Senior Product Engineer *

Johannesburg-Based | Scale-Up | Full-time Role | Tech Machine | Hiring Manager: Thamsanqa Moyo, Kaeleigh Stroud, Richard O'Brien

Jem is hiring two Product Engineers to build AI-native systems, lead technical workstreams with enterprise customers, and ship production features that directly impact our platform and customers.

Jem is a fast-growing HR and financial wellness scale-up building tools for frontline teams. We support deskless workers across South Africa with payroll, HR, and benefits products, delivered through modern platforms and AI-powered conversational systems.

This is a forward-deployed product engineering role. You will build AI agents and platform systems, while also working directly with enterprise customers during technical discovery and implementation. This role combines product engineering, platform ownership, and client-facing technical leadership.

⭐ Your Mission

• Build and operate AI-native product systems that work reliably at scale.
• Lead technical implementation with enterprise customers and turn real-world problems into shipped product.

⭐ What Success Looks Like

• AI agents and conversational systems are live, reliable, and improving over time
• Enterprise implementations run smoothly and convert into long-term customer partnerships
• Features you own move core product and customer success metrics
• Platform systems are stable, observable, and secure
• Junior engineers grow through your technical mentorship

⭐ What You’ll Do

AI-Native Product Development

• Build and orchestrate multi-agent systems using modern agent frameworks
• Develop conversational and voice-based AI agents for WhatsApp and related channels
• Implement MCP and agent-to-agent communication patterns
• Use AI coding agents to accelerate delivery and experimentation
• Continuously improve agent performance through prompt design and workflow optimisation

Platform Engineering

• Design and maintain PostgreSQL schemas and production data models
• Build and operate event-driven systems and integrations
• Develop secure, enterprise-grade backend services
• Own system reliability, performance, and observability
• Build and maintain integrations with enterprise platforms and middleware tools

Forward-Deployed Client Engineering

• Lead technical discovery and implementation sprints with enterprise customers
• Run technical scoping sessions with client IT teams
• Design integration architectures across payroll, ERP, and internal systems
• Present technical solutions, timelines, and progress to client stakeholders
• Build long-term technical relationships with customer teams

Product Ownership & Team Contribution

• Drive features from problem definition through release and iteration
• Own performance and business outcomes for your features
• Conduct customer interviews and validation sessions
• Mentor interns and junior engineers in AI-native development practices

⭐ You’ll Thrive Here If You

• Have built AI agents or conversational systems in production environments
• Are comfortable owning backend systems and product features end to end
• Enjoy working directly with enterprise customers and their technical teams
• Care about system quality, reliability, and real-world impact
• Are excited by fast-moving, high-ownership environments
• Enjoy mentoring others and raising the technical bar

⭐ Requirements

• Hands-on experience with agent frameworks and AI-native systems
• Experience building conversational or voice-based AI products
• Strong prompt engineering and LLM integration patterns
• Strong PostgreSQL experience and backend development skills
• Experience with event-driven architectures and system integrations
• Ability to lead technical discussions with enterprise IT teams
• Professional experience in Python and/or TypeScript
• Comfort travelling to client sites for implementation work

⭐ What You Can Expect from Us

• Hybrid work environment with a 3-day office policy in the Cape Town/Johannesburg office.
• Frontline exposure to building real AI products at scale
• Direct work with enterprise customers and complex real-world systems
• High ownership, fast learning, and visible impact
• Competitive salary
• Great Benefits (lunch 4 times a week, medical aid contribution, retirement annuity contribution, etc.) and 22 days of annual leave.
• We respond to all applications. You can expect feedback on your application, even if we decide not to move forward.

To learn more about what Jem looks for beyond the CV, please check out our People Notes on the Jem Ideal Employee Profile here