AI-enabled Software Developer (Graduate or Junior)

About Us:

Silvertreebrands builds disruptive, purpose-driven consumer and digital brands. Our power brands include Faithful to Nature, UCOOK, Pet Heaven and SKOON. We focus on building amazing customer experiences that are “Good for you, good for the planet.” We trust our employees with full accountability and autonomy from day one. This unique entrepreneurial and performance-driven culture enables us to achieve executional excellence.

About The Role:

AI is changing the way that software is built. This is obviously a challenge for new graduates. But, it's also an opportunity: we believe AI-first development is different to traditional software development, and it takes real practice and expertise, so in this area everyone is currently a junior. Now's your chance!

We're looking for a top recent graduate or junior to join our team, to intensively learn and practice AI-powered software development in a focused practical training programme, followed by on-the-job experience. You will still need to deeply understand the systems you're building, but also master writing code rapidly and reliably using AI. 

The role will focus on build SaaS-style tooling and customer facing ecommerce websites, largely in PHP, with some Python and Javascript/Typescript. We're building tools to produce rich, personalised product information at scale, for new and existing online offerings. 

The ideal candidate is technically strong and willing to learn new systems, but also curious about how organisations work outside of just technology. You’ll be working closely with senior leadership from the CEO down, our tech and data teams, and our other functions. 

We have a hybrid working arrangement, with offices in Woodstock in Cape Town, but support flexibility.

Responsibilities:

• Backend and full stack development, using AI to write Node/React and/or PHP depending on project
• Ensure that generated code has well-considered automated testing, linting, code validation and verification, to be able to deploy changes rapidly and with confidence
• Help design and build internal SaaS-style tools for managing all elements of ecommerce, from product data through pricing, replenishment and customer personalisation
• Integrate with external systems to bring capabilities to market quickly
• Working with teams across the organisation to collaboratively identify opportunities for process improvement
• Participate and contribute in tech meetings as well as sprint planning sessions

Our Tech Stack:

• E-commerce backend: Magento + GraphQL for some services, along with Node.js (Typescript) elsewhere
• Frontend: React.js
• Collaboration: JIRA, Slack, Notion
• Development: Cursor, Gitlab, k8s CI/CD
• Data and analytics: BigQuery, PowerBI
• Automation, AI: n8n, OpenAI and others, and to be honest, Google Sheets

Requirements:

• Graduate: A relevant bachelors or higher degree from strong university, plus relevant experience from side projects. Deep practical experience in a well-run organisation may substitute for academic education
• Proven software development experience, either in a formal setting, or even better, personal projects
• Proven experimentation with AI tools
• Experience with PHP and Javascript strongly beneficial
• Experience with ecommerce strongly beneficial

Our Offer:

• Salary in range R25-40k. (Note: candidates with relevant experience may be considered at higher salaries).
• Young, fast-moving culture, with dedicated and creative colleagues.
• Compelling staff discounts on group brands, team bonus structure, and retirement plan.