Founding AI Infrastructure Engineer

Founding AI Systems Engineer / Technical Cofounder

Location: Cape Town (preferred) / Remote (SA-based)

Type: Cofounder Track (Equity-first, flexible structure)

About Digital Inertia

Digital Inertia is building a new category of product for SMEs: private AI systems that automate real business operations.

These are not chatbots or standalone tools. They are working systems installed into businesses that execute workflows across admin, sales, operations, and reporting.

The core system design is already defined, and an initial demo is being built.

The Role

We are looking for a Founding AI Systems Engineer / Technical Cofounder to take an existing system design and turn it into a stable, deployable, and scalable product.

This is an execution-heavy role focused on building, refining, deploying, and standardising, not ideating from scratch.

What You Will Be Working On

* A pre-defined AI system architecture

* A working demo (in progress)

* A deployment model for client environments

* Workflow-based automation systems

* A simple frontend interface for internal users

Core Responsibilities

1. System Implementation

* Build and complete the core system based on an existing design

* Ensure all components work reliably together

* Reduce unnecessary complexity

1. Automation and Workflow Execution

* Implement and refine workflow-driven automation systems

* Integrate APIs and data sources

* Ensure workflows are stable and reusable

1. Deployment and Environment Setup

* Turn the system into a repeatable deployment

* Create install and update processes

* Ensure systems can be deployed quickly and consistently

1. Stability and Optimisation

* Debug and fix system issues

* Improve performance and reliability

* Simplify where needed for real-world use

1. Productisation

* Convert the system into reusable templates

* Reduce one-off work across clients

* Help move from demo to deployable product

Minimum Requirements

* Strong backend engineering experience (Node.js or Python)

* Experience working with APIs and system integrations

* Practical experience with containerised environments (e.g. Docker)

* Ability to debug and stabilise real systems

* Comfortable working independently and shipping quickly

Strong Advantages

* Experience with workflow or automation tools (e.g. n8n or similar)

* DevOps mindset (scripts, deployments, environment setup)

* Experience turning prototypes into production systems

* Exposure to AI API integrations

Levels We Are Open To

Mid-Level (3 to 5 years)

* Strong executor

* Can take ownership of parts of the system

* Comfortable working with minimal supervision

Senior (5+ years)

* Can stabilise and productionise systems end-to-end

* Improves architecture pragmatically

* Thinks in repeatability and scale

Please Do Not Apply If

* You are primarily a frontend or UI developer

* You prefer building from scratch rather than improving existing systems

* You struggle with debugging and fixing evolving systems

* You are looking for a purely salaried, structured role only

* You are not comfortable working in an early-stage environment

Application Notes

* Due to volume, you may not receive a response if minimum requirements are not met

* Please include:

* A short introduction

* Links to relevant work (GitHub or similar)

* Any experience stabilising or deploying systems

Compensation

* Equity-based (cofounder structure)

* Flexible discussion based on experience and contribution

* Potential transition into a salaried structure as the business scales

Why This Role Is Different

You will not be building features for a dashboard. You will be working on systems that run inside businesses and automate real work.

If you enjoy fixing and improving real systems, making things deployable and repeatable, and turning ideas into usable infrastructure, this will be a strong fit.

Apply

Reach out directly with a short message and relevant work.

* Keep it simple.