Senior Data Scientist - Financial Analytics

Placements24; Bloemfontein; Hybrid; ZAR 1,994,000 - 2,991,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first

Competitive salary

Bonus potential

Health/dental/vision insurance

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Data Scientist for a fully remote role focused on financial analytics. You will build and deploy advanced ML models for forecasting, risk, fraud detection, and customer segmentation, working with large datasets in a remote-first environment.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in data science with finance domain experience, strong Python or R skills and production ML deployment track record, plus excellent communication for cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master's in a quantitative field with finance focus.
• 5+ years of professional data science experience with financial analytics.
• Proficient in Python or R and ML libraries (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, pandas).
• Strong SQL skills and big data tech (Spark, Hadoop).
• Solid understanding of financial markets and modeling techniques.
• Experience deploying ML models in production and communicating results.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy ML models for forecasting, risk, fraud, and customer segmentation.
• Analyze large datasets to extract trends and actionable insights.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and stakeholders to translate problems.
• Build and maintain data pipelines with high data quality.
• Conduct exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and model evaluation.
• Present findings clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Stay updated on data science trends and promote best practices.
• Contribute to data governance and analytics strategy.

Skills

Data science

Machine learning

Statistical modeling

Communication

Production deployment

Education

PhD or Master’s in a quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

pandas

SQL

Spark

Hadoop

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a pioneering financial technology firm, is looking for a Senior Data Scientist with a strong background in financial analytics to join their innovative team. This is a fully remote position, allowing you to leverage your advanced statistical, machine learning, and data mining skills to uncover insights and drive data-informed decisions within the financial sector. You will be instrumental in building sophisticated predictive models, optimizing financial processes, and contributing to the development of cutting‑edge financial products. This role offers an exceptional opportunity to work with vast datasets and contribute to groundbreaking projects in a dynamic, remote‑first environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy advanced machine learning models and statistical algorithms for financial forecasting, risk assessment, fraud detection, and customer segmentation.
• Analyze large, complex datasets to identify trends, patterns, and actionable insights that can drive business growth and improve financial performance.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to define data science requirements and translate business problems into data‑driven solutions.
• Develop and maintain data pipelines, ensuring data quality, integrity, and accessibility for analytical purposes.
• Perform exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and model evaluation to ensure the accuracy and robustness of predictive models.
• Communicate complex analytical findings and recommendations clearly and concisely to both technical and non‑technical audiences through visualizations and presentations.
• Stay abreast of the latest advancements in data science, machine learning, and financial analytics, and champion their adoption within the team.
• Contribute to the development of data governance and best practices within the organization.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or Master's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience as a Data Scientist, with a significant focus on financial analytics or related domains.
• Expertise in programming languages such as Python or R, and proficiency with relevant data science libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, pandas).
• Strong experience with SQL and database management, as well as big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop).
• Solid understanding of financial markets, instruments, and common financial modeling techniques.
• Proven ability to build and deploy machine learning models in a production environment.
• Excellent problem‑solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, essential for working effectively in a remote team.

Benefits

This fully remote position offers a highly competitive salary, significant bonus potential, and a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as a retirement savings plan. Our client provides a flexible work environment, continuous learning opportunities, and the chance to be part of a forward‑thinking company shaping the future of finance. This is an excellent opportunity for a top‑tier data scientist to excel remotely.