Job Description

The Focus Group Sandton, South Africa 27 January 2026 Senior 1000 - 10000 Contract Cost to Company 7 years - 10 years Skills Python Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence DevOps Docker Azure Databricks CI/CD Implementation Development Data Modeling Industries Banking Financial Services

Our client is seeking an experienced AI Development Specialist (Azure) to lead the design, development, and deployment of enterprise-grade AI solutions. This role owns the full lifecycle--from data ingestion to model deployment--ensuring scalability, security, and compliance within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and deploy production-ready AI solutions using Azure AI services (Azure OpenAI, AI Search, Azure ML).

Architect and implement secure APIs and integrations using Azure API Management, Event Hub, and enterprise systems.

Containerize AI workloads and deploy via AKS, Azure Functions, or App Service using modern CI/CD pipelines.

Implement observability practices including logging, monitoring, telemetry dashboards, and performance optimization.

Conduct cost optimization and resource governance for Azure-based AI workloads.

Collaborate across engineering, product, and data teams to deliver scalable AI features.

Produce detailed architectural documentation, runbooks, and best-practice guidelines.

Drive MLOps strategy and pipeline automation using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.

Ensure solutions adhere to Responsible AI, security, and compliance standards.

Technical Skills

Strong expertise in Azure AI services:

Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Studio, Azure AI Search, Azure ML.

Advanced programming experience in Python (mandatory); knowledge of C#/.NET or TypeScript/Node.

Experience building RAG architectures , prompt engineering, and model optimisation.

Integration experience with Data Lake, Synapse/Fabric, Data Factory, Event Hub, API Management.

Proficiency in containerization (Docker), orchestration (AKS), and serverless computing (Functions).

Infrastructure-as-Code:

Bicep, ARM templates, Terraform.

MLOps tooling:

MLflow, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions.

Strong data engineering and secure integration design capabilities.

Knowledge of Responsible AI principles and Azure governance standards.

Familiarity with LangChain or Semantic Kernel (advantageous).

Nice-to-Have

Experience with Microsoft Fabric and Databricks on Azure .

Sector exposure in financial services .

Azure AI Engineer Associate or similar certification

Qualifications

Degree in Computer Science/Engineering/Math or equivalent industry experience.