Mr D – Senior Data Scientist

Mr D, a division of takealot.com, is looking for a highly talented, motivated and results-oriented Senior Data Scientist.
We are a young, dynamic, hyper growth company looking for smart, creative, hard-working people with integrity to join us! 

Who’s who in the tech space

This position reports to the Mr D Data Science Team Lead 

Your Team:

You will join the growing Data Science team at Mr D, and report to the Data Science Team Lead. The nature of the position will require interaction with various teams across the Mr D  business, and will include the Product, Operations, Engineering, Data & Analytics, Sales, Marketing and CRM teams.

Your mission should you choose to accept it:

• Be excellent at exploratory data analysis. We expect our data scientists to form an in-depth understanding of data being worked on, before moving on to designing and training fit-for-purpose models in many different application areas. This means being able to conduct independent research and ask the right questions along the way.
• Have excellent communication skills, both within and outside the Data Science team, in order to ensure a full understanding of project requirements, system design, data stores, and so on. This also applies to compiling and sharing of new knowledge gained in the process of completing a project.
• Have a solid understanding of a broad range of machine learning models, how they work, and which models are suited to which domains and application areas.

Application areas include:
Personalisation in both our food and retail verticals
Search and discovery solutions
Fraud detection models
Forecasting models
Operational efficiency models (e.g. preparation time, dynamic delay estimation, etc.)

• Work with generative AI models, including Large Language Models (LLMs), taking care to always apply best practices with regards to risk awareness, prompt engineering, and so on.
• Operationalising prediction models into Mr D ‘s machine learning technology stack.
• Compiling technical specifications around model integration requirements for the Mr D  development team.
• Monitoring and assessment of data science solutions implemented in the Mr D  business, including end-to-end A/B testing where applicable.
• Be familiar with and always apply best practices in accordance with relevant data privacy legislation and regulations.

The skills we need:

• Knowledge of core machine learning concepts, such as supervised and unsupervised learning, feature engineering, model validation and evaluation techniques, neural networks and deep learning architectures, and optimization algorithms
• Experience in Python and Linux command line usage
• Experience with mainstream machine learning (ML) tools, including at least one popular deep learning package (Tensorflow, Keras or PyTorch), Scikit-learn, and Pandas
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to new technologies as required
• Experience with Amazon Web Services or other cloud computing platforms
• Experience with querying and conducting ETL against both SQL and non-SQL based data stores
• Experience with MLOps best practices beneficial
• Experience with Docker beneficial
• Experience with forecasting models, recommender models, natural language processing models, and generative AI models beneficial
• Experience with any of the following AWS services beneficial: Sagemaker, Glue, Athena, CodePipeline
• Attention to detail in a high-pressure environment
• Advanced analytical ability
• Ability to align theoretical data science skills with real world business problems
• Willingness to buy into the requirements of a fast-paced start-up environment
• Ability to verbalise as well as visualise findings and results
• Enterprising spirit and ability to take ownership of tasks

Qualifications & Experience: 

• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science and/or Engineering
• 5 years or more work experience as a data scientist
• Data science exposure in a retail or e-commerce environment is beneficial

Think you’ve been challenged before? Think again!

• Scale: Show the millions of Mr D customers what you can do 
• Learn: We work with the best of the best, and then some. Code alongside industry leaders and upskill in record time.
• Grow: Expand your career in the fast-growing Takealot Group: takealot.com, Superbalist.com and Mr D. We like to promote from within: Here’s your chance.

Let’s talk about life @ Mr D

• The power is in your hands: We offer a market-related, Total Remuneration Package which allows full flexibility according to your needs. Go on, be the master of your own destiny.
• No doors: We aren’t fans of stuffy offices or siloed work environments. See someone you like? High five, collab and make something great.
• Remote working: Love water cooler chats and working from home? We offer a hybrid working model for the best of both worlds.
• Mentorship programme: We aren’t kidding when we say the people with the best people win. Now’s your chance to be one of the best, by learning from the best.
• Naspers Tech Community & Online Learning: Share ideas and grow with global industry leaders who are all just a Slack message away. Love to learn? Up-skill with free access to courses on MyAcademy, Udacity, Coursera and more.
• Good times: Get to know the other extraordinary minds in the takealot group during regular social events and out-of-office activities (think hikes, think mini golf, think good times).
• Birthday leave: Cake Day all the way. Enjoy your day off – you deserve it. 
• Right tools, right job: Mac or Windows, two monitors or one. Whatever your preference, you’ll work on the latest tech, off the latest tech.
• Help when you need it most: Confidential counselling, legal support and financial guidance, for free, anytime, anywhere. 
• Tech stack (for days): Angular, Python, Kotlin, Swift, AWS, Kafka, Redis, Docker, Kubernetes, IOT and all things machine learning. If you build it, they will come.
• Free parking: No more 5km fun runs to your desk (unless you want to). 

Like what you see? If you meet the above you are an Extraordinary Mind. Apply today!!

Mr D  is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities will be given preference