Devices & Wearables Specialist at Discovery Limited

Key purpose of the role 

• The Associate Specialist: Vitality Devices & Wearables is responsible for driving service excellence, member experience uplift, and end-to-end reliability of Vitality's connected device and wearables ecosystem (e.g. Apple Watch, Garmin, Oura, Samsung, Fitbit, and future integrations). The incumbent applies software and mechatronic engineering fundamentals to diagnose issues across firmware, APIs, data pipelines and member-facing journeys, and leads targeted service improvement initiatives that reduce defects, lift NPS and support Vitality's ambition for zero defect.  

Areas of responsibility

Wearables Reliability & Uptime 

• Monitor device integration health across all partner APIs (Apple HealthKit, Garmin Connect, Fitbit Web API, Oura, Samsung Health, COROS), maintaining SLA-aligned uptime and data freshness.
• Own the device Splunk / observability dashboards (alerting, contextual alerts, proactive linking & syncing) and drive incident detection to closure.
• Design and maintain fail-safe controls and chaos-style resilience tests across device data ingestion, points allocation and billing/clawback flows. 

Service Improvement

• Lead root-cause analysis (RCA) on top device-related member complaints (linking failures, sync gaps, points not awarded, benefit billing errors) and drive continuous-improvement initiatives with measurable defect-reduction targets.
• Partner with Servicing, Strategic Programs, R&D, and Systems to enhance self-service journeys and reduce agent-handled device queries.
• Contribute to the templatised device partner onboarding framework, reducing new-device time-to market. 

Member Experience

• Translate member feedback (VoC, complaints, Nostradamus, app store reviews) into a prioritised backlog of experience enhancements across the device lifecycle: discovery → activation → linking → daily use → benefit fulfilment.
• Own the device-related Vitality Help Page, VA scripting, and contextual in-app messaging in collaboration with UX, Marketing, Legal and Compliance.
• Support benefit constructs such as the Oura Ring sleep benefit, Apple Watch, Garmin and future wearables — ensuring member journeys are intuitive, transparent and reward-accurate. 

Technical Integration & Engineering 

• Interpret and refine API specifications, data contracts and event streams between wearables partners, VDP and Vitality systems.
• Assess firmware/hardware behaviours and edge cases (sensor drift, offline sync, time zone handling, HR/HRV/SpO₂/sleep-stage variability) that impact business rules.
• Work with Architecture, Dev, Data and Systems teams to enforce POPIA-compliant data handling for personal and special personal information collected from devices.

Governance, Risk & Compliance 

• Ensure all wearable integrations meet POPIA, information security, and 3rd-party privacy attack surface requirements.
• Maintain accurate technical documentation, data lineage and change logs for audit and executive reporting.  

Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting 

• Produce executive-ready dashboards and updates on device reliability, member experience metrics, and improvement roadmaps for Vitality Ops Exco.
• Collaborate with Product Management, Actuarial, Data Science, Systems, Servicing, L&D and external device partners. 

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering / Computer Science / Computer Engineering, OR Mechatronic Engineering / Electronic Engineering with strong software competency.
• Relevant post-graduate qualifications or certifications (e.g. AWS/Azure, ITIL, SAFe, ISTQB, ISO 27001, POPIA practitioner) advantageous. 

Experience:

• 1--3 years' experience in a software engineering, embedded/IoT, or product engineering environment.
• Demonstrated experience with REST APIs, OAuth 2.0, webhooks, event streaming (Kafka/Event Hubs) and integration troubleshooting.
• Exposure to wearables / IoT devices, health data standards (HL7 FHIR advantageous) and consumer health ecosystems.
• Experience working within regulated environments (financial services, healthcare, or insurance) is preferred.
• Track record of leading service improvement or reliability initiatives with quantifiable outcomes. 

Technical Competencies:

• API design, testing (Postman, Swagger) and integration debugging.
• Observability tooling (Splunk, Grafana, Azure Monitor, App Insights).
• SQL and data analysis; familiarity with Python or similar for diagnostics.
• Understanding of mechatronic/sensor principles: accelerometry, PPG, ECG, SpO₂, sleep-stage detection, GPS accuracy.
• Familiarity with mobile ecosystems (iOS/Android), HealthKit, Google Health Connect.
• Working knowledge of secure data handling, encryption, and POPIA/GDPR principles. 

Behavioural Competencies:

• Analytical, evidence-based problem solving.
• Ownership mindset — 'Zero Defect' thinking.
• Member-obsessed and outcomes-focused.
• Structured written and verbal communication; comfortable presenting to executive stakeholders.
• Collaborative across engineering, business, and vendor teams.
• Curious, continuous learner with an interest in health-tech and behaviour change.