Automation & AI Developer

Kepak is a leading European food manufacturing business, and technology sits at the centre of how we operate and grow. Automation and AI are no longer just efficiency tools for us - they are becoming a competitive capability.

We have an exciting opportunity for an Automation / AI Developer to join our growing Digital Technology & Innovation (DTI) team in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

This is a hands-on technical role focused on designing, developing, and supporting innovative automation and artificial intelligence solutions across the business. Working at the forefront of emerging technologies, you will help deliver everything from traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions to advanced intelligent and agentic AI workflows.

This position offers the opportunity to play a key role in shaping the organisation's AI and automation strategy, working on a variety of forward-thinking projects while taking ownership of solutions from concept through to deployment and ongoing support.

Key Responsibilities:

Software Development / Agentic AI Development

• Contribute to the design, development and implementation of Kepak's internal AI Assistant platform (currently at design stage)

• Build and deploy AI agents capable of reasoning across business data, integrating with internal systems such as D365, SharePoint, and MuleSoft Deployed APIs and MCPs.

• Utilise Microsoft Fabric as the data foundation for AI pipelines - including Lakehouses, data pipelines, and OneLake-based data access patterns that feed the Kepak AI Assistant and other AI-driven features.

Automation Delivery

• Analyse business processes across finance, operations, HR, and supply chain to identify viable RPA and automation opportunities.

• Design, build, test, and deploy automation solutions using appropriate RPA and workflow tooling (platform experience considered on its merits - UiPath, Power Automate, and similar tools all relevant).

• Produce clear business cases for automation initiatives, including projected time savings, error reduction, and ROI.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build effective working relationships with business stakeholders and act as a credible, approachable point of contact for automation and AI queries.

Quality, Governance & Innovation

• Stay current with the Microsoft AI ecosystem - particularly Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Fabric and other agentic AI patterns i.e. Anthropic Claude - and bring relevant ideas back to the team.

• Evaluate new tools and approaches on their merits and make evidence-based recommendations, including any relevant AI orchestration frameworks.

• Contribute to peer reviews and team quality standards, particularly around AI solution design and automation code.

Requirements

• Third-level qualification in a relevant discipline, or equivalent practical industry experience in software engineering, automation, or AI.
• 3+ years experience with at least one enterprise automation or AI development platform - this could be UiPath, Power Automate, Claude or equivalent; we care about depth of delivery experience more than which specific tool.
• Understanding of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) architecture - including how document ingestion, embedding, vector search, and LLM response generation fit together.
• Exposure to vector databases or semantic search technologies (e.g. Azure AI Search)
• Practical programming ability in Python and/or C#/.NET or TypeScript, sufficient to build and maintain AI/agentic workflows and integrations.
• Confident stakeholder-facing skills - comfortable running workshops, presenting solutions, and communicating with non-technical business users.

Benefits

What can we offer you?

• Company Pension
• Paid Maternity Leave
• Further Education support - You’ll have clear pathways for advancement, supported by continuous professional development and a range of learning opportunities
• Subsidized Canteen
• Refer a Friend Scheme - Earn up to Get up to €500 for successfully referring a friend or family member to Kepak Group.
• Bike to Work Scheme - Purchase a bike and safety equipment through a salary sacrifice scheme which reduces your taxable income - meaning you pay less tax!
• Long Service Awards - We recognise, acknowledge and award the dedication and valuable contribution of long serving employees