Senior Software Engineer (Backend / Data / Ml / Llm)

Souschef; Gauteng; Hybrid; ZAR 60 000 - 85 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading hospitality tech firm is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead the design and implementation of backend and ML-driven systems. You'll have the opportunity to work closely with founders, honing LLM capabilities and automating workflows. This role emphasizes self-management, offering the autonomy to make impactful changes in a startup environment while solving complex data challenges. Candidates should have strong backend experience and be proficient in SQL/PostgreSQL. Hybrid work model available across Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on backend systems.
• Strong comfort level with SQL and PostgreSQL including complex joins.
• Experience with third-party integrations such as REST APIs, webhooks.

Responsibilities

• Own backend features end-to-end, from requirements to monitoring.
• Design and build APIs and services in TypeScript and Python.
• Collaborate with product teams on architectural decisions.

Skills

Backend systems

SQL/PostgreSQL

TypeScript

Machine Learning

APIs

Tools

AWS

Deno

Job description

Location : Hybrid (Cape Town / Johannesburg)

Type : Full-time

About Sous Chef

Sous Chef builds the intelligence layer for hospitality.

Operators, multi-site groups and portfolio owners run on fragmented systems, incomplete data and slow reporting.

They lose margin to reactive decisions, manual reconciliation and a lack of real-time visibility.

We remove that failure mode.

The platform

Unifies sales, cost, labour, supplier and head-office data into one live, trusted view.

Layers deterministic models, predictive alerts and automated insight on top.

Eliminates data distrust, exposes risks early, strengthens financial accuracy, and gives operators the foresight to protect and grow margins across brands, sites and products.

The Engineering Environment

Built by operators and enterprise AI practitioners who have run + kitchens, deployed 25+ AI systems, and scaled finance ops across global organisations.

Focused on reliability, scale, data quality, deterministic logic, and long-term intelligence architecture.

Work is integration-heavy, infrastructure-first, and centred on building AI-native systems that improve with every dataset onboarded.

Contribution

Anyone joining contributes directly to the core intelligence engine : ingestion, normalisation, financial modelling, trigger systems and the ML layer that powers proactive operations for the industry.

About the Role

The role

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to lead the design and implementation of our backend, data, and ML / LLM-driven systems.

You'll be a key early hire, working directly with the founders to turn complex data and ML capabilities into reliable, scalable product features.

Key Focus : Build LLM- and data-driven capabilities such as retrieval-augmented generation, classification, enrichment, workflow automation, and analytics.

Primary Area : Backend and data-focused—you'll spend most of your time on APIs, data models, integrations, infrastructure, and ML / LLM-enabled features.

Required Soft Skills

Highly self-managed : comfortable setting your own priorities, breaking down ambiguous problems, and driving projects from idea to production with minimal oversight.

Comfortable mentoring and guiding junior developers.

What You'll Do

Own backend features end-to-end – from clarifying requirements and designing architecture to implementation, deployment, and monitoring.

Design and build APIs and services in TypeScript (Deno) and Python, focusing on correctness, performance, and maintainability.

Model, query, and optimise data in PostgreSQL, including complex SQL, schema design, indexing, and performance tuning.

Implement and maintain third-party integrations (SaaS APIs, webhooks, data connectors, identity / payment providers, etc.).

Operate and evolve our infrastructure (deployment, observability, reliability, cost awareness, security best practices).

Self-manage your work : define milestones, communicate progress and risks, and make pragmatic trade-offs without needing heavy process.

Establish and improve engineering foundations : testing strategy, logging, metrics, alerting, and operational runbooks.

Collaborate with product and the rest of the team to make early architectural and product trade-offs that will shape the company for years.

You Might Be a Good Fit If You

Have5+ yearsof professional software engineering experience with a strong emphasis on backend systems and data-heavy products.

Have experience and / or a clear, demonstrable interest in machine learning, data, and LLM technologies (e.g. building features on top of LLM APIs, embeddings / vector search, ML-powered ranking or classification, etc.).

Are very comfortable withSQL and PostgreSQL : complex joins, window functions, migrations, schema evolution, indexing strategies, and query optimization.

Have hands-on experience with third-party integrations (REST / GraphQL APIs, webhooks, OAuth, rate limiting, retries, resilience patterns).

Have built and operated services onAWS(or similar cloud) in production environments.

Are fluent inTypeScript and / or Python, and are happy to work withDenofor backend services.

Thrive in aself-directed environment : you can take a vague problem, clarify it with stakeholders, propose a plan, and execute with minimal guidance.

Are comfortable prioritising your own work in alignment with company goals and communicating clearly about timelines and trade-offs.

Are motivated byearly-stage startup work : ambiguous problems, rapid iteration, wearing multiple hats, and having a large impact.

Communicate clearly, enjoy collaborating closely with teammates, and care deeply about users and outcomes.

Nice to Have

Experience with data engineering or analytics workflows (ETL / ELT pipelines, data warehousing, BI tooling).

Experience with system design and architecture for data-intensive or ML-centric products.

Exposure to security, privacy, and compliance considerations around data.

Some comfort with frontend work (Angular or similar), even if it's a small part of your day-to-day.

Why Join Us

Massive impact : As an early engineer, your work will directly shape our architecture, product, and culture.

Visible value : You work in true startup conditions.

No legacy stack, no bureaucracy, direct line of sight between your work and customer outcomes, and the pace that comes with building foundational systems from scratch.

High autonomy : You'll have the space and trust to self-manage, make decisions, and drive projects from idea to production.

Deep technical challenges : Real problems in data modeling, integrations, LLM application design, and system reliability.

Rapid learning and iteration : Work closely with experienced founders and engineers in a fast-moving environment.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Engineering and Information Technology

Industries

Software Development