SENIOR AI ENGINEER
Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg, South Africa
Media24 is South Africa’s leading media and technology company, reaching millions of people daily across our diverse portfolio of digital platforms, news brands, and content channels. We’re at the forefront of digital transformation in the media industry, leveraging cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies to personalize experiences and accelerate content creation across all our brands.
Main Purpose of the Role
We are seeking an innovative and experienced Senior AI Engineer to join our growing AI team and help scale artificial intelligence across Media24’s diverse portfolio of digital platforms and news brands. In this role, you will be instrumental in implementing production-ready AI solutions that enhance personalization, accelerate newsroom productivity, and improve user experiences across all our channels and brands.
As a Senior AI Engineer, you will work on challenging problems ranging from content recommendation systems and personalization engines to AI-powered newsroom tools and automated content workflows. You’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams including product managers, data scientists, engineers, and editorial teams to deliver AI solutions that directly impact millions of users.
Key Responsibilities
AI Production & Scaling:
- Design, develop, and deploy scalable AI/ML systems and pipelines using cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure)
- Build and maintain production-grade machine learning models for content recommendation, personalization, and newsroom automation
- Implement MLOps practices including model versioning, automated testing, monitoring, and continuous deployment
- Optimize AI model performance, latency, and resource utilization for high-traffic production environments
Personalization & Content Intelligence:
- Develop and enhance personalization algorithms that deliver relevant content experiences across web, mobile, and emerging platforms
- Build content classification, semantic analysis, and recommendation systems using NLP and deep learning techniques
- Implement real-time content processing pipelines for automated tagging, categorization, and content matching
- Create user profiling and behavioral analysis systems to improve content targeting and engagement
Newsroom AI & Editorial Tools:
- Collaborate with editorial teams to develop AI-powered tools that accelerate content creation and curation
- Build automated content workflows including article summarization, fact-checking assistance, and content optimization
- Implement AI solutions for news aggregation, content deduplication, and trend analysis
- Develop tools for automated social media content generation and distribution optimization
Technical Excellence & Innovation:
- Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented Python code following software engineering best practices
- Design and implement APIs and microservices for AI model serving and integration
- Conduct experiments with cutting-edge AI technologies including large language models (LLMs), transformer architectures, and generative AI
- Stay current with AI/ML research and evaluate new technologies for potential implementation
Collaboration & Community Building:
- Work closely with product teams to translate business requirements into technical AI solutions
- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to knowledge sharing within the AI community at Media24
- Participate in code reviews, technical discussions, and architectural planning sessions
- Collaborate with data scientists to productionize research models and prototypes
Required Skills and Experience
Technical Qualifications:
- Honour’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or related technical field
- Minimum 5+ years of software engineering experience with at least 3 years focused on AI/ML development
- Strong proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn)
- Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS SageMaker, Google AI Platform, Azure ML) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Proven experience building and deploying production ML systems at scale
AI/ML Expertise:
- Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, deep learning architectures, and neural networks
- Strong experience with NLP, text processing, and content recommendation systems
- Knowledge of MLOps practices including model monitoring, versioning, and automated retraining
- Experience with vector databases, embedding-based search, and similarity matching algorithms
- Familiarity with transformer models, large language models, and modern NLP architecture
Software Engineering:
- Proficiency in API development (REST, GraphQL) and microservices architecture
- Experience with version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing frameworks
- Strong understanding of database technologies (SQL, NoSQL) and data pipeline tools
- Knowledge of software engineering best practices including design patterns and code quality standards
Preferred Experience:
- Experience in media, publishing, or content-driven industries
- Knowledge of content management systems and editorial workflows
- Understanding of web analytics, user behavior analysis, and A/B testing methodologies
- Experience with real-time streaming data processing (Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub)
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, DataDog)
Personal Characteristics
- Innovation-driven: Passionate about exploring new AI technologies and finding creative solutions to complex problems
- Collaborative mindset: Ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
- Results-oriented: Strong focus on delivering measurable business impact through AI implementations
- Continuous learner: Commitment to staying current with rapidly evolving AI/ML landscape and best practices
- Problem-solver: Analytical thinking and ability to break down complex challenges into manageable components
- Quality-focused: Attention to detail and commitment to building robust, scalable, and maintainable systems
What We Offer
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience and skills
- Comprehensive benefits package including medical aid (optional) and retirement contributions
- Access to cutting-edge AI/ML infrastructure and tools
- Opportunity to work on high-impact projects reaching millions of users
- Professional development budget for conferences, courses, and certifications
- Collaborative and innovative-focused work environment
- Career growth opportunities within South Africa’s leading media technology company
Application Process
To apply for this position, please submit your CV along with a cover letter highlighting your relevant AI/ML experience and passion for innovation in media technology.
Please include examples of production AI systems you’ve built and any relevant portfolio projects.
Please note that this position will be in-office (5 days per week).
Given the employment equity policy of Media24, preference will be given to suitable candidates from the designated groups.