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Senior Data Scientist Job Opportunity – Absa Bank

Position Details

Job Title: Senior Data Scientist
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Job Type: Full-Time
Work Model: Hybrid
Reference Number: R-15988265
Application Closing Date: 25 June 2026

About Absa

With more than 100 years of history, Absa is a leading African financial institution with strong regional and international expertise. The bank is committed to empowering Africa’s future by delivering innovative financial solutions and creating meaningful career opportunities for talented professionals across the continent.

Job Summary

Absa’s Business Banking Credit division is undergoing a major transformation aimed at accelerating credit origination, improving customer experience, and automating manual credit processes. The Senior Data Scientist will play a key role in developing advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions that support scored lending, automate decision-making, and enhance the efficiency of the credit lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Delivery

Develop and implement credit risk, fraud detection, debt collection, and portfolio management models.
Apply advanced statistical analysis and data mining techniques to uncover actionable business insights.
Manage the complete data science lifecycle, from data preparation and model development to deployment and operationalisation.
Monitor and improve model performance to ensure accuracy, fairness, and regulatory compliance.
Identify and evaluate new data sources to strengthen predictive models and improve coverage.

Stakeholder Engagement

Partner with Credit, Risk, Technology, Product, and Business teams to identify high-impact data science opportunities.
Translate complex analytical findings into practical business recommendations.
Design and evaluate A/B tests to measure the effectiveness of lending strategies and policy changes.
Present insights through dashboards, visualisations, and executive-level reports.

Collaboration & Leadership

Work within multidisciplinary teams to integrate analytics into scored lending platforms.
Provide technical leadership and guidance on model development and deployment.
Support the establishment of a scalable Data Science Centre of Excellence.
Promote innovation, continuous learning, and data-driven decision-making.

Minimum Requirements

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in:
- Actuarial Science
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Econometrics
- Or a related quantitative field

Experience

Minimum of 5 years’ experience in:
- Data Science
- Predictive Analytics
- Machine Learning
- Credit Risk Modelling
- Financial Services or Fintech environments

Required Skills

Advanced analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Strong communication and presentation skills.
Excellent stakeholder management capabilities.
Expert knowledge of SAS and SQL.
Experience with Python, R, or similar programming languages.
Strong understanding of supervised machine learning techniques.
Knowledge of credit risk modelling and fraud analytics.
Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
Understanding of credit policy development and scorecard methodologies is advantageous.

Why Join Absa?

Work on large-scale AI and machine learning initiatives.
Contribute to the future of automated lending across Africa.
Collaborate with highly skilled professionals in banking, risk, and technology.
Access opportunities for professional growth within one of Africa’s leading financial institutions.
Be part of a diverse and inclusive workplace committed to innovation and transformation.

Employment Equity

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from designated groups in line with the Employment Equity Act and the bank’s transformation objectives.

Application Deadline: 25 June 2026

Apply now and become part of a team shaping the future of banking through data, analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Apply Here