Agricultural Data Scientist: Yield Forecast & Resource Optimization

Placements24; Upington; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement savings

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a highly analytical Agricultural Data Scientist to join our innovative team in Upington, Northern Cape. You will develop and deploy advanced data models to predict crop yields, optimize resources, and boost farm productivity using field sensors, weather, satellite imagery and historical farm data.

You will collaborate with agronomists and farm managers to translate complex insights into actionable strategies, design dashboards, and drive data-driven decisions that improve

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in data science, statistics, computer science or agricultural science with quantitative focus.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in data science, ML, and statistical modeling with agriculture focus.
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow and Pandas.
• Strong background in statistical modeling, time-series analysis and ML algorithms.
• Experience with agricultural data sources including sensor networks, GIS, and remote sensing is advantageous.
• Knowledge of crop physiology, soil science, and agronomy principles.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team.
• Experience with cloud platforms and big data is a plus.
• Familiarity with the Northern Cape agricultural context is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and deploy ML models for crop yield prediction across crops.
• Analyze diverse agricultural datasets to identify drivers of performance and efficiency.
• Design data-driven strategies to optimize water, fertilizers and inputs.
• Collaborate with agronomists to translate model outputs into farming decisions.
• Develop dashboards to communicate insights to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Identify new data sources and techniques to improve model accuracy.
• Ensure data quality, integrity and security across the data lifecycle.
• Stay current with advances in agricultural data science and AI technologies.
• Contribute to robust data infrastructure and analytical framework.
• Prepare reports and presentations on findings and methodologies.

Skills

Python

R

Time-series analysis

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Communication

Education

MSc/PhD in Data Science or related

Tools

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

Pandas

GIS/Remote Sensing tools

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a highly analytical Agricultural Data Scientist to join our innovative team in Upington, Northern Cape. You will develop and deploy advanced data models to predict crop yields, optimize resources, and boost farm productivity using field sensors, weather, satellite imagery and historical farm data.

You will collaborate with agronomists and farm managers to translate complex insights into actionable strategies, design dashboards, and drive data-driven decisions that improve