Remote Principal Data Scientist — AI for Scientific Discovery

Placements24; George; Hybrid; ZAR 1,400,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

substantial annual bonus

health insurance

retirement fund

extensive opportunities for continuous

professional development

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to join a fully remote team driving AI/ML innovation for scientific research. You will lead model development, data-pipeline design, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

With 10+ years in data science and advanced degrees, you will mentor others, design scalable architectures, and translate complex data into actionable insights across domains.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Physics, or a related quantitative field.
• 10+ years of hands-on experience in data science with a focus on AI/ML.
• Proven expertise in building and deploying complex ML models (deep learning, RL, NLP).
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Experience with Spark/Hadoop and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong statistical modeling, experimental design, and data visualization skills.
• Demonstrated leadership and project management experience.
• Excellent communication of complex concepts in a remote setting.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of advanced AI/ML models for scientific applications.
• Architect scalable data pipelines for massive datasets.
• Collaborate with domain experts, researchers, and engineers to define goals and strategies.
• Mentor junior data scientists and foster learning culture.
• Conduct exploratory data analysis to identify insights and opportunities.
• Ensure production ML solutions are reliable and performant.
• Present findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Stay at the forefront of AI research and methods.

Skills

Python or R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Spark

Hadoop

AWS

Azure

GCP

Data Visualization

Communication (remote)

Education

Master's or PhD in Computer Science/Data Science/Statistics/Physics

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to join a fully remote team driving AI/ML innovation for scientific research. You will lead model development, data-pipeline design, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

With 10+ years in data science and advanced degrees, you will mentor others, design scalable architectures, and translate complex data into actionable insights across domains.