Senior AI & Intelligent Automation Developer - South Africa (Res or Work Permit)

Location: South Africa - Remote
Employment Type: Contract
Level: Senior

Role Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior AI & Intelligent Automation Developer to design, develop and implement advanced AI, automation and cloud-based solutions within a complex enterprise environment.

The successful candidate will combine strong software development capabilities with hands-on experience across Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, intelligent automation, conversational systems, APIs, cloud technologies and data solutions.

This is not a traditional RPA-only role. The position requires someone who can move comfortably between software development, AI, automation, cloud infrastructure, system integration and solution architecture, taking solutions from initial concept and proof-of-concept through to implementation and production support.

The ideal candidate will be technically strong, commercially aware and capable of understanding business challenges and translating them into scalable, secure and practical technology solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Design, develop and implement intelligent automation and AI-driven solutions.
Develop enterprise applications and automation solutions using Python, C# and related technologies.
Build and implement Generative AI and Large Language Model (LLM) solutions.
Design and develop Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions.
Work with vector databases and modern AI retrieval technologies.
Develop conversational AI solutions, including chatbots, virtual assistants and voice-based solutions.
Design and implement WhatsApp chatbot and messaging automation solutions.
Develop and optimise workflows using Power Automate, Power Automate Desktop, Logic Apps and Power Apps.
Identify business processes suitable for automation and recommend appropriate technical solutions.
Build and maintain integrations between enterprise platforms using APIs and web services.
Develop REST/API-based integrations across internal and third-party systems.
Design and develop cloud-native applications and services.
Work across Microsoft Azure and AWS cloud environments.
Develop serverless applications using technologies such as Azure Functions and AWS Lambda.
Build and support data pipelines and data-driven applications.
Work with structured and unstructured data for AI, analytics and automation use cases.
Apply machine learning, Natural Language Processing and text analytics where appropriate.
Develop solutions involving OCR, document processing and intelligent data extraction.
Build proof-of-concepts for new AI, automation and cloud technologies.
Take successful proof-of-concepts through development, testing, deployment and production implementation.
Participate in technical and solution architecture design.
Produce functional specifications, technical documentation, solution designs and implementation documentation.
Ensure solutions meet enterprise security, governance and compliance requirements.
Implement appropriate authentication, credential management and data-security controls.
Support vulnerability remediation and security requirements within deployed solutions.
Conduct code reviews and maintain high development standards.
Design and support CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices.
Troubleshoot, maintain and optimise existing applications and automated workflows.
Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, developers, data teams, infrastructure teams and other technical specialists.
Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior developers.
Assist with the evaluation and adoption of emerging AI and automation technologies.
Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency, customer experience, risk management and decision-making through intelligent technology solutions.

Essential Experience

Candidates should have approximately 5+ years of relevant technology experience, with strong recent hands-on exposure to software development, intelligent automation and AI-enabled solutions.

Strong practical experience should include most of the following:

Python development
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Generative AI
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Prompt engineering
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Vector databases or semantic search technologies
Conversational AI
Chatbot development
WhatsApp chatbot / WhatsApp automation
Workflow and process automation
Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate Desktop
Azure Logic Apps
Power Apps
API development and integration
REST APIs and web services
Microsoft Azure
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Cloud-based application development
SQL and relational databases
Git/source-control environments
CI/CD and DevOps principles
Technical solution design
Enterprise application integration

Technical Skills

Experience across a strong combination of the following technologies would be highly advantageous:

AI & Machine Learning

Azure OpenAI
Azure AI Services
Azure AI Foundry
Azure Machine Learning
Amazon Bedrock
Amazon SageMaker
NLP and text analytics
Machine Learning
Multimodal AI
OCR and intelligent document processing
Prompt engineering
RAG architectures

Development

Python
C#
.NET
Node.js
JavaScript
SQL / T-SQL
PostgreSQL

Automation

Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate Desktop
Logic Apps
Power Apps
RPA / SPA technologies
Selenium / WebDriver
Workflow automation
Business process automation

