Senior AI Engineer – SA

At Embelo, we’re dedicated to helping founders of consulting businesses start and scale efficiently. Backed by our UK-based investors and clients, we deliver exceptional client services to a growing group of UK businesses, combining technical expertise, South African spirit, and the latest in AI-powered services. One of those is
Inference Group, a fast-growing data and AI consultancy on a mission to help businesses unlock their true potential and drive sustainable growth.

We’re entering an exciting next phase of growth and building a bold, tech-driven AI capability in Cape Town. We’re looking for a Senior AI Engineer to help lead, shape, and scale our AI engineering practice - someone who loves getting their hands dirty in the code and stepping back to guide the bigger picture.

This role goes well beyond individual contribution. You’ll set technical direction, raise the bar on best practice, mentor and grow other engineers, and act as a trusted senior technical voice for both clients and internal teams. You’ll work closely with leadership to define how AI engineering is delivered at Inference Group as we scale and have real influence over the direction we take.

This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives at the intersection of software engineering, data science, and AI, enjoys ownership, and gets genuine satisfaction from building something and helping others do great work.

Location:

This is a hybrid role based in Cape Town (3–4 days in the office). If you’re applying from another location, relocation to Cape Town will be required and would need to be arranged personally.

• Design, develop, and deploy AI and machine learning solutions using the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
• Build, train, fine-tune, and evaluate machine learning models using large, real-world data sets.
• Own AI solutions end-to-end — from data ingestion and modelling through to deployment, monitoring, and optimisation.
• Lead the delivery of scalable, production-ready AI solutions, embedding strong MLOps practices.
• Continuously assess and improve model performance, accuracy, and reliability.
• Oversee AI/ML delivery across multiple client engagements, ensuring consistency and quality.

• Set technical standards for architecture, coding, deployment, and performance across AI projects.
• Mentor and coach AI Engineers and junior team members, helping them grow in skill and confidence.
• Review and guide technical work to ensure solutions are secure, ethical, maintainable, and scalable.
• Help shape and evolve our AI engineering best practices, documentation, and delivery frameworks.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and growing the AI engineering team as the business scales.

• Act as a senior technical contact, able to explain AI concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Partner with consultants, data engineers, and delivery leads to turn business challenges into effective AI solutions.
• Contribute to strategic conversations, helping clients understand how AI can create meaningful, long-term value.

You’re a senior technologist who enjoys responsibility, values craft, and stays curious.

You’ll likely have:

• 5–8+ years’ experience in AI/ML, data engineering, or software engineering, including time in a senior or lead role.
• A proven track record of delivering end-to-end AI/ML solutions into production.
• Experience mentoring engineers or acting as a technical lead on projects.
• Strong architectural thinking — you design systems, not just models.
• Confidence making technical decisions and taking ownership of outcomes.
• The ability to communicate clearly and collaborate across technical and non-technical teams.
• A genuine interest in emerging AI technologies and a commitment to continuous learning.

Strong experience with Microsoft Azure, including some or all of:

Inference Group is a young, fast-growing consultancy built by people who are naturally curious and genuinely love what they do. We work on interesting problems, value learning, and care deeply about delivering solutions that actually work in the real world.

We’re committed to…