Data Scientist at Vodafone Global Enterprise

Role Purpose/Business Unit:

• Vodacom is a Leading African Mobile communication company providing wider range of communication services including mobile voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 200 million customers. 
• From our roots in the South African Telecommunications industry, we have grown our mobile network business to include financial services to our customers through our Vodapay Super App, covering a total population of approximately 15 million registered users.  Through Vodacom Financial Services (VFS) we also offer merchant (SME and MEE) payment services.
• We employ individuals who are as passionate about customers as we are. We are truly Customer Obsessed, which means that we are passionate about exceeding customer expectations; work relentlessly to really understand the customer; look at decisions through the customer’s eyes and take personal accountability for the customer experience.  We are looking for people with a passion for Artificial Intelligence, IA (Intelligent Automation & Agentic AI) and Big Data.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Create AI/IA products that provide new services to Vodacom and its stakeholders.
• Developing advanced analytical models with large and varied datasets, working with a community of colleagues across Advanced Analytics, technology, and data and customer functions.
• Contributing to the wider community to enable AI capability across Vodafone globally.
• Development of machine learning models for various areas of the business on the Big Data Platforms.
• Machine Learning model performance tracking and reporting. e.g. Use data visualizations to engage audience in a compelling way, enabling effective storytelling.
• Work with lead and principal data scientists to deliver key strategic initiatives to meet the needs of business customers.
• Works in partnership with Big Data Engineering team to automate, integrate & productionize AI workloads.
• Work in partnership with business decision support team, to provide Big Data insights.
• Present results to technical and non- technical audiences.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in quantitative fields like Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Computer Science Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or related fields (essential).
• A minimum of 3-5 years relevant experience in Big Data & Data Science.

Core competencies, knowledge, and experience:

• Experience in GenAI and Large Language Models (LLMs) is a plus.
• Hands-on experience in building and optimizing recommendation systems.
• Experience in data manipulation: use of structured data tools (e.g., SQL), and unstructured data platforms (e.g. PySpark, NoSQL)
• Proficiency in at least one relevant programming language: Python, R, Java
• Experience across major machine learning model frameworks (e.g. H2O, scikit-learn, PyTorch, Tensorflow) and techniques (e.g. random forest, gradient boosting, k-means segmentation, multiple regression, factor analysis, time-series forecasting)
• Exposure to cloud native deployment of models and working with containerized technologies such as Docker and Kurbernetees.
• Knowledge of MLOps and LLMOps concepts and deployment of models through batch and real-time architectures.
• Professional and/or academic experience in Big Data analytics & deployment of models and algorithms to solve real-world problems (with deep statistical and machine learning modelling expertise)
• Familiarity with visualization tools (e.g. Tableau, Qlik, D3, Apache Superset, Plotly, PowerBI, Opensearch, Grafana)
• Good interpersonal communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Analytical and expansive thinking with a strong desire to deliver and develop.
• Design & Systems Thinking in relation to AI and Machine Learning Eco Systems.
• Real-time Decisioning & Intelligence use case deployment and evaluation experience.

We make an impact by offering:

• Enticing incentive programs and competitive benefit packages
• Retirement funds, risk benefits, and medical aid benefits
• Cell phone and data benefits, advantages fibre connection discounts, and exclusive staff discounts offered in collaboration with partner companies

Closing date for Applications: 16 January 2026.