Durban Lead Data Scientist: Predictive ML & Team Leadership

Placements24; Durban; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus package

Health insurance

Career development & training

Conference attendance

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Lead Data Scientist in Durban to drive predictive analytics across the business. You will lead a team of data scientists, develop advanced models, and guide project lifecycle from problem framing to deployment and monitoring in an on-site setting.

The ideal candidate has a PhD/masters in a quantitative field, 5+ years of data science experience, strong leadership, and expertise in Python or R with ML libraries. Relocation assistance is offered for Durban relocation.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.
• 5+ years of data science experience with a proven track record in developing and deploying predictive models.
• Demonstrated experience leading a team of data scientists or managing complex data science projects.
• Expertise in Python or R, and proficiency with data manipulation, statistical modeling, and ML libraries (e.g., Scikit-learn, Pandas, Statsmodels, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Strong understanding of ML algorithms including regression, classification, clustering, and time series.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists, guiding technical development and project execution.
• Develop, implement, and validate predictive models using ML and statistical techniques.
• Define data science roadmaps aligned with business objectives and stakeholder expectations.
• Perform exploratory data analysis to uncover trends and insights.
• Design and conduct experiments (A/B tests) to evaluate model performance and business impact.
• Collaborate with engineering to deploy models into production and establish monitoring.
• Communicate complex findings clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Stay current with advancements in data science, ML, and related technologies.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Master's degree in Data Science or related field

PhD preferred

Tools

Python

R

Scikit-learn

Pandas

Statsmodels

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Spark

Hadoop

SQL

Job description

Placements24 seeks a Lead Data Scientist in Durban to drive predictive analytics across the business. You will lead a team of data scientists, develop advanced models, and guide project lifecycle from problem framing to deployment and monitoring in an on-site setting.

The ideal candidate has a PhD/masters in a quantitative field, 5+ years of data science experience, strong leadership, and expertise in Python or R with ML libraries. Relocation assistance is offered for Durban relocation.