Junior Data Scientist at Discovery Limited

Key Purpose
The Data Science Lab is dedicated to creating long-lasting, impactful solutions to meet essential business needs. Our primary objectives include:

• Optimizing customer communication through our expansive data assets
• Extending our project portfolio to support and enhance sales initiatives
• Developing and maintaining robust PHP capabilities that will serve the business for years to come, with the ultimate goal of helping people lead healthier lives
• Employing Large Language Models (LLMs) to elevate our servicing and coaching capabilities
• Fostering a culture of experimentation through a test-learn-adapt approach, ensuring continual improvement and innovation.
• Individuals with two-five years’ experience (not required but advantageous) in the above areas will have the opportunity to work with cutting edge technology and advanced techniques to see their models used in real business applications.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to

• Data analysis and modelling
• Extracting and analyzing clinical, lifestyle, and behavioral data to inform product design, risk management, customer interaction strategies for Personalised Health Pathways (PHP).
• Developing and maintaining predictive, value and habit models and algorithms to drive personalised recommendations.
• Developing data science model and A/B testing pipelines for deployment.
• Applying statistical techniques, behavioral science principles, and data science models to measure and optimize member engagement.
• Collaboration with Cross-functional Teams
• Working closely with clinical, product, and research teams to ensure insights and modelling inputs align with product objectives and healthcare outcomes.
• Collaborate with systems and engineering teams to integrate data science pipelines into the Health Central Recommender.
• Reporting and Insights
• Present insights and results to business stakeholders and senior executives, highlighting the impact of personalized health journeys on user engagement and long-term health improvements.

Personal Attributes and Skills  

• A creative and enthusiastic attitude to unearthing valuable insights and generating value for Discovery clients 
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and to step back and see how analytics work fits into the wider business context 
• Results driven, curious and able to work autonomously or within teams
• Good time and task management skills
• Ability to communicate results of analyses in a clear and effective manner
• Aligned to Discovery values and core purpose 

Education and Experience

• Honours, Master’s or PhD degree in either Data Science, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Operations Research, Computer Science or Applied Mathematics
• Ability to formulate a clear problem statement, develop a plan for tackling it, and clearly communicate findings verbally, visually, and in writing 
• Demonstrable working experience in an analytics position, where the focus was on building and implementing machine learning models to solve business problems
• Experience accessing and analysing data using language/tools/databases such as Python, R, SQL, etc.
• Experience using Gradient Boosting Machines, Random Forests, Neural Networks or similar algorithms.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office tools.

Advantageous:

• Some experience in working with big disparate sets of data and exposure to big data tools
• The ideal candidate will possess a deep interest in the healthcare industry, particularly in leveraging behavioral science to promote disease management and prevention. Additionally, they should demonstrate a strong understanding of strategic risk management principles and their application across the healthcare value chain.