AI Development Specialist (Azure)

# AI Development Specialist (Azure)iqbusiness South AfricaJohannesburg, GautengPermanentPosted 3 FEBRUARY 2026 - Closing Date Job Descriptioniqx the Technology Division of iqbusiness seeking a highly experienced AI Development Specialist to Lead the design, build, and deployment of production-grade AI solutions on Microsoft Azure. Own end-to-end delivery-from data pipelines to model deployment, ensuring security, reliability, and compliance. Required Experience 7+ years in software/ML engineering, with 3+ years delivering production AI solutions on Azure. Proven track record of shipped solutions with architecture diagrams and runbooks. Expertise in RAG system design, prompt engineering, and performance optimization. Strong data engineering skills and secure integration patterns. Applied knowledge of Responsible AI principles and compliance requirements. Core Tech Stack Azure AI & ML: Azure OpenAI Service, AI Studio, AI Search, Azure Machine Learning. Data & Integration: Data Lake Storage, Synapse/Fabric, Data Factory, Event Hub, API Management. Compute & Hosting: AKS, Azure Functions, App Service; IaC with Bicep/ARM/Terraform. DevOps/MLOps: Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, MLflow integration, telemetry dashboards. Languages: Python (required), plus C#/.NET or TypeScript/Node; LangChain or Semantic Kernel preferred Responsibilities Design and implement AI solutions using Azure AI services (OpenAI, AI Search, Machine Learning). Develop secure APIs and integrate with enterprise systems using Azure API Management and Event Hub. Containerize workloads and deploy to AKS, App Service, or Functions with CI/CD pipelines. Ensure observability, performance tuning, and cost optimization for AI workloads. Collaborate with cross-functional teams and document architecture, runbooks, and best practices. Please Note: As all iqbusiness roles require honesty in the handling of or access to cash, finances, financial systems, or confidential information; our recruitment process requires that the following background checks be completed: credit, criminal, ID, and qualification verification. iqbusiness is committed to sustainable growth and transformation, we embrace diversity and employ previously disadvantaged individuals