Pricing Actuarial Data Scientist STI at Absa South Africa

End Date: March 6, 2026

Job Description

• Emblem Softeware Essential
• Pricing Short Term Insurance Essential
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of predictive models across underwriting, claims, and customer segmentation.
•  Integrate alternative and emerging data sources (e.g., geospatial, behavioral, and external risk datasets) to strengthen pricing accuracy and risk differentiation.
• Champion model transparency and governance, ensuring ethical data use, strong documentation, and a rigorous peer‑review framework.
•  Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams - including underwriting, claims, product, IT, and distribution - to deliver high‑impact analytical and pricing solutions.
• Partner with enterprise‑wide analytics and data science teams to align on modelling best practices and adopt cutting‑edge techniques and tools.
• Mentor junior analysts experience

Role requirements

• Nearly qualified actuary with 5+ years of actuarial or data science experience in pricing, risk, or analytics. Minimum 10 actuarial exams completed
• Confirm current exam status and professional body membership (e.g. Actuarial Society of Sout Africa or Institute and faculty of Actuaries)
• Clarify pricing vs reserving vs capital focus
• Essential candidate must have built pricing models from first principles?
• What modelling techniques were used?
• What measurable business impact did the model deliver? Provide examples
• Machi8ne Learning application:- Advanced modelling expertise, including GLMs, decision trees, machine learning, and ensemble methods. (Gradient Boosting, XGBoost)Please elaborate on what Libararies where used (e.g. pandas, scikit-learn, XGBoost)
• Nature of use (automatio0n, ML, deployment)
• Strong technical proficiency in R, Python, SQL, , Power BI, and actuarial platforms such as Emblem, Radar, and ResQ. (Experience with Earnix is a plus)
• Commercial Translation Ability:- Demonstrated ability to transform complex datasets into actionable insights that drive business outcomes.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, and communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and explain complex concepts clearly.
• Exposure to regulatory frameworks (e.g. SAM) or IFRS 17 will be advantageous

Education

• Masters Degrees (coursework and research): Mathematics (Required), Postgraduate Degrees and Professional Qualifications: Actuarial Science (Required)