Associate Software Engineer

Job Description

Learn to build with AI. Own what ships. Grow into a great engineer. This is the start of your career, and we want it to count. If you’re early in your software engineering journey and you want to get good fast, working in an experienced team that builds with AI, SPAN is for you. It's also your entry point into SPAN LEAP (Learn, Engineer, Apply, Progress) our structured 12-month program built to turn junior engineers into well-rounded, AI-ready engineers.

This role sits inside SPAN LEAP, our 12-month track that develops junior engineers into AI-ready software engineers through real work rather than classroom training. Strong performers have the opportunity to transition from a fixed-term contract into a permanent role. Over the year, you can expect:

• A structured path across core engineering skill areas: front-end, APIs, data, Dev Ops, testing, documentation, with AI readiness built in from day one, not bolted on afterward.
• A real mentorship model:a working SPAN engineer is paired with you and spends dedicated time every week guiding you on live projects, alongside pair programming and structured, group-based learning loops with the rest of your cohort.
• Hands-on AI engineering practice: learning to direct and orchestrate AI tools toward well-defined, testable goals, not just use them as a shortcut.

As a junior engineer, you'll work as part of a delivery team, taking on small, well-defined pieces of work with support from senior engineers. Day to day, you'll:

• Write, review, reason about, and validate code for small, clearly defined features, making sure it meets our coding standards and practices.
• Use AI tools and help orchestrate AI agents toward well-defined, testable goals.
• Investigate and fix bugs with guidance from more experienced engineers.
• Write and run tests, and make sure coverage handles both the basic cases and the edge cases.
• Take part in code reviews as both an author and a reviewer, and act on the feedback you get.
• Help configure and maintain the automated quality gates that keep our code healthy, and understand why those standards exist.
• Own the quality of your output, regardless of how it was produced.

You don't need years of experience. You do need a real foundation, strong critical thinking, and the drive to build on both. We're looking for someone who:

• Has 6-12 months experience.
• Can read and write code in at least one programming language (Java, Python, or Golang, Type Script preferred), and understands core software development concepts.
• Breaks problems down clearly and can reason about whether a solution really is correct.
• Is keen to work with AI coding tools, and understands that the engineer owns the result, not the tool.
• Is comfortable with version control, or eager to learn Git properly.
• Learns quickly, asks substantive questions, and treats feedback as a way to get better.
• Communicates clearly and works well as part of a team.

None of these are required. Any of them will help you stand out:

• Hands-on experience with AI development tools, such as AI coding assistants or agent-based workflows.
• A portfolio, Git Hub profile, or personal projects we can look at.
• Exposure to testing, a web or mobile framework, or a cloud platform.
• Internship, freelance, or open-source experience.

Growth is built into how we work, not left to chance. As a LEAP participant, you'll follow a personal growth plan over the 12-month program with clear goals, paired with a dedicated mentor. You'll learn through pair programming with senior engineers, AI-assisted learning loops, code review, and career coaching, and we'll measure your progress against SFIA, the globally recognized skills framework we use across the company.

The expectation is simple: take more on, with less supervision, as your skills and judgment develop, and, performance-dependent, move into a permanent role at the end of your 12-month contract.

SPAN Digital is a software product and consulting company headquartered in San Francisco, with development offices in Cape Town and Guadalajara. We work across a range of industries, with particular depth in…