Applied AI Engineer

📋 Description

• • Join Wave, a rapidly growing financial services company on a mission to make Africa the first cashless continent. We are revolutionizing financial access for millions across West Africa by building services that are affordable, instantly available, and universally accepted, even in areas with limited infrastructure.
• • As an Applied AI Engineer on our Support Automation team, you will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI research and tangible product implementation. Your work will directly impact over 10 million customer interactions per month across West Africa, enhancing efficiency and user experience.
• • You will be instrumental in architecting, evaluating, and optimizing autonomous voice and digital agents. These systems are designed to handle repetitive tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on complex, high-value interactions requiring empathy and creativity.
• • A significant part of your role will involve tackling challenging edge cases inherent in emerging markets, such as poor connectivity, low literacy rates, and languages with limited training data. This requires innovative solutions and a deep understanding of user needs.
• • You will actively experiment with, evaluate, and integrate the latest advancements in voice and text models, staying at the forefront of AI technology.
• • This role offers end-to-end ownership. You will be responsible for problems from initial discovery through to deployment and ongoing maintenance in production, collaborating closely with product and engineering leaders who are committed to delivering real customer impact.
• • We are looking for individuals who are energized by significant ownership, thrive on deep technical challenges, and are passionate about building infrastructure that serves millions in emerging markets.
• • Our technology stack includes Python 3 (with mypy), GraphQL for the API layer, Kotlin/Jetpack for Android, Swift/SwiftUI for iOS, TypeScript/React for web frontend, Postgres/CockroachDB for databases, GCP/Terraform for infrastructure, and Kubernetes for orchestration. Prior experience with this stack is a strong plus, though not strictly required.
• • You will contribute to building the future of customer support, leveraging AI to create more accessible and efficient financial services for a continent undergoing rapid digital transformation.
• • This role is ideal for someone who is comfortable navigating ambiguity, can design complex agent systems without detailed specifications, and possesses a strong obsession with evaluation frameworks to ensure system reliability and accuracy.
• • You will balance research intuition with pragmatic engineering, ensuring that prototypes are translated into robust, working systems that deliver measurable value.
• • Our engineering culture emphasizes caring about the big picture, moving with speed and agility, and favoring reliable, well-understood technology to focus on solving user problems.
• • You will be part of a team that values autonomy, encourages engineers to own projects from start to finish, and is deeply committed to our mission of providing radically affordable financial services.
• • The opportunity to work on a product that has a direct and profound impact on the lives of millions, empowering them with financial tools and opportunities, is at the core of this role.
• • You will contribute to a company that has achieved significant milestones, including raising the largest Series A in Africa in 2021 and being recognized on Y Combinator's top companies list by revenue.
• • This position offers a unique chance to apply advanced AI techniques to solve real-world problems in a dynamic and impactful environment.