Principal Machine Learning Engineer

Placements24; Pretoria; Hybrid; ZAR 1,800,000 - 3,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive compensation

Health and wellness benefits

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer for our client in Pretoria, offering a hybrid work model. You will architect, develop, and deploy scalable ML solutions that deliver business value, while providing technical leadership and mentorship to a team of ML engineers and data scientists.

You will drive ML strategy across key projects, stay ahead of industry trends, optimize model performance, and collaborate with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to translate

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Master's degree in a quantitative field.
• 8+ years of experience delivering production ML systems.
• Proficient in Python and ML libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience with big data (Spark/Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Strong leadership and mentoring abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and deployment of sophisticated ML models and systems.
• Architect end-to-end ML pipelines from data to deployment.
• Provide technical leadership and mentor ML engineers and data scientists.
• Identify opportunities to leverage ML to solve business challenges.
• Develop production-grade ML codebases with scalable, robust solutions.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and business stakeholders.
• Stay updated with ML research and industry trends.
• Optimize model performance and operationalize ML systems.
• Contribute to ML best practices and standards.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Python

Problem solving

Education

Ph.D./MSc in a quantitative field

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

ML Ops CI/CD

Job description

About the Role

Our client is a rapidly growing tech company pioneering advancements in predictive analytics and seeks a Principal Machine Learning Engineer to join their esteemed team. This role is based in Pretoria, Gauteng , and offers a hybrid work model, blending the benefits of in-office collaboration with remote flexibility. You will be responsible for architecting, developing, and deploying scalable machine learning solutions that drive business value. As a principal engineer, you will provide technical leadership, mentor other engineers, and shape the ML strategy for key projects. This is an exceptional opportunity to work on challenging problems with significant impact in the AI space.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of sophisticated machine learning models and systems.
• Architect end-to-end ML pipelines, from data ingestion and preprocessing to model training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to a team of machine learning engineers and data scientists.
• Identify opportunities to leverage ML to solve business challenges and drive innovation.
• Develop and maintain production-level ML codebases, ensuring scalability, robustness, and efficiency.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product, engineering, and business stakeholders.
• Stay abreast of the latest ML research and industry trends, evaluating and adopting new technologies as appropriate.
• Optimize ML model performance and operationalize ML systems for large-scale deployment.
• Contribute to the definition of ML best practices and standards within the organization.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Machine Learning, or a related quantitative field.
• 8+ years of experience in machine learning engineering, with a proven track record of delivering production systems.
• Extensive experience with Python and ML libraries (e.g., Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Deep understanding of various ML algorithms, statistical modeling, and data mining techniques.
• Experience with big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong experience in MLOps, including CI/CD for ML, model monitoring, and automated retraining.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to translate complex business requirements into technical ML solutions.
• Experience mentoring junior engineers.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and significant bonus potential.
• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.
• Generous leave and flexible working arrangements.
• Opportunities for career advancement and continuous learning.
• Access to advanced computational resources and cutting-edge technology.
• A stimulating and collaborative work environment in Pretoria .
• Hybrid work flexibility.