The Company
Stears is a Pan African data company. For global funds investing in Africa, Stears is the data and insights provider that enables quick, accurate decisions during the investment process. Stears users get access to industry, company, transaction, and macro data as well as constantly updated reports by researchers. Unlike other providers, Stears goes beyond just data to provide insights and context based on knowledge of local markets and delivers it all in an easy-to-use data platform. You can find more info about Stears here.
The Role
Why it’s important: The AI Engineer role is crucial to Stears' mission of providing insightful information on the African landscape to a global audience of companies and investors. As we deliver on our mission, AI is becoming increasingly essential in our data processing workflows and crafting the optimal user experience for our customers. The AI Engineer will contribute by executing multiple AI-specific projects within the company, empowering Stears to deliver valuable intelligence on Africa, drive informed investment decisions, and contribute to the continent's growth story.
What it covers: The role covers developing and implementing AI solutions to enhance the company's data processing and product offerings. This will be similar to Full Stack Engineering but focused on applying skills in using mostly Generative AI and some Analytical AI tools taken off the shelf. The role also involves heavy collaboration with other teams to integrate AI into Stears' platform, into our data pipelines and internal tools. The role requires a strong affinity for Generative AI and an understanding of basic AI/ML principles, proficiency in Python and a strong background in general software engineering patterns, tools and practices (e.g. git). Also an interest in LLMs and cutting-edge techniques in the LLM space, as well as the ability to follow rapid developments and quickly test and apply new ideas in production.
Who you will work with: You will report directly to the CTO / Head of Intelligence / Head of Engineering at Stears. You will also work closely with the Chief Technology Officer and engage frequently with senior managers at Stears.
Responsibilities
- Partner with cross-functional teams of engineers, researchers, and data analysts to create value for our customers by boosting the productivity of our internal teams
- Partner with cross-functional teams of engineers, researchers, and data analysts to discover new AI-driven solutions to old problems faced by our customers, and then to implement those solutions
- Participate in requirements gathering meetings to understand what needs to be done before doing it, and then to carefully document requirements for team collaboration purposes
- Work independently on AI-specific projects and report progress to stakeholders regularly
- Complete AI + Full Stack or AI + Data Engineering tasks on a day-to-day basis
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including data scientists and software engineers, to integrate AI solutions into existing products and services.
- Own the creation of Proofs-of-Concept systems to test new ideas and prove or disprove our AI-powered product hypotheses
- Work with the CTO / Head of Intelligence / Head of Engineering to make decisions on AI models to use - Evaluate and benchmark different LLMs and generative AI models to select the best fit for specific use cases.
- Collaborate with others in the engineering team to deploy open-source models to cloud (AZURE, GCP, and AWS) environments for various business needs.
- Advocate for the adoption of specific AI tools for various use cases within the organisation
- Fine-tune and optimize off-the-shelf or open-source AI models for performance, scalability, and efficiency.
- Stay up-to-date on the latest AI and machine learning advancements, research papers, and tools, and bring the knowledge to the team to enable us to make better decisions on what to do next.
- Contribute to the development of best practices and standards for AI development.
- Participate in hiring activities to assess new candidates for AI-related positions
We are looking for someone with:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.
- 1-2 years of experience building LLM-powered applications - e.g. Chatbots
- 1-2 years of experience working with LLM tooling and techniques - e.g. RAG, Multi-Agent Systems, Prompt Engineering, Vector Databases, Long context window applications, etc.
- Proficiency in Python and experience with any LLM frameworks and essential tooling - e.g. Langchain, Haystack, Ollama, Litellm, etc.
- Proficiency with tooling like - Git, GitHub/GitLab/Other, Git collaboration workflows, using CI/CD pipelines
- Familiarity with practices like - Standups, Code reviews, Unit testing, separation of dev, QA, and production environments
- Experience using and/or fine-tuning foundational models via API or self-hosted deployment - ChatGPT, Claude, Deepseek, etc.
- Strong knowledge and understanding of data structures, algorithms, design patterns and software engineering principles.
- Experience with cloud computing platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) is a plus.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Deep interest in the evolution of the GenAI space and in building GenAI-powered products
- Machine Learning experience is a plus, particularly with NLP and NER
- Any experience with data engineering principles, tools and practices is a plus
- OLAP database, Data modelling, Data pipelines, Data Warehousing, Database management, data processing (Batch & Stream) etc.
- Pyspark, Pandas, Polars, DBT, Airflow, Airbyte,
- Any experience with Frontend Engineering, Backend Engineering, and DevOps principles is also a plus
Perks
Meaningful perks matter to us. They make employees better and contribute to making Stears a great place to work. If you join us, you can be assured that you’ll enjoy a wide range of generous perks, rewards and office benefits, including:
- Flexible working: we are currently hybrid (you chose what days you are in the office)
- Help lay the platform foundations of our African expansion. We are currently fleshing out our expansion strategy and would love you to be a part of this growth while doing impactful work
- Be part of our new product offerings
- Unlimited access to Stears Intelligence Solutions
- The Stears Experience - These are the top reasons our employees report having the best experience of their careers at Stears:
- Deepen their analytical & critical thinking skills, which apply beyond a specific domain
- Gain a high level of autonomy and responsibility by taking on a senior role in our high trust startup environment and relatively flat organizational hierarchy
- Do something meaningful by being part of a team making African data more widely available
- Access to an expert Intelligence & Analytics team - Stears Intelligence team includes some of the brightest knowledge experts in Nigeria covering a wide range of sectors, all with a passion for delivering the highest quality of intelligence and analytics on the African continent.
- Competitive salaries at junior, intermediate and senior levels
- Comprehensive Health Insurance coverage
- Paid time off - 25 days, excluding public holidays and sick days (Prorated)
- Compassionate Leave
- Parental Leave
- Unlimited Sick Leave
- Special emphasis on learning and development
- Regular social activities, including annual off-site team bonding
- Stears branded merchandise and swag
Diversity
Stears is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants regardless of colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status, actual or presumed belonging to an ethnic group, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
