Lead NLP Engineer - AI Solutions

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Performance bonuses

Comprehensive benefits package

Hybrid work options

Professional growth & conference talks

Job summary

Placements24 in Cape Town seeks a Lead NLP Engineer to architect, develop, and deploy advanced NLP solutions. You will lead a team, collaborate with product managers, and guide AI strategy to drive NLP-powered products.

The role requires a visionary leader with deep NLP expertise, a passion for AI, and a track record of delivering impactful AI projects in a hybrid work setting.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional NLP experience with at least 2 years in a lead role.
• Proficiency in Python and NLP libraries (NLTK, spaCy, Transformers).
• Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) for NLP tasks.
• Strong grounding in linguistic principles and NLP techniques.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps practices.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in hybrid or agile development environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of state-of-the-art NLP models for text classification, sentiment analysis, NER, and MT.
• Architect scalable NLP pipelines for data ingestion, preprocessing, feature extraction, and deployment.
• Collaborate with product managers and data scientists to define NLP requirements.
• Mentor and guide a team of NLP engineers, promoting best practices.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party NLP tools and libraries to enhance capabilities.
• Stay current with NLP and AI research and publish or patent where applicable.

Skills

Python

NLP libraries

Deep learning

Cloud platforms

Leadership

Education

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

NLTK

spaCy

Hugging Face Transformers

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

About the Role

About the Role Our client is at the forefront of leveraging AI to transform industries, and we are looking for a Lead Natural Language Processing (NLP) Engineer to spearhead our NLP initiatives. Based in vibrant Cape Town , this hybrid role offers a blend of in-office collaboration and remote flexibility. You will be responsible for architecting, developing, and deploying advanced NLP solutions that address complex business challenges. This position requires a visionary leader with deep technical expertise in NLP, a passion for AI, and a proven ability to guide a team of talented engineers. You will play a crucial role in shaping our AI strategy and driving the innovation of our NLP-powered products and services. Join a dynamic team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of state-of-the-art NLP models and algorithms for tasks such as text classification, sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, and machine translation.
• Architect scalable and robust NLP pipelines for data ingestion, pre-processing, feature extraction, and model deployment.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and other engineering teams to define NLP requirements and deliver impactful solutions.
• Mentor and guide a team of NLP engineers, fostering best practices in software development and AI research.
• Evaluate and integrate third-party NLP tools and libraries to enhance our capabilities.
• Stay current with the latest research and advancements in the NLP and AI fields.
• Contribute to the company's intellectual property through patents and publications.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in NLP engineering, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior role.
• Proficiency in Python and common NLP libraries (e.g., NLTK, spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers).
• Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow) for NLP tasks.
• Strong understanding of linguistic principles and various NLP techniques.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps practices.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Experience working in a hybrid or agile development environment.

Benefits

• Our client provides a competitive salary, performance bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package.
• We value work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements, including hybrid options.
• Opportunities for professional growth, continuous learning, and attendance at leading AI conferences are readily available.
• Join a collaborative and innovative environment in the beautiful city of Cape Town , working on challenging and rewarding projects that make a real difference.