Senior Data Scientist – Cape Town – up to R1.2mil per annum (Cape Town)

We are a fast-growing South African fintech revolutionising how consumers and merchants connect. Our platform powers creating a seamless digital experience for consumers while helping merchants transact smarter and grow faster through data-driven insights. We’re seeking a Senior Data Scientist — a strategic thinker, innovator, and hands-on builder who will play a pivotal role in defining and executing Zapper’s data-driven vision. You’ll develop machine learning models, design dashboards and analytics tools, and serve as a strategic partner to leadership, identifying new opportunities for growth and innovation. If you’re passionate about fintech, AI, and turning data into strategic advantage, this is your opportunity to make a real impact.

Responsibilities:

• Act as a strategic advisor to leadership, using data to unlock growth, customer retention, and operational efficiency.
• Design, build, and deploy data science models for loyalty optimisation, fraud detection, transaction prediction, and customer segmentation.
• Conduct deep-dive analyses and communicate insights through data storytelling.
• Build AWS Quicksight dashboards to monitor key metrics and inform decision-making.
• Use AWS SageMaker and serverless tools (Athena, Glue, Lambda, Step Functions) for machine learning workflows.
• Explore Generative AI (via AWS Bedrock and related tools) to enhance customer experience and operational intelligence.
• Collaborate across product, engineering, marketing, and commercial teams to embed data-driven strategies.
• Promote data as a strategic asset, ensuring quality, governance, and ethical AI practices.

Qualifications and Experience:

• BSc/MSc/PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or Engineering.
• 5+ years of experience as a Data Scientist or Senior Analyst, ideally in fintech, payments, or digital commerce.
• Proven ability to link technical work to business outcomes and influence decision-makers.
• Proficiency in Python (pandas, scikit-learn, pyspark) and SQL.
• Experience with AWS Quicksight, Power BI, or Tableau for analytics and reporting.
• Familiarity with AWS Cloud Services — Athena, Glue, SageMaker, Bedrock.
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The Reference Number for this position is NG60862 which is a Permanent, hybrid position in Cape Town offering a salary of R900k up to R1.2mil per annum salary negotiable based on experience. E-mail Nokuthula on nokuthulag@ e-Merge.co.za or call her for a chat on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.