Remote Agricultural Data Scientist: Predictive Analytics

Placements24; Mbombela (Nelspruit); Hybrid; ZAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking an Agricultural Data Scientist to join a fully remote team. You will develop predictive models on large agricultural datasets, from sensor data to satellite imagery, to drive farm optimization and decision support.

Responsibilities include building and validating ML models for yield forecasting, data cleaning, designing analytics dashboards, and collaborating with agronomists, software engineers, and product managers. Strong Python/R skills and cloud experience preferred.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Data Science, Statistics, CS or Agricultural Science with quantitative focus.
• Minimum of 5 years as a Data Scientist, with a significant focus on agricultural data or similar domains.
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries (Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Strong SQL and database management experience.
• Familiarity with big data tech (Spark/Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Proven ability to apply statistical modeling and ML techniques to complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and deploy ML models for predictive analytics (crop yield, disease, timing, resource management).
• Clean and transform large agricultural datasets from multiple sources.
• Conduct data mining and statistics to identify patterns and correlations.
• Create data visualizations and reports for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate with agronomists, software engineers, and product managers to translate needs into data solutions.
• Evaluate new data science technologies and methodologies for agriculture.
• Ensure data quality, integrity, and security across the data lifecycle.
• Contribute to data infrastructure and pipelines for agricultural analytics.

Skills

Python

R

Pandas

NumPy

Scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

SQL

Spark

Cloud computing

Education

Master's degree

PhD

Agricultural Science degree

Tools

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Placements24 is seeking an Agricultural Data Scientist to join a fully remote team. You will develop predictive models on large agricultural datasets, from sensor data to satellite imagery, to drive farm optimization and decision support.

Responsibilities include building and validating ML models for yield forecasting, data cleaning, designing analytics dashboards, and collaborating with agronomists, software engineers, and product managers. Strong Python/R skills and cloud experience preferred.