Senior Data Scientist

Sabenza IT & Recruitment; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabenza IT & Recruitment is seeking a data-driven professional to design, develop and optimise ML/AI decisioning solutions across banking and digital channels. You will focus on feature engineering, model development, experimentation and using the Databricks platform to deliver scalable analytical assets.

The role requires hands-on Databricks, Python and SQL experience, plus mentorship of junior data scientists and collaboration with risk, product and tech teams.

Qualifications

• Degree required in a quantitative field and strong hands-on data science experience.
• Experience taking data science solutions from concept to production.
• Strong statistical modelling and feature engineering skills.

Responsibilities

• Build and optimise ML models using Databricks, MLflow, Python & SQL.
• Develop customer, propensity, retention, risk, fraud and decisioning models.
• Build reusable features using Databricks Feature Store.
• Apply Generative AI & LLMs to innovative business use cases.
• Turn complex data into actionable insights and measurable business value.
• Partner with business, product, risk and technology teams.
• Mentor and inspire junior Data Scientists.

Skills

Databricks

Python

SQL

MLflow

Feature Store

Generative AI

LLMs

Stakeholder management

Mentoring

Education

Degree in Data Science/CS/Math/Stats/Engineering/Actuarial/Econometrics or related

Tools

Databricks

MLflow

Azure

AWS

GCP

SAS

Job description

Job Purpose

To design, develop and optimise machine learning, AI and decisioning solutions that drive customer, risk and operational outcomes across Personal and Private Banking (PPB) and Digital channels.

Purpose

Apply advanced analytics, machine learning and AI techniques to solve business problems, improve customer experiences and support intelligent decisioning. The role focuses on feature engineering, model development, experimentation and decision science while leveraging the Databricks platform to deliver scalable and reusable analytical assets.

Requirements

What You’ll Do

• Build and optimise ML models using Databricks, MLflow, Python & SQL


• Develop customer, propensity, retention, risk, fraud and decisioning models


• Build reusable features using Databricks Feature Store


• Apply Generative AI & LLMs to innovative business use cases


• Turn complex data into actionable insights and measurable business value


• Partner with business, product, risk and technology teams


• Mentor and inspire junior Data Scientists

What You Bring

• Degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Actuarial Science, Econometrics or a related field


• Strong hands-on Databricks + Python + SQL + Machine Learning experience


• Experience taking data science solutions from concept to production


• Strong statistical modelling, feature engineering and model validation skills


• Commercial mindset with excellent stakeholder and communication skills


• Master’s/PhD and relevant Databricks, Azure, AWS, GCP or SAS certifications are a plus.

Your Tech Toolkit

• Databricks — Notebooks, Workflows, MLflow and distributed compute


• Databricks Feature Engineering & Feature Store


• Python & SQL


• Machine Learning & Statistical Modelling


• Predictive & Prescriptive Analytics


• Decision Science & Optimisation


• Feature Engineering & Feature Selection


• Experimentation & Model Validation


• Generative AI, LLMs & Prompt Engineering


• Data Visualisation & Storytelling