Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Natural Language Processing

Placements24; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Generous leave

Learning and conference funding

Cutting-edge technology access

Team events

Job summary

Placements24 in Cape Town is seeking a Lead ML Engineer to drive NLP initiatives, architect and deploy production-grade models, and lead a team of engineers and researchers. You will own end-to-end ML lifecycle from data prep to deployment and collaborate with product managers to define roadmaps for scalable NLP solutions.

You will stay at the forefront of NLP research, mentor the team, and deliver high-impact language understanding and generation capabilities in production environments.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, AI, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in Machine Learning, with at least 4 years focused on NLP.
• Proven experience in leading ML engineering teams.
• Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency with NLP libraries (spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers).
• Expertise in deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch) and experience with large language models.
• Experience with MLOps tools and practices for model deployment and monitoring.
• Solid understanding of statistical modeling, machine learning algorithms, and data structures.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Experience working with large text datasets and handling data preprocessing challenges.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and their ML services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced NLP models and algorithms (e.g., transformers, LLMs, BERT, GPT).
• Manage and mentor a team of machine learning engineers and data scientists focused on NLP.
• Oversee the end-to-end ML pipeline, including data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for NLP applications and integrate solutions into products and services.
• Ensure the scalability, reliability, and performance of NLP models in production.
• Conduct rigorous experiments to benchmark model performance and explore new techniques.
• Stay updated with the latest research and industry trends in NLP and AI.
• Contribute to the development of best practices and coding standards for the ML team.
• Present technical findings and project updates to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Drive innovation in NLP, exploring areas like sentiment analysis, text summarization, machine translation, and conversational AI.

Skills

Team leadership

Python

SpaCy

NLTK

Transformers

TensorFlow

PyTorch

MLOps

Cloud platforms

Education

Master's degree in CS/AI/CL

PhD in CS/AI/CL

Tools

Hugging Face Transformers

TensorFlow

PyTorch

MLflow

Job description

About the Role

Our client is at the forefront of AI innovation and is actively seeking a highly skilled Lead Machine Learning Engineer to spearhead their Natural Language Processing (NLP) initiatives in Cape Town, Western Cape . This pivotal role involves leading a team of talented engineers and researchers to develop and deploy sophisticated NLP models that power advanced language understanding and generation capabilities. You will be responsible for the entire lifecycle of ML models, from conceptualization and data preparation to training, evaluation, and deployment in production environments. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of how technology interacts with human language, working on complex problems with a significant impact. The ideal candidate possesses a strong blend of theoretical knowledge, practical engineering skills, and leadership experience. You will work closely with product managers and other stakeholders to define roadmaps and deliver high-quality, scalable NLP solutions. We are looking for a visionary leader who can inspire a team and drive technical excellence in a fast-paced setting. Join us in Cape Town and be part of a transformative journey in AI.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced NLP models and algorithms (e.g., transformers, LLMs, BERT, GPT).
• Manage and mentor a team of machine learning engineers and data scientists focused on NLP.
• Oversee the end-to-end ML pipeline, including data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities for NLP applications and integrate solutions into products and services.
• Ensure the scalability, reliability, and performance of NLP models in production.
• Conduct rigorous experiments to benchmark model performance and explore new techniques.
• Stay updated with the latest research and industry trends in NLP and AI.
• Contribute to the development of best practices and coding standards for the ML team.
• Present technical findings and project updates to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Drive innovation in NLP, exploring areas like sentiment analysis, text summarization, machine translation, and conversational AI.

Requirements

• Master's or PhD degree in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, AI, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in Machine Learning, with at least 4 years focused specifically on NLP.
• Proven experience in leading and managing ML engineering teams.
• Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency with NLP libraries (e.g., spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers).
• Expertise in deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and experience with large language models.
• Experience with MLOps tools and practices for model deployment and monitoring.
• Solid understanding of statistical modeling, machine learning algorithms, and data structures.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Experience working with large text datasets and handling data preprocessing challenges.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and their ML services.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Generous annual leave and public holidays.
• Opportunities for continuous learning and professional growth, including funding for conferences and courses.
• Access to cutting-edge technology and computational resources.
• Dynamic and inclusive work environment in Cape Town .
• Retirement savings plan with company contributions.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Regular social events and team-building activities.
• Potential for career advancement within a growing organization.