Join Inference Group as Senior AI Engineer in Cape Town

About Us

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.

Role Overview

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.

On the engineering side, you’ll:

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.

As a technical leader, you’ll:

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.

And with clients, you’ll:

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.

What You Bring

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:

Azure Machine Learning (Azure ML), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Database, Azure DevOps, Power BI, Azure OpenAI Service

Working With Us

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 hiring future leaders and investing in their growth — through hands-on experience, mentorship, access to the latest technologies, and ongoing training and certifications. AI moves fast, and we make it our job to stay ahead of the curve, together. You’ll have real influence, room to grow, and the chance to help shape something special — and yes, we’ll have a lot of fun along the way.invest in our people through hands-on experience, mentorship, and access to ongoing learning, certifications, and emerging technology. As AI continues to evolve, we’re committed to staying ahead of the curve…and having fun while we do it.

Apply Today

We are a young, small company experiencing exciting growth and we are devoted to hire people at this stage who will be future leaders within our business. We are committed to your ongoing learning and development and love working with curious, life long learners - we have access to the latest technology and will provide training in these and certifications to help you grow and succeed.

As AI is constantly changing and evolving, we make a promise to our customers that we foster a culture of excellent people who have the most up to date training, knowledge and experience to help deliver innovative solutions.

If you like our mission and connect with our values, we encourage you to apply.

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Terms and Conditions(Required)

Inference Group Job Application Contact Form - Terms and Conditions

1. IntroductionThese Terms and Conditions govern the use of the job application contact form on the Inference Group website. By submitting your application through our form, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

2. Data Collection and Use
2.1. The information you provide in the job application form, including your name, contact details, resume, cover letter, and any other submitted documents, will be collected and processed by Inference Group solely for recruitment purposes.
2.2. Your data will be handled in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2.3. We will not share your personal information with third parties without your consent, except as required by law or as necessary for recruitment processing.

3. Accuracy of Information
3.1. You are responsible for ensuring that the information you provide is accurate, complete, and up to date.
3.2. Providing false or misleading information may result in disqualification from the recruitment process or termination of employment if discovered later.

4. Retention of Data
4.1. Inference Group will retain your application data for a period of up to 12 months after the conclusion of the recruitment process unless you request its deletion sooner.
4.2. If you would like us to remove your data before this period, you can contact us at info@inferencegroup.com.

5. Security
5.1. We take reasonable steps to ensure the security of your personal data, but we cannot guarantee absolute security due to the nature of online communications.
5.2. You acknowledge that submitting information via the internet carries inherent risks, and you agree not to hold Inference Group liable for any unauthorised access to your data.

6. No Guarantee of Employment
6.1. Submission of an application does not guarantee an interview, further communication, or employment.
6.2. Inference Group reserves the right to reject any application at its discretion without providing a reason.

7. Changes to These Terms
7.1. Inference Group reserves the right to update or modify these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice.
7.2. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting on our website. Your continued use of the job application contact form constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

8. Contact InformationIf you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions or how your data is handled, please contact us at info@inferencegroup.com.

I agree to the terms and conditions.

Senior AI Engineer - South Africa