Python/Spark/AI Developer

Job Summary

A company that runs a privacy-preserving data collaboration platform is seeking a AI Developer who will replatform legacy T-SQL systems onto modern Spark/Delta Lake pipelines, build robust FastAPI services around them, and integrate AI features.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Engineering: Replatform T-SQL into Spark SQL and build production PySpark pipelines on Delta Lake.
• API Development: Build secure, idempotent FastAPI services with robust job-status semantics and authentication.
• Quality & Validation: Write type-hinted, tested Python (pytest) with CI gates; validate migrated pipelines against legacy systems with parity evidence.
• Spec-First Delivery: Work autonomously from design docs and ADRs, keeping documentation current alongside code changes.

Requirements

• Experience: 4+ years in professional Python development, with 2+ years building production Spark/distributed data pipelines.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Certifications: Databricks Certified Developer for Apache Spark (or equivalent) is advantageous.
• Python (3.12+): Modern idiomatic Python, strict static analysis (mypy/pyright), Pydantic, ABC patterns, modern packaging (uv/Poetry), and CLI tooling.
• Apache Spark / PySpark: Production OSS Spark experience (DataFrame API, Spark SQL, tuning, driver/executor architecture, Spark Connect).
• Lakehouse Formats: Delta Lake (or Iceberg/Hudi) including MERGE INTO, schema evolution, time travel, and idempotent writes.
• SQL: Advanced, dialect-portable SQL skills to translate complex legacy T-SQL logic into Spark SQL.
• Testing & CI/CD: Pytest (fixtures, tiered suites), Git/GitHub flow, PR-driven workflows with linting (ruff) and type-check gates.
• APIs & Containers: FastAPI development and daily development using Docker Compose stacks.
• Preferred Skills
• AI/LLM Engineering: Provider-neutral LLM integration, structured output validation, local/hosted inference, and guard-railing.
• Governance & Security: PII tokenization, hashing schemes, and data privacy awareness (POPIA/GDPR).
• Cloud & Platform: Azure data estate (ADLS Gen2, Key Vault), Trino, Hive Metastore, and OpenTelemetry observability.

Remuneration & Benefits

Competitive salary based on experience (salary can potentially be more based on experience/skills)

IF you meet the above requirements and want to make a career-changing move, apply today by emailing your CV to itcareers@hireresolve.za.com