Crop Modeling Scientist — Lead Data-Driven Agriculture

Placements24; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Retirement benefits

Annual leave

Professional development

International conferences

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking an experienced Agricultural Data Scientist specializing in crop modeling to join their research division in Cape Town, Western Cape. The role focuses on developing, validating, and deploying advanced crop models to predict yields, optimize resources, and assess climate impacts for South Africa's agricultural sector.

The ideal candidate holds a PhD in a quantitative agricultural field, has 5+ years of hands-on crop modeling experience (DSSAT/APSIM/AquaCrop), and is

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant quantitative field with a strong focus on crop modeling.
• 5+ years developing, calibrating, and applying crop simulation models.
• Proficiency in Python or R for data analysis and ML.
• Experience handling large geospatial datasets.
• Strong written publications and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain crop growth models using statistics and ML.
• Integrate weather, soil, remote sensing, and agronomic data into crop models.
• Validate models against observed field data.
• Forecast yields and assess risks for farming scenarios.
• Develop irrigation and management optimization algorithms.
• Collaborate with agronomists, plant breeders, and environmental scientists.
• Communicate complex findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to grants and research publications.

Skills

Data analysis

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Scientific writing

Independent work

Education

PhD in Agricultural Science or related field

Tools

Python

R

Geospatial analysis

Job description

Placements24 is seeking an experienced Agricultural Data Scientist specializing in crop modeling to join their research division in Cape Town, Western Cape. The role focuses on developing, validating, and deploying advanced crop models to predict yields, optimize resources, and assess climate impacts for South Africa's agricultural sector.

The ideal candidate holds a PhD in a quantitative agricultural field, has 5+ years of hands-on crop modeling experience (DSSAT/APSIM/AquaCrop), and is