Actuary at Discovery Limited

Key Purpose

• The candidate will form part of the Vitality SA actuarial team responsible for analytical analysis and modelling of the Vitality programme in order to answer key business questions, inform the business strategy, ensure the business remains financially stable and exposure to key risks are understood. A unique focus area of this role is deep analysis at the intersection of actuarial and behavioural science spheres in order to understand and drive member engagement and wellness across Vitality.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to:

• Develop actuarial or statistical models to aid in strategic business decision-making
• Short- and long-term behavioural and financial projections (including pricing and testing of new initiatives)
• Extracting and analysing large datasets to yield rich insights and communicating the results to a wide variety of stakeholders including the Vitality SA Executive Committee
• Identify and understand key business and data trends, assess the impact and identify possible courses of action to mitigate / capitalize on these opportunities
• Conduct ad-hoc investigations and analyses including quantifying the financial and business impact of strategic projects, oftentimes working with executive decision-makers to craft and execute key strategic projects
• Compilation of reports and presentations for the Vitality Exco, Vitality Board, Actuarial Committee, Discovery Board and Group Exco
• Develop and leverage key working relationships with various stakeholders across the business to support the objectives of the organization
• Mentor, support and train junior analysts

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 high caliber results with a sense of urgency and bias for action
• Excellent time-management skills with the ability to prioritize deliverables and manage stakeholder expectations
• Well-versed in the ability to disaggregate issues and solve problems
• Comfortable adapting and responding to change, especially pivoting focus and priorities as business needs change
• Strong ability in dealing with unstructured problems and complex environments
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate to a wide variety of stakeholders
• Great people skills and situational awareness
• Ability to cope with business pressures and setbacks
• Ability to think with a commercial and growth mindset
• Good sense of materiality coupled with the ability to keep matters in perspective

Education and Experience

• Strong Matric results, with Higher Grade Mathematics
• Bachelor’s degree in actuarial science (post-graduate qualifications being advantageous)
• Close to (1 to 2 exams away) or recently academically qualified as a fellow actuary
• 2 to 4 years’ relevant work experience
• Advanced proficiency in SQL, MS Office Suite (PowerBI and Python coding skills advantageous)
• Advanced experience in data handling, actuarial modelling and lateral problem-solving skills

Behavioural Competencies

• Highly analytical and logical thinking style
• Critical thinking, able to interrogate and assimilate information in a meaningful way
• Curious and eager to know “why”
• Creative when necessary and innovative in problem-solving approaches
• An ability to communicate technical complexity to a non-technical audience
• A sharp focus on delivering high caliber results and exceeding stakeholder expectations
• Interest in leveraging the analytical power of large datasets intersecting with the Behavioural Science domain
• Comfortable with change and a fast-paced work environment
• Passionate about mentoring and molding more junior team members
• Keen to pursue a career outside of a traditional actuarial environment whilst still applying actuarial and statistical principles in a non-traditional way