About the position
Our client, a leading player in the Industrial IoT space, has an opportunity available for a Software Engineer to join their team in Somerset West.
The Software Engineer is responsible for the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of scalable software solutions, machine learning products, and agentic AI systems. This role combines strong software engineering practices with applied machine learning and agentic AI practices to deliver reliable, production-ready systems for Smart Sensors, Advanced Process Control and client-facing applications.
A core expectation is the proactive adoption of agentic software engineering practices to continuously improve existing processes, increase automation, and enable more autonomous, intelligent development and operational workflows.
Key responsibilities:
Machine Learning & Agentic AI Development
- Design and select appropriate machine learning models and agentic architectures based on client requirements and business objectives.
- Develop, train, optimise, and evolve machine learning models and autonomous agent systems, including creating new model architectures and multi-agent collaboration frameworks where required.
- Source, clean and manage datasets (internal and external), including overseeing data labelling processes that support both traditional ML and agentic reasoning loops.
- Evaluate model and agent performance using appropriate metrics; continuously improve systems in production through iterative feedback, self-correction, and adaptive planning.
- Implement and manage the full life-cycle of machine learning and agentic systems, including versioning, experimentation, monitoring, tool integration, and governance.
- Ensure adherence to industry best practices in machine learning and agentic AI, with emphasis on reproducibility, scalability, safety, and responsible autonomy.
Agentic Software Engineering Practices
- Adopt, implement, and champion agentic software engineering practices to enhance development workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and improve overall process efficiency.
- Leverage autonomous agents for code generation, testing, debugging, documentation, and deployment pipelines, while continuously refining these practices to replace or augment traditional methods.
- Contribute to the evolution of team processes by designing and deploying agentic tools and multi-agent systems that enable self-improving software development lifecycles.
- Stay ahead of emerging agentic frameworks and patterns, actively experimenting with and integrating them into daily engineering work.
Software Development & Engineering
- Design, develop, and maintain high-quality, scalable, and maintainable software systems, incorporating agentic capabilities where appropriate.
- Translate business and client requirements into robust technical designs and implementations that support both traditional and agentic AI components.
- Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code following established coding standards, augmented by agentic assistance and review practices.
- Develop and maintain APIs, services, and data pipelines to support machine learning integration, agent tool-use, and product functionality.
- Implement unit, integration, and end-to-end testing, including agent-driven automated testing strategies.
- Participate in code reviews and contribute to the continuous improvement of development practices through the lens of agentic automation and process optimisation.
Machine Integration & Deployment
- Integrate machine learning models and agentic AI systems into production environments, including Smart Sensor products and client solutions.
- Assist with deployment of machine learning and agentic systems on-site and in cloud environments, ensuring reliable autonomy and observability.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of ML and agentic components into software systems. Monitor deployed solutions and troubleshoot issues to maintain optimal performance, leveraging agentic monitoring and self-healing capabilities where possible.
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Improve and optimise machine vision algorithms and implementations for the company's smart sensors, extending improvements through agentic automation.
- Stay up to date with emerging technologies in software engineering, machine learning, and especially agentic AI practices.
- Actively contribute to innovation initiatives by identifying opportunities to adopt agentic approaches that transform existing processes and deliver higher autonomy and efficiency across the organisation.
Minimum requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science or related qualification.
- A postgraduate qualification (Honours/Master’s) in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related discipline is advantageous.
Desired experience:
- At least 2+ years’ work experience in software development and/or machine learning engineering.
- Exposure to or strong interest in agentic AI frameworks and patterns (e.g., reasoning loops, tool-use agents, multi-agent systems) is highly desirable.
- Strong programming experience in Python
- Experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar
- Solid understanding of software engineering principles, including object-orientated design, design patterns and code practices.
- Experience with API development, microservices architecture, and system integration.
- Knowledge of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and version control (e.g., Git)
- Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) is advantageous.
- Exposure to data engineering concepts, including data pipelines and database management.
- Experience in computer version, digital image processing, or signal processing is beneficial.
Desired competencies:
- Continuous learning mindset and high adaptability, with a demonstrated openness and enthusiasm for adopting agentic software engineering practices; a proactive mindset to challenge and improve existing processes through autonomous, intelligent automation.
- Innovative and forward-thinking approach to technology adoption.
- Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to bridge theory (ML) and practical software implementation.
- Attention to detail and commitment to quality
- Strong collaboration and communication skills
- Self-driven with the ability to work independently
- Continuous learning mindset and adaptability
General:
- We are committed to fair and inclusive hiring. All suitably qualified applicants are welcome to apply.
- Preference may be given in line with our client’s Employment Equity plan and applicable legislation.
- Applicants must have the legal right to work in South Africa at the time of application.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from us within 30 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
- Please include your current remuneration (CTC), salary expectation, and notice period (optional but helpful for screening).
- By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal information for recruitment purposes in accordance with POPIA.
Desired Skills:
- APIs
- Artificial Intelligence
- CI/CD
- Cloud Computing
- Data Engineering
- Database Management
- DevOps
