Senior RL Research Lead (Hybrid) - Sandton

Placements24; Gauteng; Hybrid; ZAR 1,000,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health insurance

R&D budget

Conference attendance

Professional growth opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior AI/ML Researcher specializing in reinforcement learning (RL) to lead advanced research in Sandton, Gauteng. The role combines independent exploration with collaboration across a dedicated research team, within a hybrid work model.

You will design novel RL algorithms, train agents for robotics and autonomous systems, and publish your findings at premier conferences. The position emphasizes scientific excellence and strategic AI direction.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in CS/AI/ML or related field.
• Proven RL research track record with publications.
• Strong theoretical and practical RL knowledge (Q-learning, Policy Gradients, Actor-Critic).
• Proficiency in Python and DL frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras).

Responsibilities

• Conduct cutting-edge RD in reinforcement learning, deep RL, and related areas.
• Design, implement, and evaluate novel RL algorithms.
• Develop and train RL agents for robotics, gaming, autonomous systems.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to translate research to apps.
• Publish findings in top AI conferences/journals (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR).
• Stay updated with RL and broader ML advances.
• Mentor junior researchers and interns.
• Contribute to strategic AI research directions.
• Develop benchmarks and evaluation methodologies for RL.

Skills

PhD/MS in CS/AI/ML

Reinforcement Learning (RL)

Python

TensorFlow/PyTorch/Keras

RL libraries (Stable Baselines, Ray RL

Independent & collaborative research

Strong communication skills

Education

PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science/AI/ML

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Keras

Stable Baselines

Ray RLlib

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Senior AI/ML Researcher specializing in reinforcement learning (RL) to lead advanced research in Sandton, Gauteng. The role combines independent exploration with collaboration across a dedicated research team, within a hybrid work model.

You will design novel RL algorithms, train agents for robotics and autonomous systems, and publish your findings at premier conferences. The position emphasizes scientific excellence and strategic AI direction.