Machine Learning Engineer

Melio is seeking a passionate Machine Learning Engineer to join our expanding team:

  • Level: Junior or Intermediate
  • Position: Full time
  • Salary: Based on technical experience
  • Location: South Africa (Remote)

Melio AI is an AI product and consulting company, recognised as an AWS Advanced Tier Partner specialising in AI/ML. We drive real-world AI adoption for businesses across industries. We don’t just build models - we deliver production-ready AI solutions that work at scale. From AI Agents and LLM-powered applications to high-performance MLOps, we develop AI systems that deliver tangible business value.

We’re looking for a Machine Learning Engineer to join our growing team. If you’re someone who thrives on autonomy, wants to lead AI projects, and is passionate about MLOps, AI agents, and industry innovations, this is your chance to make an impact. Beyond client projects, you’ll also be contributing to our internal AI marketplace, Highwind, where we build, deploy, and scale AI-driven solutions.

Job Description

The candidate will be working with clients on projects focused on delivering reliable data-powered software applications to production. The primary focus of the role includes designing and implementing data pipelines, building models (machine learning or not), and deploying models.

Melio believes in nurturing cross-functional capabilities in our team, so you will need to work closely with other technical roles, such as BI specialists, data scientists, DevOps engineers and other data and machine learning engineers either to observe or to assist.

This is a technical role, but due to the consulting nature of many of our projects, the candidate needs to be able to communicate effectively with both business and technical stakeholders.

The list below is for both machine learning engineer and data engineer, but we are not expecting you to perform as both an ML engineer and a data engineer. The idea is you should be sufficiently comfortable with either role to be aware and able to communicate and learn from your colleagues.

What you will be working on

  • Production AI Systems – Design, build, and deploy machine learning models that actually get used in real-world applications.
  • AI Agents & LLM-Powered Applications – Develop AI models and automation solutions.
  • MLOps & AI Infrastructure – Implement best practices for CI/CD, model deployment, monitoring, and scaling.
  • ML Platform Engineering – Build and maintain robust platforms to support AI development, model serving, and data pipelines.
  • Data & Model Pipelines – Build and optimize end-to-end training and inference pipelines.
  • Deploying solutions into our AI Marketplace – Develop AI solutions for our own Highwind marketplace, a platform enabling businesses to access plug-and-play AI APIs.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration – Work with data scientists, engineers, and business teams to translate AI into impact.

What we are looking for

  • Passion for AI – You keep up with the latest AI trends, love experimenting with new models, and have strong opinions on the future of AI.
  • Software Engineering Mindset – You see AI as more than just model building—you care about software best practices, maintainability, and scalability.
  • Autonomous & Leadership-Driven – You take initiative, own your work, and are eager to grow into leading AI projects.
  • Collaborative Yet Independent – You can drive solutions independently but also work closely with teammates to solve complex challenges.

What you would be assisting other team members with (secondary responsibilities)

  • Assist with setting up CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery) tools with the team.
  • Monitor data/model metrics, and develop ways to improve application development and deployment.
  • Maintain day-to-day management and administration of projects.

Qualification & Experience

Minimum Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Software Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or related field.
  • 1+ years experience working with data science/machine learning and data engineering.
  • 1+ years experience with software development (e.g. Python, Java, Go).
  • 1+ years experience with Public Cloud Providers/Hyperscalers (e.g. AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure)

Technical Skills

  • Proficient in: Python, PySpark, SQL.
  • Cloud Experience: Some exposure to AWS, GCP, or Azure.
  • Model Lifecycle Knowledge: Familiar with training, tuning, and deploying machine learning models.
  • MLOps: Experience with CI/CD, model monitoring, and automation.
  • ML Platform Engineering: Experience designing and managing scalable ML infrastructure.
  • AI Product Development: Experience (or interest) in building AI-powered applications and APIs.
  • Software Engineering Best Practices: Writing clean, maintainable, and testable code.

Desired Skills

  • Experience contributing to open-source projects.
  • Start up, side project, or product development experience.
  • AWS certifications (or any other cloud) or Cloud Native Computing expertise.
  • Masters/PhD in AI, Machine Learning or related fields.

Personal Attributes

  • Up-to-date on latest industry trends; able to articulate trends clearly and confidently.
  • Able to interact with other team members via code and design documents.
  • Good interpersonal skills and communication with all levels of management.
  • Able to multitask, prioritize, and manage time efficiently.
  • Curious and eager to learn about new technologies.
  • Strong in critical thinking and problem-solving.

What you will learn and grow into

  • Scaling AI Applications – Learn how to take AI projects from prototype to full-scale production.
  • Enterprise AI Deployments – Gain experience working with real-world AI systems for top companies.
  • End-to-End AI Ownership – Move beyond just model-building to full AI system development.
  • Architecting AI Solutions – Design scalable AI architectures that integrate with production systems and enterprise workflows.
  • Leading AI Project Delivery – Take ownership of AI projects, from scoping requirements to delivering solutions that drive measurable impact.

Why Join Us?

  • Work with one of South Africa’s leading AI startups.
  • Build AI solutions that ship—not just research experiments.
  • Contribute to Highwind, our AI marketplace, where your work scales beyond individual projects.
  • Take full ownership of your projects and grow into an AI leader.

Contact Us

If you are interested in this position please email Merelda (merelda@melio.ai) with the below information:

  • CV
  • Expected Salary
  • Notice period