Remote Lead Data Scientist - FinTech Innovation

Placements24; Vereeniging; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work flexibility

Health insurance

Retirement plan with company matching

Home office stipend

Professional development budget

Job summary

Placements24 invites an experienced Lead Data Scientist to head our data science initiatives inFinTech. You will lead ML model development for fraud, credit scoring, and customer insights while shaping data strategy across the organization.

You will mentor a distributed team, drive robust data pipelines, and partner with product and engineering teams to translate business needs into scalable solutions. This role emphasizes ethical AI and strategic innovation.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in data science, with at least 3 years in a leadership or management role, preferably within FinTech or financial services.
• Expertise in machine learning techniques (supervised/unsupervised learning, deep learning), statistical modeling, and experimental design.
• Proficiency in Python or R, with libraries like scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch.
• Experience with big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong SQL skills and experience with database management.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and communication abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor a team in a remote environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of ML models for fraud detection, credit scoring, customer segmentation, and algorithmic trading.
• Develop and implement robust data pipelines and infrastructure for large-scale data processing and model training.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to translate requirements into technical specs.
• Mentor and guide a team of data scientists, fostering innovation and continuous learning.
• Conduct advanced statistical analysis, A/B testing, and experimentation to measure impact.
• Stay abreast of AI/ML advancements and drive adoption.
• Present findings to technical and non-technical audiences clearly.
• Ensure ethical and responsible use of data and AI technologies.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Analytical thinking

Remote leadership

Education

Master's or PhD in CS/Statistics/Data Science

Tools

Python

R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

SQL

Job description

Placements24 invites an experienced Lead Data Scientist to head our data science initiatives inFinTech. You will lead ML model development for fraud, credit scoring, and customer insights while shaping data strategy across the organization.

You will mentor a distributed team, drive robust data pipelines, and partner with product and engineering teams to translate business needs into scalable solutions. This role emphasizes ethical AI and strategic innovation.