Lead Data Scientist (Fraud)

A well-established and reputable banking institution with many years of experience in the financial services industry is looking for a skilled Lead Data Scientist to lead the development, implementation, and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions across the organization.

The successful candidate will possess strong technical expertise along with excellent analytical and leadership capabilities. This role involves leveraging both structured and unstructured data to build intelligent models, support strategic decision-making, and deliver measurable business value. The Lead Data Scientist will collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive innovation, strengthen fraud detection capabilities, and promote a data-driven culture within the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end development of machine learning and AI models to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
• Work with both structured and unstructured data from multiple sources, including transaction records, customer behaviour, and external datasets.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to translate requirements into scalable, actionable data science solutions.
• Mentor and guide a team of data scientists and analysts, fostering innovation and best practices in model development and deployment.
• Continuously evaluate and optimize existing models for performance, accuracy, and business relevance.
• Stay current with emerging trends and technologies in AI, machine learning, and fraud detection to maintain a competitive edge.
• Present findings and recommendations to senior management to support strategic decision-making.
• Manage data infrastructure and pipelines using Big Data frameworks (Hadoop, Spark, I-Spark, Spark-R), AWS, Kafka, and SAS Viya.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s or PhD in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, or related field.
• Proven experience in data science roles, with a focus on fraud detection, financial risk, or related domains.
• Strong expertise in machine learning, AI, statistical modeling, and advanced analytics techniques.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, or Scala, and experience with big data platforms (Spark, Hadoop, etc.).
• Programming & Tools: Python, R, SQL, SAS Viya, Spark-R, I-Spark, TensorFlow/PyTorch.
• Big Data & Cloud: Hadoop ecosystem, AWS, Kafka, Confluence.
• Experience: Proven track record of end-to-end AI/ML project delivery and evidence of successful model deployment.

The Reference Number for this position is NG61111 which is a Permanent Hybrid position based in Johannesburg offering a cost to company of up to R1.2mil per annum negotiable on experience and ability. Contact Nokuthula at nokuthulag@ e-merge.co.za or call her on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.

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Posted on 11 Mar 10:16, Closing date 10 May