Remote Principal Data Scientist: Lead AI & Analytics

Placements24; Sandton; Hybrid; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Performance bonuses

Medical aid

Retirement funding

Learning opportunities

Job summary

Placements24, based in Sandton, is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead complex ML projects and provide strategic guidance on data-driven initiatives. You will mentor senior and junior data scientists, collaborate across product, engineering, and marketing, and architect scalable data pipelines.

The role emphasizes advanced modeling, statistical analysis, and staying at the forefront of AI techniques to deliver business value in a fully remote capacity.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Master’s in a quantitative field such as Data Science, CS, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of data science experience with leadership/principal roles.
• Deep expertise in ML algorithms and statistical modeling.
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, pandas.
• Experience with big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop, cloud data warehouses).
• Strong data warehousing, ETL, and database management (SQL/NoSQL).
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Proven ability to lead projects and mentor teams.
• Eligible to work remotely in South Africa.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and deployment of advanced ML models and analyses.
• Define data science roadmaps, methodologies, and success metrics.
• Mentor junior data scientists and share best practices.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and marketing to translate needs into data solutions.
• Build and maintain data pipelines ensuring quality and efficiency.
• Leverage large datasets to extract actionable insights.
• Stay updated on ML/AI advances and communicate findings clearly.
• Design experiments to validate hypotheses and measure impact.
• Contribute to data strategy and IP development.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Mentoring

Communication

Problem solving

Education

Ph.D. in Data Science

Master’s in a quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

Pandas

Spark

SQL/NoSQL

Job description

Placements24, based in Sandton, is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead complex ML projects and provide strategic guidance on data-driven initiatives. You will mentor senior and junior data scientists, collaborate across product, engineering, and marketing, and architect scalable data pipelines.

The role emphasizes advanced modeling, statistical analysis, and staying at the forefront of AI techniques to deliver business value in a fully remote capacity.