Remote Lead Data Scientist — AI/ML & Strategic Impact

Placements24; Bloemfontein; Hybrid; ZAR 260,000 - 460,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Retirement plan

Professional development

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Data Scientist for a remote role spanning South Africa. The candidate will spearhead the development and deployment of advanced AI/ML models across products and operations, guiding a team of data scientists and mentoring juniors from Bloemfontein or anywhere in SA.

We expect a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field with 8+ years of data science experience, strong leadership, and deep expertise in Python/R and ML libraries.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics or related quantitative field.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in data science with a focus on AI/ML.
• Proven experience leading data science teams and projects.
• Proficiency in Python or R and ML libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Experience with big data (Spark, Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong SQL and NoSQL database skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of ML models and AI solutions.
• Mentor and manage a team of data scientists; provide technical guidance.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate business problems into data science initiatives.
• Develop data mining, warehousing, and data modeling strategies.
• Conduct advanced statistical analyses and build predictive models.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Remote collaboration

Education

PhD or Master's in a quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

SQL

NoSQL

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Data Scientist for a remote role spanning South Africa. The candidate will spearhead the development and deployment of advanced AI/ML models across products and operations, guiding a team of data scientists and mentoring juniors from Bloemfontein or anywhere in SA.

We expect a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field with 8+ years of data science experience, strong leadership, and deep expertise in Python/R and ML libraries.