Role: Senior Java Developer (Data | Machine Learning) (IT consultant)
Location: Remote (South Africa-based only)
Engagement: Independent Contractor | 3–6 Month Contract (renewable) (must be able to invoice monthly)
Start: Immediate start required. Max 1 week notice considered
Hours: Late start, late finish (to partly overlap with US hours)
Role Summary
InspiredXpert is looking for a Machine Learning Engineer (Java) to develop, deploy, and continuously improve a large-scale recommendation system that drives personalised content discovery. You will focus on production-grade machine learning, ensuring models and serving components are reliable, performant, and measurable, and that they integrate cleanly with upstream data pipelines and downstream application services. The role combines hands-on engineering (Java, Python, SQL, TensorFlow) with practical collaboration across product and engineering teams to translate recommendation goals into delivered features, while communicating model behaviour, experimentation outcomes, and system trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
- Maintain and enhance an end-to-end recommendation engine for personalised discovery.
- Partner with engineering teams to integrate ML models with data pipelines powering recommendations.
- Work with product and stakeholders to deliver features that meet customer and business needs.
- Communicate system behaviour, trade-offs, and results clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
Essential Skills & Experience
- Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, or similar (or equivalent experience).
- Proven ML engineering experience on large-scale data systems.
- Strong Java, Python, and SQL.
- TensorFlow 2.x experience (matrix factorisation, factorisation machines advantageous).
- Kubernetes experience.
- Spark and Flink advantageous.
- OpenSearch beneficial.
InspiredXpert is a specialist IT Talent Solutions company providing high-quality contract or perm talent across software development, cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and data-driven roles. We connect skilled professionals with innovative companies, offering exciting opportunities to work on impactful projects across the globe.
Top Skills
What We Do
Inspired Testing is a pure-play software testing company that has a dedicated focus on software testing solutions for clients globally. We are driven to solve complex problems with adaptable solutions and collectively tap into shared experiences, creative skills, and world-class expertise.
The demand for advanced technologies is accelerating rapidly. Pushing more and more companies to embark on their digital transformation journeys and increasing the need for software testing in quality software engineering.
Inspired Testing is an international team of industry specialists united by a single purpose - To Make Way for Potential.
Our best-in-class software engineers lead the way in delivering technically relevant, scalable, and fit-for-purpose software testing solutions that give you the confidence to forge ahead.
Inspired Testing is the partner of choice for businesses looking to harness digital disruption for sustainable success.
