Remote Lead Data Scientist - Finance & Risk Analytics

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

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Remote work

Health insurance

Professional development budget

Job summary

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Data Scientist to spearhead data analytics initiatives in finance. This fully remote role leads a team of data scientists and analysts, develops predictive models, and drives data-driven strategies.

You will tackle fraud detection, risk modeling, and customer analytics while collaborating with stakeholders globally. The ideal candidate has a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field, 7+ years of DS experience, and proven leadership in complex projects.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related quantitative field.
• 7+ years of experience in data science with focus on financial modeling and analytics.
• Proven experience leading data science teams and managing complex projects.
• Expertise in Python or R and libraries like scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch.
• Strong SQL, big data technologies (Spark) and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills for virtual teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of ML models for financial apps.
• Mentor and guide a team of data scientists and analysts.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify data-science opportunities.
• Manage full DS lifecycle from data prep to model evaluation and deployment.
• Communicate findings effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Stay current with data science advancements and promote adoption.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Team management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Virtual collaboration

Education

PhD or Master’s in CS/Statistics/Math or related

Tools

Python

R

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

SQL

Spark

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Data Scientist to spearhead data analytics initiatives in finance. This fully remote role leads a team of data scientists and analysts, develops predictive models, and drives data-driven strategies.

You will tackle fraud detection, risk modeling, and customer analytics while collaborating with stakeholders globally. The ideal candidate has a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field, 7+ years of DS experience, and proven leadership in complex projects.