Senior Machine Learning Engineer - NLP Focus

Placements24; Soweto; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health and wellness benefits

Professional development budget

Remote work flexibility

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer focused on NLP to join a fully remote team serving clients across South Africa. You will design, build, and deploy advanced NLP models, collaborating with engineers and data scientists to drive AI-powered products.

The role requires 5+ years in ML with NLP, strong Python and DL framework skills (PyTorch/TensorFlow), and familiarity with transformer architectures. Remote work within SA offers flexible collaboration and impactful projects.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in CS/AI/Computational Linguistics or related field.
• At least 5 years of professional ML engineering experience with NLP focus.
• Proven production NLP model development and deployment experience.
• Strong Python and ML libraries (scikit-learn, NLTK, SpaCy).
• Hands-on experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain scalable NLP models and pipelines.
• Implement and fine-tune state-of-the-art NLP algorithms.
• Process and analyze large text datasets for quality and relevance.
• Collaborate with product and software teams to deploy NLP features.
• Conduct experiments, analyze results, and iterate models for accuracy.
• Stay updated with NLP research and ML advancements.
• Develop data ingestion and preprocessing workflows for text data.
• Optimize ML models for performance and scalability.
• Contribute to code reviews, docs, and knowledge sharing.
• Mentor junior ML engineers and data scientists.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Independent work

Education

MSc/ PhD in CS/AI/Computational Linguistics

Tools

Python

scikit-learn

NLTK

SpaCy

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Transformer models (BERT/GPT)

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a dynamic and rapidly growing technology company specializing in AI-powered solutions, is seeking an experienced Senior Machine Learning Engineer with a strong focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) to join their elite, fully remote engineering team. This role offers the ultimate flexibility, allowing you to work from anywhere within South Africa while collaborating with a world-class group of engineers and data scientists. You will be instrumental in designing, developing, and deploying advanced NLP models and applications that drive innovation across our client's product suite. We are committed to fostering a collaborative, cutting-edge environment where your contributions will directly impact the future of AI-driven communication and information processing. If you are passionate about NLP and eager to work on challenging, impactful projects remotely, this is the opportunity for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable NLP models and pipelines for various applications (e.g., text classification, sentiment analysis, entity recognition, machine translation, chatbots).
• Implement and fine-tune state-of-the-art NLP algorithms using deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Process and analyze large volumes of text data, ensuring data quality and relevance.
• Collaborate with product managers and software engineers to integrate NLP capabilities into production systems.
• Conduct experiments, analyze results, and iterate on models to improve performance and accuracy.
• Stay current with the latest research and advancements in NLP and machine learning.
• Develop and maintain efficient data ingestion and preprocessing workflows for text data.
• Optimize ML models for performance, scalability, and resource efficiency.
• Contribute to code reviews, documentation, and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Mentor junior ML engineers and data scientists.

Requirements

• MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in machine learning engineering, with a significant focus on NLP.
• Proven expertise in developing and deploying NLP models in production environments.
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, NLTK, SpaCy).
• Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Familiarity with transformer architectures (e.g., BERT, GPT) and their applications.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and MLOps practices is highly desirable.
• Excellent understanding of data structures, algorithms, and software engineering principles.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills for a remote work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage project timelines effectively.

Benefits

• This fully remote position offers a highly competitive salary, stock options, comprehensive health and wellness benefits, a generous professional development budget, and the unparalleled flexibility of working from home.
• You will have the opportunity to work on groundbreaking NLP projects with a talented, globally distributed team, contributing to cutting-edge AI solutions from anywhere in South Africa.