Actuarial Manager at Discovery Limited

Key Purpose

• The candidate will form part of the actuarial team responsible for analytical analysis and modelling of the Vitality business in order to ensure the business remains financially stable, exposure to key risks are understood and to answer key business questions.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to

• Develop actuarial or statistical models to aid in decision-making 
• Pricing of new benefits or benefit changes
• Short and long term financial projections
• Identify appropriate models / algorithms to mine large datasets and develop rich insights into member behaviour.
• Identify key trends and interact with business to understand the impact of these trends and identify possible courses of action to mitigate / take advantage of the trends identified.
• Produce regular and ad-hoc experience reports and data analysis, and presentations as required
• Assist with data extracts and advanced data analysis essential to the requirements outlined below, as well as communicating the results to a variety of audiences
• Contributing to material required for Product Launch presentations and Discoverers
• Assisting with ad-hoc investigations and analyses including quantifying the financial impact of strategic projects
• Compilation of reports and presentations for the Vitality Exco, Vitality Board, Actuarial Committee and Discovery Board and Exco
• Work with executives to execute strategic projects
• Research and analysis to provide insight and solutions to non-standard problems
• Mentor, support and train junior analysts
• Maintain relationships with various stakeholders across the business

Competencies

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyse, and disseminate information simply and effectively
• Strong ability to work with, analyse and communicate findings from data (top-down verbal and written communication)
• A passion for delivering results with a sense of urgency for rapid action
• Excellent time-management skills with the ability to prioritize deliverables and manage stakeholder expectations
• Well-versed in the ability to disaggregate issues and problem-solving
• Comfortable adapting and responding to change
• Excellent attention to detail is a must
• Excellent writing and reporting skills
• Good people skills and situational awareness
• Ability to cope with business pressures and setbacks
• Ability to think with a commercial and growth mindset

Education and Experience

• Matric with Higher Grade Mathematics
• Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science (Honours degree would be advantageous)
• Recently qualified Actuary with 3 to 5 years work experience
• Advanced proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel and MS Outlook and SQL
• Basic to intermediate knowledge in a programming language e.g. Prophet, Python, R
• Advanced experience in Actuarial Modelling, Problem Solving, Data Analysis
• Strong communication skills

Behavioural 

• Highly analytical and logical
• Critical thinking
• Curious and eager to know “why”
• Creativity and innovation
• An ability to communicate technical complexity to a non-technical audience
• A focus on delivering results and meeting customer expectations
• An interest in analysing large datasets
• Comfortable with change and a fast paced work environment
• Desire to teach and grow more junior members
• Keen to pursue a career outside of a traditional actuarial environment whilst applying actuarial and statistical principles