AI Solutions Architect

Location: Cape Town

Working Practices: Hybrid | Mondays and Thursday in office and remaining days remote

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Hours: 10H00 - 18H30 SAST

Role Summary

As an AI Solution Architect, you will design and implement AI solutions that drive business growth and educational innovation. You will be responsible for bridging the gap between business needs and technical AI implementations, ensuring that AI models and systems integrate seamlessly with organizational infrastructure and are aligned with business and educational goals.

Key Responsibilities 

Sales Support:

• Effectively contribute to pre-sales consultation with account executives to align GenAI services with client requirements. 
• Support the development of sales collateral for sales initiatives, including sales presentations, application prototypes, and live demonstrations.
• Collaborate with account executives, learning architects, and bid writers to outline AI services and technical solutions.
• Conduct feasibility studies, cost-analysis, and estimation efforts for AI implementations.
• Provide technical validation and effort estimation for GenAI Apps and LX Technology opportunities.

Strategy and Framework Development:

• Collaborate with the client's project lead to align on priorities, needs, and technical requirements.
• Provide a blueprint of technical architectural solutions for AI implementations.
• Collaborate with the learning architect and project managers to integrate the GenAI strategy, tools, and processes into the Learning Strategy Framework and Project Master Plan.
• Define AI application architecture, including and not limited to, foundation model selection, prompting frameworks, statistical parameters, RAG systems, and implementation strategies.

Technical Architecture and Implementation:

• Support the design and implementation of robust AI application architectures.
• Architect scalable AI solutions that integrate with existing educational technology infrastructure.
• Ensure AI systems are optimized for performance, security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
• Oversee the technical implementation of AI-augmented design solutions and student-facing technologies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with GenAI team throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Work closely with the Learning teams on systems prompting, where instructional strategies like mastery learning and Socratic tutoring define application behaviour.
• Collaborate on knowledge bases and RAG systems, integrating vector databases for efficient information retrieval.
• Collaborate with the Learning teams to ensure alignment between AI output and instructional principles through the implementation of effective training techniques.
• Facilitate training sessions with learning technologists and cross-functional teams to improve AI literacy and project outcomes.

Project Management and Governance:

• Collaborate with the Head of Delivery to define GenAI objectives, and create and manage the roadmap for AI implementation projects.
• Establish workflows for projects, ensuring proper resource allocation.
• Implement compliance, governance, and ethics frameworks, particularly aligning with United Nations human rights principles.
• Maintain key documentation (e.g. system architecture, deployment guides & runbooks, configuration management, pre-sales materials, governance policies & procedures, risk registers), for new and ongoing AI projects.
• Ensure human-centered design practices and human oversight in AI-augmented design.

Data Visualization and Data-Driven Decision-Making:

• Develop structured datasets that capture human-AI collaboration metrics.
• Develop and maintain interactive data visualization dashboards that enable real-time monitoring. 
• Utilize data-driven insights to refine human-augmented design processes, optimize AI-human task allocation, and improve collaborative workflows.
• Present efficiency data and ROI findings to executive stakeholders through clear and  compelling documentation that demonstrates the business value of human-augmented approaches.

What does success look like?

• Successful delivery of AI solutions within project timelines and budget constraints
• AI implementation efficiency gains (target: 30% reduction in manual processes)
• Client satisfaction and successful project implementations
• Revenue generation from AI-driven solutions and successful POC conversions
• Effective collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders
• Compliance with security and governance standards (100% compliance target)
• Innovation impact through scalable AI architecture designs

Requirements

Qualifications and Technical Expertise:

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Education, AI/ML, Business or related fields
• Experience in AI/ML solution architecture and implementation
• Advanced understanding of Large Language Models (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Gemini)
• Proficiency with GenAI frameworks (Langchain, ChromaDB) and AI/ML platforms (Hugging Face)
• Experience with cloud services (Azure, AWS) and deployment platforms
• Knowledge of API programming, particularly Python and JavaScript
• Understanding of vector databases and RAG system implementation

Business and Strategic Skills:

• Proven experience in pre-sales technical consulting and client-facing roles
• Strong project management capabilities with experience in agile methodologies
• Ability to conduct feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses
• Experience with stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration
• Knowledge of compliance and governance frameworks in educational technology

Educational Technology Knowledge:

• Understanding of instructional design principles and learning theories
• Experience with Learning Management Systems (LMS) and educational technology platforms
• Knowledge of data privacy regulations (FERPA, GDPR) in educational contexts
• Familiarity with pedagogical considerations and instructional design workflows

Desirable Qualifications and Experience:

• Relevant certification from AWS and Azure
• Background in change management and technology adoption strategies
• Knowledge of educational compliance standards and data governance
• Experience with containerization (Docker) and CI/CD pipelines
• Understanding of human-centered design principles

Benefits

About OES
OES is a vibrant and values-led organisation, and we are passionate about enhancing lives through education. We work with university partners, training institutes, and professional bodies worldwide, to develop and enable immersive and engaging learning experiences. We empower our teams to be student-focused, innovative, and embrace change with a growth mindset to ensure we achieve our vision of being the world’s most impactful enabler of education. We encourage our people to grow and develop through teamwork and a diverse range of projects, programs and challenging work. We trust our people to deliver, so when you work with OES, you will join a team who are empowered to impact every day.

Company Culture & Values 

We are a people-focused organization with a culture built around collaboration, connection, and working together toward one common goal. Our vibrant, values-led culture is grounded in four core principles that guide everything we do: 

Passion and Perseverance: We love what we do (even though it’s not always easy) and take pride in creating transformative learning experiences. We bring a ‘can-do’ attitude to our work, tackling challenges and inspiring others. 

Teamwork: We operate as cross-functional teams globally with trust and respect, celebrating success. We have fun while we work and enjoy collaborating with each other and OES partners. 

Agility and Innovation: We are innovative, lateral thinkers who use our skills to do things better for our students. We thrive in ambiguity, embrace change and challenge conventional thinking.  

Integrity: We do what’s right, and what we say we will do, every time. We value a culture of respectful feedback and believe that respect trumps harmony. 

These are some of the perks you can expect when you join the team:

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Medical allowance
• Commute allowance
• Flexible work for genuine career-life fit
• A healthy and supportive company culture
• Generous annual leave
• Paid maternity and paternity benefits
• Study leave
• Professional development and mentoring
• Construct Culture Club events
• Company funded lunch and drinks every 6 weeks

*Policy T&Cs apply for certain benefits