Remote Lead Data Scientist — AI & ML Leader

Placements24; Upington; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

High salary

Significant bonus potential

Equity options

Top-tier health insurance

Paid time off

Home office setup allowance

Professional development budget

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Lead Data Scientist to drive advanced analytics and AI initiatives. You will lead the design, deployment, and scaling of ML models while mentoring a remote team and aligning data science strategy with product goals.

You will shape data pipelines, collaborate with engineering and product, and stay at the forefront of AI research. This role is remote with international collaboration opportunities and a strong emphasis on innovation and growth.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, or a related quantitative field.
• 7–10 years of Data Science and ML experience, with at least 3 years in a leadership or senior role.
• Experience developing and deploying ML models in production (e.g., recommender systems, predictive modeling, NLP, computer vision).
• Proficiency in Python or R and ML libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn).
• Strong experience with big data tech (Spark, Hadoop).
• Cloud experience for ML workloads (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and remote team management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced ML models and AI solutions.
• Define data science strategy and roadmap aligned with product vision.
• Mentor and manage a remote team of data scientists with code reviews and performance feedback.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and business teams to leverage data science opportunities.
• Develop and maintain robust data pipelines for training, validation, and production deployment.
• Conduct exploratory data analysis to uncover insights and guide model development.
• Evaluate and select algorithms and tools for various data science problems.
• Stay updated with AI/ML research and advancements and translate findings for stakeholders.
• Ensure ethical and responsible AI development and deployment.
• Optimize model performance and efficiency for large-scale applications.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Mentoring

Remote leadership

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Education

PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field

Tools

Python or R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

Spark

Hadoop

AWS/Azure/GCP

Job description

Placements24 seeks a Lead Data Scientist to drive advanced analytics and AI initiatives. You will lead the design, deployment, and scaling of ML models while mentoring a remote team and aligning data science strategy with product goals.

You will shape data pipelines, collaborate with engineering and product, and stay at the forefront of AI research. This role is remote with international collaboration opportunities and a strong emphasis on innovation and growth.