Senior Data Scientist at Vodafone Global Enterprise

Role Purpose/Business Unit:

• Vodacom is a leading African mobile communications company, serving over 200 million customers across South Africa, Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique, Kenya, Lesotho, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Our mobile networks reach a population of approximately 250 million people. Through Vodacom Business Africa (VBA), we also deliver managed services to enterprises in over 40 countries across the continent.
• We are truly data-driven, committed to delivering intelligent solutions that enhance customer experience and business performance. Our Big Data and AI team plays a pivotal role in enabling this transformation by supporting the CX and Digital space with scalable, innovative data capabilities.
• We’re looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our Big Data and AI team. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment and is passionate about solving complex business problems using AI, Machine Learning, GenAI, and Agentic AI.
• You’ll work on high-impact use cases across customer experience and digital platforms developing models and AI products that drive strategic decisions and improve customer journeys.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Design and build AI solutions that deliver actionable insights and measurable business impact.
• Develop and deploy predictive models using large, diverse datasets across structured and unstructured domains.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Advanced Analytics, Engineering, and Business stakeholders.
• Contribute to the wider community to enable AI capability across Vodafone globally.
• Lead initiatives in GenAI, LLMs, and Agentic AI to support next-gen customer experience and digital products.
• Track and report model performance using compelling data visualizations and storytelling techniques.
• Mentor junior data scientists and contribute to capability building across the team.
• Partner with Big Data Engineering to automate and productionize AI workloads.
• Present findings to both technical and non-technical audiences, translating complex insights into business value.

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 4-6 years relevant experience in Big Data & Data Science.
• Experiencing working with and mentoring/coaching data scientists in training
• Experience with GenAI, LLMs, and MLOps/LLMOps frameworks.
• 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 (preferred), 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.
• Experience working with teams and coaching data scientists
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Design & Systems Thinking in relation to AI and Machine Learning Eco Systems.
• Real-time Decisioning & Intelligence use case deployment and evaluation experience.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, agile environment.

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: 14 October 2025.