Senior Data Scientist

Ovations Technologies; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,562,000 - 2,344,000; Full time

Job summary

Ovations Technologies is seeking a Senior Data Scientist for a 12-month contract in the banking sector. The role focuses on end-to-end ML/AI and decisioning solutions across PPB and Digital channels, using the Databricks platform.

You will engineer features, design predictive models, run experiments, and deliver scalable analytical assets while collaborating with PPB, Digital, Risk, and MLOps teams.

Qualifications

• Degree in data science, computer science, engineering or quantitative field.
• Hands-on Databricks experience: notebooks, workflows, MLflow and feature store/Delta tables.
• Strong Python and SQL for large-scale data manipulation and ML.
• Experience building propensity, next-best-action or risk/operational models in financial services.

Responsibilities

• Design, train, and optimize ML/AI models (propensity, NBA, risk, fraud, GenAI) on Databricks/MLflow.
• Build reusable feature pipelines with governance and lineage controls.
• Develop decision science models to improve acquisition, engagement and cross-sell.
• Monitor performance, document models, and ensure governance for risk compliance.

Skills

Python

SQL

Databricks

Feature Engineering

Model Development

Education

Degree in Data Science or related

Tools

Databricks Notebooks

Databricks Workflows

MLflow

Delta Tables

Job description

Role Overview

We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist,for our client in the banking sector, for a 12-month contract to build and optimize end-to-end machine learning, AI, and decisioning solutions across Personal & Private Banking (PPB) and Digital channels. Leveraging the Databricks platform, you will focus on feature engineering, predictive modelling, experimentation, and decision science to deliver scalable analytical assets.

Key Responsibilities

• Model Development & GenAI: Design, train, and optimize ML/AI models (customer propensity, next-best-action, risk, fraud, and GenAI use cases) using Databricks and MLflow.

• Feature Engineering & Governance:Build and maintain reusable enterprise feature pipelines using Databricks Feature Store and Delta tables with full quality and lineage controls.

• Decisioning & Optimization: Develop decision science models to enhance customer acquisition, engagement, cross-sell strategies, and operational outcomes.

• Monitoring & Governance: Monitor model performance, stability, and drift; produce complete model documentation and governance artifacts for risk compliance.

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Partner with PPB, Digital, Risk, and MLOps teams to translate business needs into production-ready analytical solutions.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematical Statistics, Actuarial Science, Econometrics, or a quantitative field.

• Databricks Stack: Hands-on experience using Databricks (Notebooks, Workflows, MLflow, and Feature Store/Delta tables).

• Technical Skills: Strong proficiency in Pythonand SQL for large-scale data manipulation and machine learning.

• Domain Modelling: Proven experience building customer (propensity, next-best-action, retention) or operational/risk models in financial services.

• End-to-End Execution: Demonstrated track record of feature engineering, model tuning, validation, governance, and productionizing models alongside engineering teams.