Lead Data Scientist - NLP and Computer Vision

Placements24; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus incentives

Medical, dental, optical

Annual leave

Professional development

Cape Town project opportunities

Retirement fund

Wellness program

Career progression

Job summary

Placements24 in Cape Town seeks a Lead Data Scientist to head analytics, guiding a team of data scientists, architect scalable NLP and computer vision solutions, and translate insights into business strategy.

The role combines hands-on ML with strategic oversight, requiring 5+ years in data science and leadership, proficiency in Python and AI frameworks, and strong stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in data science with leadership experience.
• Strong expertise in NLP and Computer Vision.
• Proficiency in Python and ML libraries.
• Experience with big data and cloud platforms.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists.
• Develop NLP and CV models for various applications.
• Define data science strategies and roadmaps.
• Oversee end-to-end DS project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and business teams.
• Present findings to senior leadership.
• Drive research into new AI techniques.
• Ensure quality, scalability, and robustness of AI solutions.

Skills

Data science leadership

Team mentoring

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Effective communication

Education

Master's or PhD in CS/DS/Statistics

Tools

Python

scikit-learn

NLTK

SpaCy

OpenCV

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a pioneering force in the AI and Emerging Technologies sector, is looking for an exceptional Lead Data Scientist to spearhead their advanced analytics division in Cape Town. This leadership role is central to driving innovation through the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computer Vision techniques. You will be responsible for guiding a team of talented data scientists, architecting scalable solutions, and translating complex data insights into actionable business strategies. The ideal candidate has a proven history of leading successful data science projects, a profound understanding of modern AI methodologies, and a strong business acumen. This position offers an unparalleled opportunity to shape the technological landscape and mentor a team of brilliant minds in the vibrant city of Cape Town. We are seeking a visionary leader who can inspire and innovate, contributing significantly to our client's mission of leveraging data for transformative solutions. The role demands a strategic thinker capable of both hands‑on technical contributions and high‑level project oversight.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment.
• Develop and implement state-of-the-art NLP and Computer Vision models for various applications.
• Define data science strategies and roadmaps aligned with business objectives.
• Oversee the end-to-end data science project lifecycle, from data acquisition and preparation to model deployment and monitoring.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, product, and business stakeholders to identify opportunities and deliver impactful solutions.
• Present complex findings and recommendations to senior leadership and non-technical audiences.
• Drive research into new AI techniques and their potential applications.
• Ensure the quality, scalability, and robustness of deployed AI solutions.
• Contribute to the company's intellectual property through innovation and potential patent filings.

Requirements

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, or a related quantitative discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in data science, with at least 2 years in a leadership or team lead capacity.
• Extensive experience with NLP techniques (e.g., sentiment analysis, topic modeling, machine translation) and Computer Vision tasks (e.g., object detection, image classification, facial recognition).
• Proficiency in Python and associated data science libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, NLTK, SpaCy, OpenCV, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience with big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong understanding of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and experimental design.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business problems into data science solutions.
• Experience with MLOps practices is highly desirable.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary package with bonus incentives.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and optical coverage.
• Generous annual leave and company holidays.
• Significant investment in professional development, including access to conferences and training programs.
• Opportunities to work on challenging and impactful projects in Cape Town.
• Retirement fund with employer contributions.
• Employee wellness programs and gym memberships.
• Potential for career advancement within a growing organization.