Senior Data Scientist (Full Stack) at South African Local Government Association

ROLE OVERVIEW

• Reporting to the Chief Digital Officer, the incumbent will be responsible for the application of data science and advanced quantitative methods, which include machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics to enable key strategic, tactical, and operational use-cases for the purpose of the driving the broader data science programme - as per SALGA Digital Strategic Framework.
• Responsible for the end-to-end data lifecycle – from strategic planning, data collection, through monitoring, evaluation, and incremental improvement.

THE CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Experience supporting and working with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.
• Strong analytic skills related to working with unstructured datasets.
• Cleaning and integrating multiple data sources to support analytics
• Culture fit: SALGA desires an individual who will share and buy-in, in our core values, mission and vision, demonstrating a commitment to our ethos beyond just doing the job

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Honour’s Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Econometrics, Actuarial Science or equivalent experience
• Masters in Statistics, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Econometrics, will be an advantage
• 10 years data science and analysis experience
• Team management/leadership experience
• Project Management (classic and agile) experience
• Proficient in Python, R, and database technologies
• Valid Driver’s License;
• Advanced working Python knowledge and experience working with relational databases, query authoring Python as well as working familiarity with a variety of databases.
• Experience supporting and working with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.

KEY PORTFOLIO AND PERFORMANCE FOCUS AREAS

• Support the Chief Digital Officer and snr data architect using a variety of state-of-the-art cloud based technologies to solve data analysis and prediction problems.
• Identify and act on new opportunities for data driven business in data science and analytics.
• Recognise when existing solutions can be generalised to solve new problems and address new data-as-a-service verticals
• Work in a collaborative environment developing data science methods, tools, and algorithms to solve problems.
• Become fluent in analytical modelling using SALGA’s internal data modelling platforms and tool;
• Continuously learn and apply latest and fit-for-purpose, open-source and proprietary tools and technologies to achieve results, including some or all of the following:

Cloud

• Microsoft Azure (must)
• AWS
• Google Cloud

Big Data

• Mondodb
• Hadoop
• Cassandra

Machine Learning

• Kubeflow
• Tensorflow
• PyTorch

Business Intelligence/Analytics and visualisation

• Microsoft PowerBi (must)
• Microsoft Excel (must)
• Google Charts

Languages

• Python (must)
• R (must)
• SQL (must)
• Associated tools and technologies as they become available, and the platform evolves
• Load and merge data originating from diverse sources;
• Performa data cleansing, and quality management;
• Pre-process and Transform data for model building and analysis;
• Troubleshoot data quality issues and work with team members to reach solutions
• Perform descriptive analytics to discover trend and pattern in the data;
• Create visualizations, including dashboards to provide insights on large data sets and input to finished reports
• Develop predictive models for business solutions;
• Deploy predictive and other models to production.
• Analyse output products to assure data quality and conformance to requirements.
• Develop technical specification for 3rd party platform data integration and streaming
• Participate in continuous improvement efforts to increase available data quality and speed of delivery
• Address ad-hoc domain-specific data analytic requirements from domain or cluster leaders; and a continuously deliver user-centric data visualisations, publications, and products

Deadline:18th November,2025