Cloud

Microsoft Azure
AWS
Azure Functions
Azure Data Factory
Azure Blob Storage
Azure AI Services
AWS Lambda
Amazon RDS
Amazon Redshift
CloudFormation
Infrastructure as Code

Data & Analytics

Databricks
Apache Spark
PySpark
Data pipelines
Data analytics
Power BI
Structured and unstructured data processing
Data extraction and transformation

Integration & DevOps

REST APIs
API management
IBM API Connect or similar integration platforms
Git
Bitbucket / GitLab or similar
CI/CD
Infrastructure as Code
Cloud deployment
Application security

Solution Architecture & Technical Delivery

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate experience beyond simply developing individual workflows or scripts.

This should include the ability to:

Understand complex business requirements.
Translate business requirements into technical solutions.
Assess whether AI, automation, traditional development or a combination of technologies is most appropriate.
Design end-to-end technical solutions.
Select suitable technologies and integration approaches.
Develop and test solutions.
Deploy solutions into enterprise environments.
Consider scalability, security, performance and maintainability.
Produce appropriate technical documentation.
Support solutions after implementation.
Troubleshoot complex technical issues across multiple platforms.

Conversational AI & Intelligent Automation

Strong exposure to conversational systems will be particularly valuable.

Candidates should ideally have experience developing or supporting solutions involving:

Chatbots
WhatsApp automation
Voice or conversational interfaces
AI-powered customer interaction
Automated customer-service processes
LLM-enabled conversational systems
API-driven chatbot integrations
Natural Language Processing
Automated workflow initiation from conversational channels
Integration between conversational platforms and enterprise systems

Candidates who have only worked with basic rule-based automation, without broader development or integration experience, are unlikely to be suitable.

AI & Generative AI

The successful candidate should have recent practical exposure to modern AI technologies rather than purely theoretical knowledge.

Experience may include:

Building applications using LLMs.
Azure OpenAI or comparable enterprise LLM platforms.
Prompt engineering.
Retrieval Augmented Generation.
Vector databases.
Semantic search.
Working with embeddings.
AI-enabled document processing.
Text analytics.
Sentiment analysis.
Multimodal AI.
Developing AI proof-of-concepts.
Integrating AI services into existing enterprise applications and workflows.

Cloud & Enterprise Integration

Candidates should be comfortable working within enterprise cloud environments and integrating multiple technologies.

Experience should ideally include:

Azure and/or AWS.
Cloud infrastructure.
Serverless applications.
Cloud functions.
API management.
Authentication and authorisation.
Secure credential management.
Enterprise application integration.
Cloud deployment.
Data integration.
Security controls.
CI/CD.
Infrastructure as Code.
Production support.

Leadership & Collaboration

As a senior technical resource, the successful candidate should be comfortable:

Taking ownership of technical delivery.
Leading technical discussions.
Guiding and mentoring developers.
Conducting code reviews.
Supporting solution architecture decisions.
Working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Collaborating across multidisciplinary teams.
Explaining complex technical concepts clearly.
Contributing to technical standards and best practices.
Evaluating new technologies and recommending appropriate solutions.

Qualifications

A relevant tertiary qualification is preferred, including qualifications in:

Computer Science
Information Technology
Mathematical Sciences
Data Science
Engineering
Software Development
Information Systems
Related quantitative or technology disciplines

Relevant professional certifications would be advantageous, particularly in:

Microsoft Azure
Azure AI
AWS
Python
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Power Platform
Automation technologies
Agile / SAFe

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical specialist rather than a purely managerial or business-facing resource.

They should be able to personally develop solutions while also contributing to architecture, technical decision-making and mentoring.

We are particularly interested in candidates who combine:

Strong software development ability
Intelligent automation experience
AI and Generative AI experience
Conversational AI / chatbot development
WhatsApp automation experience
API and systems integration
Azure and/or AWS cloud experience
Data and analytics capability
Solution architecture exposure
Enterprise-scale implementation experience

Experience within banking, financial services, insurance, fintech, consulting or another complex enterprise technology environment would be highly advantageous.

Senior AI & Intelligent Automation Developer