Remote Principal Data Scientist - ML Strategy & Leadership

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

Benefits offered by this job

equity options

health coverage

remote work allowance

professional growth & research access

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist for a fully remote role on a world-class research and development team. You will lead the design and deployment of cutting-edge ML models, explore large datasets, and mentor junior scientists while translating complex insights for strategic decisions.

The ideal candidate holds a Ph.D. or Master’s in a quantitative field with 10+ years of experience in ML, statistics, and data mining, and is proficient in Python/R and modern ML libraries.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master's in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, or related field.
• 10+ years of professional data science/ML experience.
• Expertise in statistical modeling and ML algorithms (deep learning, RL, ensemble methods).
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, pandas, NumPy).
• Experience with big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop) and distributed computing.
• Strong SQL skills and experience with various databases.
• Ability to translate business problems into data science solutions.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder presentation skills.
• Experience working in fully remote teams.
• Publications or open-source contributions are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development and deployment of advanced ML models and algorithms.
• Perform data exploration, feature engineering, and statistical analysis on large datasets.
• Develop predictive models, classifiers, and clustering techniques.
• Collaborate with engineering to integrate models into production data pipelines.
• Communicate findings clearly to technical and non-technical executives.
• Mentor junior data scientists and analysts.
• Stay updated with latest data science research and methods.
• Identify opportunities to drive business value from data.

Skills

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Deep learning

Reinforcement learning

Data mining

Education

PhD or Master's in a quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

TensorFlow

PyTorch

scikit-learn

pandas

NumPy

SQL

Spark

Hadoop

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Principal Data Scientist for a fully remote role on a world-class research and development team. You will lead the design and deployment of cutting-edge ML models, explore large datasets, and mentor junior scientists while translating complex insights for strategic decisions.

The ideal candidate holds a Ph.D. or Master’s in a quantitative field with 10+ years of experience in ML, statistics, and data mining, and is proficient in Python/R and modern ML libraries.