Senior Sports Data Scientist - Hybrid & Leadership Impact

Placements24; Sandton; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary package

Hybrid work model in Sandton

Comprehensive medical and retirement

State-of-the-art data resources

Professional growth opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 in Sandton, Gauteng, seeks a Senior Sports Data Scientist to lead analytics projects, mentor analysts, and partner with coaches and management. The role blends advanced ML with practical sports insights, offering a hybrid office setup in a state-of-the-art facility.

You will design models, identify KPIs, and deliver dashboards that translate complex data into actionable strategies for athlete performance and team success.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.
• 5-7 years of professional experience in data science with a focus on sports analytics.
• Expertise in statistical modeling, ML techniques (regression, classification, clustering, deep learning) and experimental design.
• Proficiency in Python or R with libraries like scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Pandas, NumPy.
• Experience with SQL/NoSQL and data warehousing concepts.
• Strong data visualization skills (Tableau, Power BI, Matplotlib, Seaborn).
• Excellent analytical and communication abilities.
• Hybrid work experience; comfortable with in-office Sandton collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement advanced statistical models and ML algorithms to analyze sports data.
• Identify KPIs and metrics for various sports disciplines.
• Extract, clean, and transform large datasets from wearables, video analysis, and performance metrics.
• Develop predictive models for player performance, injury risk, and game outcomes.
• Create insightful visualizations and dashboards for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate with coaches and performance staff to integrate data-driven insights into training and strategy.
• Mentor junior data scientists and analysts.
• Stay current with advances in data science and sports analytics research.
• Evaluate and implement new data analysis tools and technologies.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of the data science team.

Skills

Python

R

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Data analysis

Communication

Hybrid collaboration

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in Data Science/Statistics/CS/Mathematics

Tools

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Pandas

NumPy

Tableau

Power BI

Job description

Placements24 in Sandton, Gauteng, seeks a Senior Sports Data Scientist to lead analytics projects, mentor analysts, and partner with coaches and management. The role blends advanced ML with practical sports insights, offering a hybrid office setup in a state-of-the-art facility.

You will design models, identify KPIs, and deliver dashboards that translate complex data into actionable strategies for athlete performance and team success.