Principal Machine Learning Engineer - NLP

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Stock options

Health insurance

Remote-friendly

Relocation assistance

Professional development

Job summary

Placements24 in Centurion, Gauteng, seeks a Principal Machine Learning Engineer specializing in NLP to lead the design, development, and deployment of state-of-the-art NLP models. You will drive production-ready ML systems and mentor junior engineers in a fast-paced team.

The ideal candidate has 8+ years of ML experience with NLP focus, a Master’s or PhD in a related field, and hands-on expertise in Python, TensorFlow or PyTorch, and transformers.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, AI, Computational Linguistics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of professional ML experience with NLP specialization.
• Proven track record of production NLP models.
• Expertise in Python and NLP libraries (spaCy, NLTK, transformers).
• Deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow or PyTorch).
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) and MLOps best practices.
• Strong programming skills and leadership abilities.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of advanced NLP models and algorithms.
• Build and maintain scalable production ML systems for NLP tasks.
• Collaborate with product managers, data scientists, and engineers to define NLP requirements.
• Optimize models for performance, efficiency, and robustness.
• Mentor junior ML engineers and contribute to architectural decisions.
• Stay current with NLP and ML research and apply new techniques.

Skills

NLP

Python

Deep Learning

ML System Design

Leadership

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science / AI / Computational Linguistics

Tools

spaCy

NLTK

Hugging Face Transformers

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a dynamic technology innovator, is looking for a Principal Machine Learning Engineer specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to join their advanced development team in Centurion, Gauteng . This senior role is key to driving the next generation of intelligent systems, focusing on leveraging sophisticated NLP techniques to unlock insights from unstructured text data. You will lead the design, development, and deployment of cutting-edge NLP models and solutions that power innovative products and services. The ideal candidate is a hands‑on engineer with a deep understanding of NLP algorithms, a passion for solving complex problems, and a proven track record of delivering production‑ready ML systems. Working in a collaborative and fast‑paced environment in Centurion, Gauteng , you will mentor junior engineers, contribute to architectural decisions, and push the boundaries of what's possible with language understanding. This is an exceptional opportunity to make a significant impact on industry‑leading AI initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced NLP models and algorithms (e.g., transformers, RNNs, LSTMs, word embeddings).
• Build and deploy scalable, production‑grade machine learning systems for various NLP tasks (e.g., sentiment analysis, text classification, named entity recognition, machine translation, question answering).
• Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and software engineers to define NLP requirements and deliver impactful solutions.
• Optimize ML models for performance, efficiency, and accuracy, ensuring scalability and robustness.
• Conduct thorough research and experimentation to explore new NLP techniques and technologies.
• Develop and maintain robust data pipelines for training and evaluating NLP models.
• Mentor and guide junior machine learning engineers, fostering technical excellence within the team.
• Contribute to the overall machine learning architecture and strategy.
• Stay current with the latest advancements in NLP and ML research.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of professional experience in Machine Learning, with a strong specialization in NLP.
• Proven track record of developing and deploying complex NLP models into production environments.
• Expertise in Python and core ML/NLP libraries (e.g., spaCy, NLTK, Hugging Face Transformers, scikit-learn).
• Deep understanding of deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps best practices.
• Strong programming skills and experience with software development best practices.
• Excellent problem‑solving abilities and analytical skills.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, essential for a principal role in Centurion, Gauteng .
• Experience with large language models (LLMs) is highly desirable.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and performance‑based bonuses.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Generous stock options and retirement savings plan.
• Significant investment in professional development and learning opportunities.
• Access to cutting‑edge technology and computational resources.
• Stimulating work environment with challenging projects and talented colleagues.
• Opportunity to lead and shape the future of NLP at a leading tech company.
• Flexible working arrangements balancing in‑office collaboration and remote flexibility.
• Relocation assistance for qualified candidates.