Software Developer – Data, Automation & AI

Location: South Africa

Level: Early–mid level

Experience: Approximately 1–3 years, with flexibility for candidates who can demonstrate the right capabilities.

About Hunterlodge

Hunterlodge is an independent, full-service advertising agency working across Higher Education, B2B and B2C. We combine strategic thinking, creativity and technology to help clients solve business challenges and improve marketing effectiveness.

We’re looking for a curious, resourceful Software Developer to help build our data, automation and AI capabilities. This is an opportunity to develop practical tools that improve how our agency works and create new possibilities for our clients.

The Role

Working closely with our AI Driven SEO Strategist and colleagues across the agency, you’ll turn business requirements, ideas and prototypes into reliable internal tools, integrations, data pipelines, dashboards and client-facing applications.

Your projects could range from connecting marketing platforms and automating reporting to developing AI-powered applications and browser tools. You’ll take ownership of defined technical challenges, working from the initial brief through development, testing and deployment.

You’ll have support with unfamiliar technologies and complex architectural decisions, alongside the independence to investigate problems, recommend approaches and deliver working solutions.

Marketing technology experience is useful, but isn’t essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain integrations between third-party platforms, analytics systems and Hunterlodge tools.
• Develop APIs, data pipelines and automated workflows that reduce manual work and improve reliability.
• Build internal tools, dashboards and client-facing web applications.
• Work with cloud platforms and data services, including BigQuery, GA4, Supermetrics and external APIs.
• Support front-end and back-end development, including databases, authentication and user access.
• Develop AI-powered tools using large language models and AI APIs, connecting them to approved Hunterlodge and client data.
• Own smaller development projects from brief through testing and deployment.
• Troubleshoot technical issues, improve existing systems and recommend practical solutions.
• Document your work so solutions can be maintained, reused and expanded.
• Collaborate with colleagues to understand what they need and translate those requirements into effective technical solutions.

Skills and Experience

We’re looking for someone with:

• Strong software development fundamentals and practical experience building applications, integrations or automation solutions.
• Experience with Python and/or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Experience working with REST APIs, JSON and third-party integrations.
• Working knowledge of SQL, databases and data structures.
• Familiarity with Git and version control.
• An understanding of front-end and back-end web development.
• Practical experience using AI-assisted coding tools such as ChatGPT Codex, Cursor, Claude Code or equivalent.
• The ability to use AI to plan, write, review and debug code while understanding, testing and validating the output.
• Strong debugging, problem-solving and self-learning skills.

How You Work

You’ll be comfortable taking a defined problem, understanding the objective and working through the obstacles to deliver a practical solution.

You should be able to:

• Work independently on agreed tasks and keep projects moving without constant supervision.
• Take ownership, make sensible technical decisions and communicate progress clearly.
• Explore different approaches and assess which best meets the requirement.
• Investigate technical blockers, test alternatives and research unfamiliar tools or technologies.
• Recognise when you need support, explain what you’ve already tried and ask clear questions.
• Balance experimentation with the care needed to build reliable, maintainable tools.

Development and Progression

We’re flexible on years of experience. Your capability, initiative and evidence of building real solutions matter more than tenure.

As you develop, you’ll have the opportunity to take greater ownership of integrations, applications and automated systems, with scope to progress into a broader software, data and AI development role.

Why Join Hunterlodge?

• Work on varied projects with practical applications across the agency and our clients.
• Help shape our growing use of AI, automation and data.
• Collaborate with colleagues across strategy, creative, media and technology.
• Build your skills through hands-on experience, support and our commitment to Continuous Professional Development.
• Benefit from our profit-share bonus scheme.