Lead Natural Language Processing Engineer

Placements24; Centurion; Hybrid; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Remote work

Professional development

Health coverage

Home office budget

Flexible hours

Job summary

Placements24 partnered client seeks a Lead NLP Engineer to spearhead NLP initiatives in a fully remote role. You will design, build, and deploy advanced NLP models and applications powering products across the suite.

You will lead a team of NLP engineers and data scientists, drive MLOps practices, and collaborate with product teams to embed NLP capabilities. A deep NLP background and strong leadership are essential, with a passion for innovation.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, or a related field with NLP specialization.
• 7+ years of professional NLP engineering experience, with at least 2 years in leadership.
• Strong expertise in Python and deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience with transformer models (BERT, GPT) and attention mechanisms.
• Proficiency with NLP libraries such as spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers.
• Solid software engineering fundamentals and leadership abilities.
• Excellent remote communication and collaboration skills.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of advanced NLP models and systems.
• Mentor a team of NLP engineers and data scientists.
• Oversee NLP project lifecycle from concept to deployment and maintenance.
• Develop and refine algorithms for text classification, NER, sentiment, translation, and QA.
• Collaborate with product teams to define NLP requirements and integration.
• Drive R&D into new NLP methodologies and evaluate their impact.
• Ensure scalability, reliability, and performance of NLP solutions.
• Contribute to strategic direction of NLP development within the company.
• Champion best practices in NLP engineering, code quality, and MLOps.

Skills

NLP Leadership

Python

Deep Learning

Education

Master's or PhD in CS/Computational Linguistics

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

SpaCy

NLTK

Hugging Face Transformers

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

About the Role

Our client is looking for an experienced and innovative Lead Natural Language Processing (NLP) Engineer to spearhead their NLP initiatives. This fully remote position offers the exciting opportunity to shape the future of how machines understand and generate human language. You will be instrumental in designing, building, and deploying advanced NLP models and applications that power intelligent features across our client's product suite. This role is based in the vibrant AI & Emerging Technologies hub, but the position itself is fully remote, allowing you to work from anywhere. You will lead a talented team of NLP engineers and researchers, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture. This is a chance to work on challenging problems, utilize state-of-the-art NLP techniques, and make a tangible impact on user experience and business outcomes. The successful candidate will possess a deep technical understanding of NLP, strong leadership qualities, and a passion for innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of cutting-edge NLP models and systems.
• Manage and mentor a team of NLP engineers and data scientists.
• Oversee the entire NLP project lifecycle, from conception to deployment and maintenance.
• Develop and refine algorithms for tasks such as text classification, named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, machine translation, and question answering.
• Collaborate with product teams to define NLP requirements and integrate NLP capabilities into products.
• Drive research into new NLP methodologies and technologies, evaluating their potential impact.
• Ensure the scalability, reliability, and performance of NLP solutions.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of NLP development within the company.
• Champion best practices in NLP engineering, code quality, and MLOps.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, or a related field with a specialization in NLP.
• 7+ years of professional experience in NLP engineering, with at least 2 years in a leadership role.
• Expertise in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• In-depth knowledge of various NLP techniques, including transformer models (BERT, GPT), sequence-to-sequence models, and attention mechanisms.
• Experience with NLP libraries such as spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers.
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles and best practices.
• Proven ability to lead and mentor technical teams.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, especially in a remote setting.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps is a plus.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and bonus structure.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Generous stock options.
• Flexible working hours and a fully remote work environment.
• Dedicated budget for professional development and conferences.
• Opportunity to lead impactful projects in AI & Emerging Technologies.
• Company-provided equipment and home office setup allowance.
• Collaborative and innovative culture with a focus on work-life balance.