Data Science Lead | Western Cape | On-site

Data Science Lead

ARC (a division of Badger SA) | George, Western Cape | Permanent | On-site

Lead AI that delivers real business impact.

At ARC, we're building the next generation of data, analytics and AI capabilities for Badger Holdings, including  and Pacific International Insurance. Our mission is simple: use intelligent technology to create smarter decisions, better customer experiences and stronger businesses

We're looking for an experienced Data Science Lead to lead our Data Science team while remaining deeply involved in solving complex business problems through machine learning and AI.

This is a true player-coach opportunity. You'll guide a talented team, shape technical direction and personally deliver high-impact machine learning solutions from concept through to production.

What you'll do

As our Data Science Lead, you'll lead a team of three Data Scientists and one Machine Learning Engineer while driving strategic AI initiatives across the business.

You'll:

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of machine learning and AI projects from business discovery through deployment and monitoring.
• Build, validate and deploy predictive models across customer lifetime value (CLV), fraud detection, lapse prediction, pricing optimisation, claims prediction and customer segmentation.
• Work closely with stakeholders across underwriting, claims, finance and operations to identify high-value opportunities.
• Translate commercial challenges into scalable data science solutions.
• Ensure models are production-ready, explainable, governed and deliver measurable business value.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Mentor, coach and develop the Data Science team while establishing technical best practices.
• Collaborate with Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering and ML Engineering to deliver robust AI solutions.
• Contribute to ARC's evolving AI ecosystem across Azure, GCP and modern cloud data platforms.

What we're looking for

You'll thrive in this role if you combine technical excellence with strong leadership and commercial thinking.