Senior Software Engineer (AI-Enabled)
Ozow · Cape Town
Meet Ozow
Ozow is a leading fintech company that's redefining digital payments in South Africa and beyond. We're dedicated to making payments more accessible, secure, and convenient for both businesses and consumers. As a fast-growing player in the financial technology sector, Ozow fosters a culture of innovation, diversity, and inclusivity. We believe in pushing the boundaries of what's possible and are committed to making a positive impact on the world through our payment solutions.
More about this Ozow fantastic position
Ozow is seeking a Senior Software Engineer (AI Enabled) to join our development team. You'll lead the design and delivery of the solutions that power our digital payment platforms, with AI built into both what we deliver and how we deliver it. You'll shape how AI models are integrated as we replatform and modernise our systems, set the standard for disciplined use of AI tools across the software development lifecycle, and help the wider team adopt these ways of working.
This is a senior, hands-on engineering role, not an agentic AI role. Your focus is building and modernising software with AI, rather than designing autonomous, long-running agent workflows.
Your role and responsibilities
Software Development
- Lead the design and delivery of software solutions with cross-functional teams, translating business problems into technical approaches that meet high-quality standards.
AI-Enabled Replatforming
- Lead the replatforming of existing systems onto modern, AI-native services, defining the migration approach, sequencing and risk controls so current platforms stay live, stable and secure.
AI Feature Development
- Design and build features that integrate with large language models (LLMs) beyond simple request and response, including context engineering, embeddings and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
- Own the data layer behind AI features, including embeddings and vector search, alongside relational and NoSQL data stores.
Coding
- Write clean, efficient and maintainable code that sets the example for the team, using AI coding tools to move faster without lowering the bar on quality, security or testing.
Responsible AI Delivery
- Define and maintain the team's standards and guardrails for using AI safely across the software development lifecycle, from design and coding to testing, review, deployment and documentation.
- Ensure AI-generated output is validated, the non-deterministic nature of AI models is accounted for, and sensitive and payment data is protected when working with AI tools.
Technical Problem Solving
- Diagnose and resolve the most complex technical issues, including production incidents, and put fixes in place that stop them recurring.
System Architecture
- Own the design and architecture of the systems you work on, including how AI components fit into them, making and documenting trade-offs across scalability, security, performance and cost.
- Ensure services handle high-volume payment traffic, identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks before they affect customers.
Code Reviews
- Lead code reviews, including AI-assisted code, setting the bar for code quality and sharing knowledge across the team.
Testing and Quality
- Define the testing approach for your area, including unit and integration tests and test-driven development where it adds value.
- Establish how the team tests and monitors AI features with non-deterministic outputs, so they behave reliably in production.
DevOps and Deployment
- Own your services through to production: containerise services, improve CI/CD pipelines and deploy to cloud environments (AWS or Azure).
- Apply and champion DevOps principles, owning the reliability and monitoring of what the team ships.
Agile Development
- Work in an Agile environment, contributing to sprint planning, estimation and prioritisation, and helping the team improve how it delivers.
Documentation
- Create and maintain technical documentation, including architecture decisions and the standards for using AI in development.
Technical Leadership and Mentoring
- Mentor and coach engineers, including in effective and disciplined use of AI tools.
- Champion AI-enabled ways of working across engineering, sharing what works and helping colleagues make the shift.
You are an ideal candidate if you have
- At least 7+ years of experience as a Software Engineer or Software Developer, including leading technical delivery, ideally with an IT Diploma or Degree
- Strong development skills in .NET 8 C#, JavaScript and ReactJs, with Python strongly beneficial (polyglots preferred)
- Proven experience developing against LLMs beyond basic prompt and response, such as context engineering, embeddings and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
- A track record of shipping AI-powered features to production, not only prototypes
- Experience leading a migration or replatforming of a live, high-volume system
- Strong system design and architecture experience, including relational, NoSQL and vector databases
- Experience with cloud services (AWS or Azure) and containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes)
- The ability to influence and coach others, with a curious, pragmatic attitude towards AI as the expected way of working
Your skills and competencies
- You eagerly embrace change, absorb cross-functional skills, and connect ideas across disciplines to drive fresh thinking and innovation.
- Ability to initiate, develop, maintain and leverage outstanding relationships to influence a wide network, both inside and outside the company.
- A trailblazer who steps up, takes charge, and creates meaningful impact—those driven by performance and purpose to lead from the front and make a real difference every day.
- You thrive in collaboration, embrace inclusion, and bring a genuine curiosity for global cultures—valuing collective success over individual credit.
- Demonstrate strategic foresight, sound judgement, and the ability to make confident decisions under uncertainty, always working toward the best possible outcomes.
- You challenge norms, champion innovation, and constantly seek growth—for themselves, their team, and the solutions they build.
- You are a decisive doer—those who take initiative, follow through with confidence, and ensure results through courageous, hands-on leadership.
- We value optimism, agility, and the strength to persevere under pressure—balancing performance with positivity, even in challenging environments.
- You are driven, proactive individuals who take ownership, face challenges with grit, and consistently push for excellence—not just as participants, but as catalysts for success.
Interview process
During the interview process you will meet with the People team, the hiring manager, and relevant CSuite. Our process may include psychometric and technical assessments, giving you an opportunity to demonstrate your strengths, skills and potential beyond your CV and interview.
In office perks
- Healthy breakfast, lunches and snacks
- Monthly team connects
- On-site Barista
Perks for South African based employees
- Medical aid subsidy
- Group Risk Insurance
- Generous paid annual leave
- Birthday leave
- Learning and Development opportunities
- Mentorship programme
- Quarterly team building
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
- Community initiatives
- Access to cutting edge technology - Ozow Tech Stack
Our Employee Value Proposition
At Ozow, we don't just process payments. We are redefining the future of how money moves. Our promise to our people is simple. Ozow is built for high impact: clear expectations, genuine investment in you, and the room to do work you are proud of. We back you to own what you deliver and how you grow, and we recognise the people who lift others, not just themselves. People are trusted to make decisions and own outcomes, where the growth you create, in yourself and in others, is part of how we succeed together.
Compliance
As a fintech company, we prioritize data security, confidentiality, regulatory and compliance. Due to the sensitive nature of our work, we require individuals with a high level of integrity and trustworthiness to ensure adherence to financial regulations and industry standards. Given the sensitive nature of our work, all employees are expected to demonstrate professionalism, accountability, and a commitment to ethical conduct in line with financial regulations and industry standards
Ready to be exceptional? Apply now!
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To find out more about life at Ozow, head over to our Careers Page here!