Role Purpose/Business Unit:
We are looking for a Data Scientist specializing in Generative AI and Agentic AI systems to design and deliver next-generation, AI-powered customer experience solutions.
This role is focused on building production-grade LLM-powered systems and agentic workflows that enable:
Real-time decisioning
Intelligent automation
Proactive and personalized customer engagement
You will operate at the intersection of LLMs, agent orchestration, and customer intelligence, delivering scalable solutions across Vodacom's digital channels, customer care platforms, and markets.
This role operates across text, voice, and multimodal customer data, transforming raw customer interactions into intelligent, AI-driven actions at scale.
Your responsibilities will include:
GenAI & LLM System Development (Primary Focus)
Design, build, and deploy LLM-powered applications including:
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Conversational AI
Summarisation, classification, and recommendation systems
Develop RAG architectures integrating structured and unstructured enterprise data
Implement robust prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, and guardrails
Build LLMOps pipelines covering orchestration, monitoring, evaluation, and optimisation
Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and production-ready
Agentic AI & Workflow Automation (Core Capability)
Design and implement agentic AI systems capable of:
Multi-step reasoning and planning
Tool and API orchestration
Autonomous execution with feedback loops
Develop multi-agent workflows to support:
Customer query resolution
CX insights generation
End-to-end journey orchestration
Implement human-in-the-loop mechanisms, approvals, and safety controls
Integrate AI agents into:
Chatbots and virtual assistants
IVR and voice systems
Backend operational workflows
Relevant application workflows
Customer Experience (CX) Intelligence (High Impact)
Design and build scalable AI solutions to extract value from complex unstructured customer data, including:
Call centre audio recordings and voice data
Speech-to-text transcripts and conversational logs
Chatbot and digital interaction data
NPS and survey verbatims (free-text feedback)
Customer emails, service requests, and support tickets
Develop end-to-end pipelines that transform raw unstructured data into actionable intelligence using:
LLMs and Generative AI
NLP and speech/voice analytics
Multilingual processing techniques
Build models and LLM-driven systems to enable:
Sentiment, emotion, and behavioural signal detection (text + voice)
Customer intent classification and journey mapping
Root cause analysis and large-scale theme extraction
Call summarisation, tagging, and quality evaluation
Identification of churn signals, friction points, and experience drivers
Deliver real-time and near real-time CX intelligence, enabling:
Dynamic next-best-action recommendations
Proactive issue detection and resolution
Personalised customer engagement across channels
Translate insights into automated CX actions through agentic systems, including:
AI agents triggering workflows based on detected customer issues
Intelligent routing and resolution of queries
Closed-loop systems connecting insight → action → outcome tracking
Data Science & Traditional AI
Develop predictive models where required, including:
Propensity based prediction models
Segmentation and Proactive Calling Models
Perform data analysis, feature engineering, and statistical modelling
Work with structured and unstructured datasets to support GenAI use cases
Engineering & Productionisation
Build scalable pipelines integrating:
Data ingestion and processing
Vector databases and retrieval systems
APIs and orchestration layers
Deploy solutions using cloud-native technologies (e.g. AWS/GCP/Azure)
Work closely with technology teams to productionise AI solutions using:
Microservices and APIs
Containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes)
Leadership & Collaboration
Champion GenAI and Agentic AI initiatives across CX and Digital teams
Mentor and uplift data scientists in emerging AI capabilities
Translate complex AI outputs into clear, business-aligned value
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Group Technology, Product, CX stakeholders across Vodacom Group
The ideal candidate for this role will have:
Bachelor's Degree in quantitative fields like Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or related fields (essential).
Master's degree is advantageous.
A minimum of 3-5 years relevant experience in Big Data, Data Science, AI/ML, or Engineering roles, with demonstrated delivery of end-to-end AI solutions in productions environments.
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).
Strong hands-on experience building and deploying Core Generative AI and Agentic AI applications.
Proficiency in at least one relevant programming language: Python (preferred).
Experience across major machine learning model frameworks (e.g. H2O, scikit-learn, PyTorch, Tensorflow) and traditional techniques (e.g. random forest, gradient boosting, k-means segmentation, multiple regression).
Hands-on experience with cloud-native AI/ML deployment, preferably on AWS.
Exposure to cloud native deployment of models and working with containerized technologies such as Docker and Kurbernetes.
Strong experience working with structured and unstructured data.
Knowledge of MLOps and LLMOps concepts and deployment of models through batch and real-time architectures.
Experience with APIs and application frameworks (e.g. FastAPI, Flask).
Familiarity with modern AI/ML and data tooling ecosystems.
Ability to translate business problems (especially in Customer Experience) into scalable AI solutions.
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.
Curious, adaptable, and continuously learning in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Core competencies, knowledge, and experience
Core (Mandatory)
Strong hands-on experience with:
LLMs (e.g., OpenAI, Claude, Gemini)
RAG architectures and vector databases
Prompt engineering and evaluation frameworks
Experience designing and building
Agentic AI systems or AI-driven workflows
Tool/API orchestration within LLM applications
Strong understanding of:
Hallucination mitigation and grounding techniques
Responsible AI and safety guardrails
LLM evaluation and observability
Engineering & Deployment
Experience with
Python (preferred) and API frameworks (FastAPI/Flask)
Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)
Understanding of:
LLMOps / AI system lifecycle
Real-time and batch processing architectures
Data Science Foundations
Experience with
Machine learning algorithms (classification, regression, clustering)
NLP techniques (traditional and modern)
Strong data manipulation skills (SQL, PySpark, etc.)
Preferred (Differentiators)
Experience with
Multi-agent frameworks (LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, etc.)
Conversational AI and chatbot platforms
Speech and voice analytics
CX or telecom use cases
Experience building end-to-end AI systems, not just models
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: 27 August 2026.