Remote Senior Data Scientist, Financial Risk Analytics

Placements24; Mtubatuba Local Municipality; Remote; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Bonuses & incentives

Health benefits

Professional development

Remote-first environment

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to drive innovation in financial risk analytics in a fully remote role within South Africa. You will develop advanced ML models, manipulate large datasets, and translate insights into actionable business strategies for leaders across risk management and technology teams.

The role requires a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field, 6+ years in data science, and strong Python/R experience with ML libraries.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics or related discipline.
• Minimum 6 years of hands-on data science experience with emphasis on financial risk analytics.
• Strong knowledge of statistical modeling, ML algorithms, and experimental design.
• Proficiency in Python or R and libraries (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience with SQL and big data tech (Spark/Hadoop) is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy statistical and ML models for credit, market, and operational risk.
• Perform exploratory data analysis on large, complex datasets to uncover risk insights.
• Build and maintain data pipelines for model training and inference.
• Collaborate with risk, business, and tech teams to define DS requirements and deliver solutions.
• Validate and back-test model performance ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Present complex findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Stay current with advances in DS, ML, and financial risk management.
• Mentor junior data scientists and contribute to DS community growth.
• Develop strategies for model monitoring and lifecycle management.

Skills

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Data analysis

Communication

Independent work

Team collaboration

Education

PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

SQL

Spark

Hadoop

AWS/Azure/GCP

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to drive innovation in financial risk analytics in a fully remote role within South Africa. You will develop advanced ML models, manipulate large datasets, and translate insights into actionable business strategies for leaders across risk management and technology teams.

The role requires a PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field, 6+ years in data science, and strong Python/R experience with ML libraries.