Senior AI Data Scientist - NLP

Placements24; Pretoria; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health benefits

Professional development andconference

Hybrid work arrangement in Pretoria

Job summary

Placements24 in Pretoria, Gauteng, seeks a Senior AI Data Scientist with NLP specialization to join a hybrid team. You will develop and deploy NLP models that power smart applications and improve user experiences.

The role requires a master's or PhD and 5+ years in NLP, Python and NLP libraries, and experience with Transformers and cloud platforms. You will mentor juniors and collaborate with engineering and product teams.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in CS, Computational Linguistics, Data Science, or related field.
• 5+ years in data science with a focus on NLP.
• Proficient in Python and NLP libraries: NLTK, spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers.
• Experience with TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Strong understanding of linguistic theories and computational linguistics concepts.
• Experience with LLMs and practical NLP applications.
• Ability to work with large text datasets and perform feature engineering.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Hybrid work experience and self-management.
• Familiarity with AWS, Azure, and GCP and big data tech.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy NLP models for text classification, sentiment analysis, NER, and translation.
• Design and evaluate algorithms for language understanding and generation.
• Collaborate with engineering to integrate NLP into product features.
• Process, clean, and analyze large volumes of unstructured text data.
• Stay updated with NLP and deep learning research.
• Experiment with transformer models (BERT, GPT), RNNs, LSTMs.
• Mentor junior data scientists and share knowledge.
• Communicate findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to ethics and bias mitigation in NLP models.
• Develop robust evaluation metrics and frameworks for NLP tasks.

Skills

NLP experience

Linguistic theory

Analytical skills

Communication

Hybrid work experience

Text data handling

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in CS/Computational Linguistics/Data Science

Tools

Python

NLTK

spaCy

Hugging Face Transformers

TensorFlow

PyTorch

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a pioneer in AI & Emerging Technologies, is looking for a Senior AI Data Scientist with a specialization in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to join their esteemed team in Pretoria, Gauteng . This role is integral to developing advanced NLP models and solutions that drive intelligent applications and enhance user experiences. You will delve into complex linguistic data, applying sophisticated machine learning techniques to unlock insights and build innovative products. The position operates on a hybrid model, allowing for focused work in our modern Pretoria office combined with the flexibility of remote collaboration. This is an opportunity to contribute to impactful projects within a leading technology firm, working alongside experts in the field.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy state-of-the-art NLP models for tasks such as text classification, sentiment analysis, named entity recognition, and machine translation.
• Design, implement, and evaluate advanced algorithms for understanding and generating human language.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to integrate NLP capabilities into product features and services.
• Process, clean, and analyze large volumes of unstructured text data.
• Stay current with the latest research and advancements in NLP and deep learning.
• Experiment with various NLP techniques, including transformer models (e.g., BERT, GPT), RNNs, and LSTMs.
• Mentor junior data scientists and contribute to the team's knowledge sharing.
• Communicate complex findings and model behaviors to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to the ethical considerations and bias mitigation in NLP models.
• Develop robust evaluation metrics and frameworks for NLP tasks.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Data Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in data science, with a strong focus on Natural Language Processing.
• Proficiency in Python and key NLP libraries (e.g., NLTK, spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers).
• Expertise in deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Strong understanding of linguistic theories and computational linguistics concepts.
• Experience with large language models (LLMs) and their practical applications.
• Proven ability to work with large text datasets and perform feature engineering.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Experience working in a hybrid work environment, demonstrating strong self-management.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and big data technologies is beneficial.

Benefits

Our client offers a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, retirement savings plans, and generous opportunities for professional development and conference attendance. You will work in a stimulating environment at the forefront of AI research and development, contributing to innovative projects in Pretoria . The hybrid work arrangement supports a healthy work-life balance. Join a team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of NLP and making a tangible impact through intelligent language solutions. We value collaboration, continuous learning, and impactful innovation.