Remote Principal Data Scientist - AI Drug Discovery

Placements24; LegKraal Gate; Hybrid; ZAR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Home office stipend

Remote-friendly culture

Equity options

Professional development budget

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead AI/ML-driven drug discovery initiatives in a fully remote setting. You will guide the design, development, and deployment of advanced ML models applied to biological and chemical data, with collaboration across chemists and biologists.

The role requires a PhD with 8+ years in data science, expertise in deep learning and Bayesian methods, and strong Python proficiency.

Qualifications

• PhD in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Bioinformatics, or related field.
• Minimum 8 years of experience applying AI/ML to biological or chemical data.
• Proven track record of predictive model development for drug discovery or related life sciences.
• Expertise in ML algorithms (deep learning, ensembles, Bayesian).

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development and deployment of ML models for drug discovery (QSAR, virtual screening, hit-to-lead).
• Analyze large-scale biological, chemical, and clinical datasets with advanced ML techniques.
• Collaborate with chemists/biologists to translate insights into strategies.
• Build and maintain scalable data pipelines and ML infra.
• Mentor junior data scientists and contribute to team growth.
• Stay updated on AI advances and publish research findings.

Skills

PhD in Data Science

8+ years experience

AI/ML in life sciences

Python

TensorFlow

PyTorch

AWS

GCP

Azure

Chemoinformatics

Bioinformatics

Education

PhD in Data Science

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

SQL

Spark

Airflow

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead AI/ML-driven drug discovery initiatives in a fully remote setting. You will guide the design, development, and deployment of advanced ML models applied to biological and chemical data, with collaboration across chemists and biologists.

The role requires a PhD with 8+ years in data science, expertise in deep learning and Bayesian methods, and strong Python proficiency.