# Senior AI LLM Engineer Canonical URL: https://primejobalerts.com/jobs/senior-ai-llm-engineer Company: E-Merge IT Recruitment Category: Information & Communication Technology Location: South Africa, Sandton, Gauteng Work type: Full-time Work arrangement: On-site Published: 2026-09-09 Expires: 2026-11-08 ## Job Description Build what’s next in AI. Join an innovative technolog y environment focused on developing intelligent, AI-powered conversational solutions that are shaping the future of how people interact with technology. This is a hands-on opportunity to work across LLMs, voice agents, automated testing, AI coding tools, and modern software development practices. You’ll take on complex technical challenges, contribute to solution design, and help turn ambitious AI concepts into scalable, production-ready solutions. For a Senior AI Engineer who enjoys solving challenging problems, working with emerging technology, and having a meaningful impact on technical direction, this is an opportunity to step into a role where your expertise can make a real difference. Must-have skills and experience: 5+ years engineering; 2+ years applied LLM / speech AI in productionStrong Python (APIs, typing/validation, testing, packaging)OpenAI / Azure OpenAI (chat, structured outputs, batch patterns)Azure messaging, storage, and SQL-backed servicesProven ownership of ambiguous, multi-system featuresStrong advantages: Experience with Cursor, Claude, or similar AI coding assistantsVoice agent stacks; latency, barge-in, end pointing awarenessSpeech ML in production (PyTorch, Whisper, diarization, ONNX, GPU Docker)vLLM / guided decoding; Kubernetes worker patternsContact-centre QA or collections domainSQLAlchemy / Azure SQL; IaC awareness or strong infra collaborationResponsibilities: Build and harden real-time voice agents: modular prompts, multi-assistant flows, tool-calling, webhooks, telephony/operational concernsImprove automated QA pipelines: VAD, diarization, language gating, transcription, alignment/attribution, LLM scorecard scoringImplement structured LLM pipelines (schemas, batching, failure handling, score recalculation)Own features in Azure Functions / Kubernetes workers: queue consumers, artifact pipelines, SQL integrationsContribute to post-call intelligence features such as outcome scoring, summary generation, and structured data extractionExpand and maintain evaluation suites (scenarios, LLM-as-judge, CI regression)Contribute to email/WhatsApp agent work with reuse of tools, outcomes, and observabilityReference number for this position is GZ61523 which is a permanent position based in Sandton offering a salary of R1.2m per annum, negotiable based on experience and ability. Contact Garth on [[garthz@e-merge.co.za]] or call 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities. Are you ready for a change of scenery? We are a specialist niche recruitment agency. We offer our candidates a wide range of opportunities, ensuring we successfully match the right technology professionals with the right roles. Do you know a developer or technology specialist looking for a new opportunity? We pay cash for successful referrals! ## Requirements Apply by email: garthz@e-merge.co.za ## Apply Use the canonical Prime Job Alerts page for full application instructions and source verification.