Principal ML Scientist — AI for Drug Discovery

Placements24; Centurion; Hybrid; ZAR 3,000,000 - 4,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonuses and equity

Healthcare coverage

Stock options

Professional development budget

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Placements24 is recruiting a Principal Machine Learning Scientist for a global AI-driven drug discovery leader, based in Centurion, Gauteng. You will design, develop, and deploy ML models to tackle complex biological challenges and accelerate therapeutic development.

Lead end-to-end ML pipelines, mentor scientists, and collaborate across bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational biology teams. A PhD and 10+ years in ML for biomedicine are required.

Qualifications

• PhD in a quantitative field with strong publication track record.
• 10+ years hands-on ML experience, with 5+ years in biological/biomedical applications.
• Expertise in diverse ML methods including deep learning, gradient boosting, and ensembles.
• Proficiency in Python and ML libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Strong data wrangling, feature engineering, and interpretable modeling skills.
• Experience with cloud platforms and MLOps practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and development of novel ML algorithms for biological data (genomics, proteomics, imaging, clinical data).
• Design end-to-end ML pipelines: preprocessing, feature engineering, training, validation, deployment.
• Collaborate with bioinformatics, computational biology, and cheminformatics teams to integrate ML in drug discovery.
• Communicate complex results to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior leadership.
• Mentor junior scientists and build ML competency within the organization.
• Stay ahead of ML advancements and evaluate new technologies for life sciences.

Skills

Deep learning (CNNs, RNNs, Transformer

Python programming

Data wrangling & feature engineering

Model interpretability

Cloud computing & MLOps

Team leadership

Effective communication

Education

PhD in Computer Science, ML, Bioinformatics, or related field

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Job description

Placements24 is recruiting a Principal Machine Learning Scientist for a global AI-driven drug discovery leader, based in Centurion, Gauteng. You will design, develop, and deploy ML models to tackle complex biological challenges and accelerate therapeutic development.

Lead end-to-end ML pipelines, mentor scientists, and collaborate across bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational biology teams. A PhD and 10+ years in ML for biomedicine are required.