Lead Data Scientist

Goldman Tech Resourcing; Durban; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Goldman Tech Resourcing in Durban seeks an experienced Lead Data Scientist to own technical strategy across machine learning, statistical modelling and production AI solutions. This is a hands-on leadership role for a data science professional who can combine advanced technical expertise with team mentorship and delivery ownership.

You will design and deploy ML solutions, manage the full model lifecycle, and work with lakehouse architectures, Azure data services, and Power BI to communicate

Qualifications

• 7+ years' experience across data science, data analytics or data warehousing.
• 2+ years' experience in a technical or engineering leadership role.
• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and deploy ML/AI solutions into production environments.
• Lead model lifecycle: deployment, monitoring, evaluation and retraining.
• Mentor data scientists and provide technical direction.
• Communicate findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Lead Agile delivery squads within Platform as needed.

Skills

Jupyter

Pandas

NumPy

Scikit-learn

Machine Learning

Production AI

Delta Lake

PySpark

Feature stores

Training data versioning

Schema evolution

Azure Synapse

Azure SQL

T-SQL/ANSI SQL

Power BI

English fluency

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline

Job description

Our client is seeking an experienced Lead Data Scientist to take technical ownership across machine learning, statistical modelling and production AI solutions. This is a hands‑on leadership role for a data science professional who can combine advanced technical expertise with team mentorship, delivery ownership and strong stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and deploy machine learning and AI solutions into production environments.
• Apply statistical modelling and advanced data science techniques to solve complex business problems.
• Manage the full model lifecycle, including deployment, monitoring, evaluation and retraining.
• Develop robust data science solutions using Python and associated data science libraries.
• Work with lakehouse architectures, feature stores and training-data versioning.
• Develop and maintain data pipelines and support schema evolution.
• Work with Azure data warehouse technologies and large-scale datasets.
• Produce insightful analytics and visualisations using Power BI and Python-based tools.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to data scientists.
• Take ownership of delivery and contribute to technical planning and execution.
• Communicate technical concepts, findings and recommendations effectively to senior stakeholders.
• Where required, lead an Agile delivery squad within the Platform organisation.

Requirements

• 7+ years' experience across data science, data analytics or data warehousing, with substantial recent data science experience.
• 2+ years' experience in a technical or engineering leadership role.
• Bachelor's degree in a STEM discipline or equivalent professional experience.

Advanced Python skills

• Strong experience with Jupyter Notebooks, pandas, NumPy and scikit-learn.
• Proven experience with machine learning, statistical modelling and production AI system design.
• Experience deploying, monitoring and retraining production models.
• Experience with Delta Lake or comparable lakehouse architectures.
• Strong knowledge of PySpark, feature stores, training-data versioning and schema evolution.
• Strong data warehouse experience, including Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL, T-SQL and/or ANSI SQL.
• Strong Power BI and Python-based analytics/visualisation experience.
• Proven experience mentoring data scientists and leading technical delivery.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.