Lead Principal Data Scientist – Finance & ML Leader

Placements24; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Bonus structure

Medical benefits

Retirement planning

Performance incentives

In-office role in Klerksdorp

Job summary

Placements24 in South Africa seeks a Principal Data Scientist to lead predictive analytics from our Klerksdorp hub. The role designs, builds, and deploys sophisticated models to forecast trends in finance and risk, shaping data-driven strategies across the organization.

You will own the full data science lifecycle, collaborate with stakeholders, mentor peers, and stay ahead of advances in ML and big data. The ideal candidate has a PhD or MSc in a quantitative field, 7+ years in data science,

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in a quantitative field such as statistics, math, CS, or economics.
• 7+ years as a Data Scientist, with leadership experience.
• Strong skills in statistical modeling, ML, and experiment design.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end data science lifecycle from exploration to deployment.
• Develop predictive models for finance and risk analytics.
• Mentor junior data scientists and promote best practices.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate needs into data science solutions.
• Design A/B tests and experiments to measure impact.
• Communicate findings clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Stay current with AI/ML advances and big data technologies.
• Champion data-driven decision making across the organization.

Skills

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Python

R language

SQL

Big data

Cloud platforms

Data visualization

Leadership

Mentorship

Education

Ph.D./M.S. in quantitative field

Tools

Spark

Hadoop

Job description

Placements24 in South Africa seeks a Principal Data Scientist to lead predictive analytics from our Klerksdorp hub. The role designs, builds, and deploys sophisticated models to forecast trends in finance and risk, shaping data-driven strategies across the organization.

You will own the full data science lifecycle, collaborate with stakeholders, mentor peers, and stay ahead of advances in ML and big data. The ideal candidate has a PhD or MSc in a quantitative field, 7+ years in data science,