimize, and maintain high-performance Python systems for AI/ML delivery
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards
• Design and manage ELT/ETL pipelines in large-scale MPP environments
• Support the full ML lifecycle: deployment, monitoring, and optimisation
• Implement automated monitoring, alerting, and model observability
• Provide guidance to junior developers and data scientists
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate business needs into robust technical solutions