Lead Nlp Engineer — Shape Next-Gen Language Ai (George)

Placements24; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Performance bonus structure

Stock options

Professional development

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead AI Engineer specialized in NLP to guide the design and deployment of advanced NLP systems in George, Western Cape. You will lead a team of engineers, shaping the end-to-end lifecycle from ideation to production and maintaining state-of-the-art language technologies.

The ideal candidate holds a Master’s or PhD in a related field, with 5+ years in NLP and at least 2 years in leadership. Strong Python, Transformers, and cloud experience are essential for success.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, AI, or related field.
• 5+ years in NLP engineering with at least 2 years in a leadership role.
• Strong NLP theory and practice with deep learning models (Transformers, LSTMs, CNNs).
• Proficient in Python and NLP libraries such as spaCy, NLTK, Transformers, scikit-learn.
• Experience with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Proven ability to design, build, and deploy large-scale NLP systems.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) for ML workloads.
• Mentor and develop engineering talent.

Responsibilities

• Lead NLP engineers in design, development and deployment of NLP models.
• Define technical roadmap and architectural vision for NLP initiatives.
• Oversee end-to-end NLP projects from ideation to production.
• Develop state-of-the-art algorithms for sentiment, NER, MT, QA.
• Ensure scalability, efficiency and robustness of NLP systems.
• Collaborate with PMs to translate business needs into tech solutions.
• Mentor team members and foster technical excellence.
• Stay current with NLP research trends and open-source projects.
• Engage with the NLP community and contribute where possible.

Skills

NLP engineering

Leadership

Python

Deep learning

Transformer models

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field

Tools

spaCy

NLTK

Transformers

scikit-learn

PyTorch/TensorFlow

Job description

About the Role

Our client is a rapidly expanding technology firm focused on innovative AI solutions, is seeking an experienced Lead AI Engineer specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to join their core development team in George, Western Cape. This senior role is critical for guiding the design and implementation of sophisticated NLP systems that power our client's groundbreaking products. You will be responsible for leading a team of talented engineers, overseeing the entire lifecycle of NLP model development from concept to production. This position offers the chance to make significant technical contributions and shape the direction of AI-driven language technologies. The ideal candidate possesses a strong combination of theoretical NLP knowledge, practical software engineering skills, and proven leadership experience. Join us in George and help build the next generation of intelligent language applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a team of NLP engineers and researchers in the design, development, and deployment of NLP models and applications.
• Define the technical roadmap and architectural vision for our NLP initiatives.
• Oversee the entire lifecycle of NLP projects, from ideation and prototyping to production deployment and maintenance.
• Develop and implement state-of-the-art algorithms for tasks such as sentiment analysis, text classification, named entity recognition, machine translation, and question answering.
• Ensure the scalability, efficiency, and robustness of NLP systems.
• Collaborate with product managers and stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Mentor and coach team members, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• Stay current with the latest research and industry trends in NLP and machine learning.
• Contribute to open-source projects and engage with the wider NLP community.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in NLP engineering, with at least 2 years in a leadership or team lead role.
• Strong theoretical understanding and practical experience with various NLP techniques, including deep learning models (e.g., Transformers, LSTMs, CNNs).
• Proficiency in Python and relevant NLP libraries such as spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers, scikit-learn.
• Experience with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Proven ability to design, build, and deploy large-scale NLP systems.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) for ML workloads.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineering talent.

Benefits

Our client provides a highly competitive salary and benefits package, including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage. We offer a performance-driven bonus structure and stock options. Opportunities for continuous professional development, including conference attendance and specialized training, are provided. Enjoy a supportive work environment with excellent work-life balance and generous paid time off. A retirement savings plan with company match is available. You will have access to cutting-edge technology and the chance to work on impactful projects that are shaping the future of communication.