Senior Data Science Lead – FinTech, Growth & Equity

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Bonus program

Health insurance

Equity/Stock options

Professional development

Dynamic culture in Stellenbosch

Flexible hours

FinTech projects

Job summary

Placements24 in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, seeks a Lead Data Scientist to head a team of data scientists, guide ML model development and deployment, and shape the data strategy. You will tackle complex business problems using advanced analytics, statistical modeling, and big data technologies.

You will collaborate with engineering, product and business teams, mentor junior talent, and translate insights into tangible value to drive growth and enhance customer experiences.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field.
• 6+ years in data science with at least 2 years in a leadership role.
• Strong ML algorithms, statistical modeling, and experimental design.
• Proficiency in Python or R and ML libraries (SciKit-learn, TF, PyTorch).
• Experience with big data tech (Spark, Hadoop) and SQL.
• Excellent communication and leadership capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists, fostering a high-performing environment.
• Design, develop, and deploy ML models to solve business challenges.
• Define data science strategy and roadmap aligned with business goals.
• Analyze large datasets to extract actionable insights.
• Develop data-driven products and features.
• Collaborate with engineering to productionize models.
• Evaluate new technologies and ML methodologies.
• Communicate findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Machine learning

Programming (Python/R)

Communication

Education

Master's/Ph.D. in CS/Statistics/Math

Tools

Scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Spark

Hadoop

SQL

Job description

Placements24 in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, seeks a Lead Data Scientist to head a team of data scientists, guide ML model development and deployment, and shape the data strategy. You will tackle complex business problems using advanced analytics, statistical modeling, and big data technologies.

You will collaborate with engineering, product and business teams, mentor junior talent, and translate insights into tangible value to drive growth and enhance customer experiences.